By DEEPTI HAJELA | Associated Press
December 13, 2006 






NEW YORK (AP) - Peter Boyle, the actor who played the hilariously grouchy father on "Everybody Loves Raymond" as the final note of a distinguished career that also included a memorable role in Mel Brooks' "Young Frankenstein," has died. He was 71.

Boyle died Tuesday evening at New York Presbyterian Hospital. He had been suffering from multiple myeloma and heart disease, said his publicist, Jennifer Plante.

"I am deeply saddened by the passing of Peter Boyle," Ray Romano said, adding that Boyle was a mentor to him from the early days of "Everybody Loves Raymond."

"He gave me great advice, he always made me laugh, and the way he connected with everyone around him amazed me. The fact that he could play a convincing curmudgeon on the show, but in reality be such a compassionate and thoughtful person, is a true testament to his talent," Romano said.

"It's like losing a spouse," said Doris Roberts, who played Boyle's wife on the sitcom.

While a generation of TV viewers knows him as Frank Barone _ with his trademark "Holy crap!" line _ Boyle had a respectable career long before "Everybody Loves Raymond" debuted in 1996, including a part in Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver." He also was close friends with John Lennon, who was best man at Boyle's wedding.

A member of the Christian Brothers religious order who turned to acting, the tall, prematurely balding Boyle gained notice in the title role of the 1970 sleeper hit "Joe," playing an angry, murderous bigot at odds with the emerging hippie youth culture.

Briefly typecast in tough, irate roles, Boyle began to escape the image as Robert Redford's campaign manager in "The Candidate" and left it behind entirely after "Young Frankenstein," Brooks' 1974 send-up of horror films.

The latter movie's defining moment came when Gene Wilder, as scientist Frederick Frankenstein, introduced his creation to an upscale audience. Boyle, decked out in tails, performed a song-and-dance routine to the Irving Berlin classic "Puttin' On the Ritz."

It showed another side of Boyle, one that would be best exploited in "Raymond" as the curmudgeonly Frank Barone.

"He's just obnoxious in a nice way, just for laughs," Boyle said of the character in a 2001 interview. "It's a very sweet experience having this (success) happen at a time when you basically go back over your life and see every mistake you ever made."

When Boyle tried out for the role opposite Romano's Ray Barone, however, he was kept waiting for his audition _ and he was not happy.

"He came in all hot and angry," recalled the show's creator, Phil Rosenthal, "and I hired him because I was afraid of him." But Rosenthal also noted: "I knew right away that he had a comic presence."

Patricia Heaton, who played Boyle's daughter-in-law in "Raymond," said in a statement, "Peter was an incredible man who made all of us who had the privilege of working with him aspire to be better actors. ... He was loved by everyone that knew him and loved by his many fans who cherished his talent."

"I've lost an amazing friend and colleague," said Brad Garrett, who played Boyle's son Robert on the sitcom. "Being able to share nine years with Peter on 'Raymond' and witness his talent and humanity was an honor."

Boyle had first come to the public's attention more than a quarter of a century before "Raymond," in the critically acclaimed "Joe." He met his wife, Loraine Alterman, on the set of "Young Frankenstein" when she visited as a reporter for Rolling Stone magazine and Boyle, still in monster makeup, asked her for a date.

On television, he starred in "Joe Bash," an acclaimed but short-lived 1986 "dramedy" in which he played a lonely beat cop. He won an Emmy in 1996 for his guest-starring role in an episode of "The X Files," and was nominated for "Raymond" and for the 1977 TV film "Tail Gunner Joe," in which he played Sen. Joseph McCarthy.

In the 1976 film "Taxi Driver," he was the cabbie-philosopher Wizard, who counseled Robert De Niro's violent Travis Bickle.

He appeared in dozens of other films, including "T.R. Baskin," "F.I.S.T.," "Johnny Dangerously," "The Dream Team," "Monster's Ball," "The Santa Clause," "The Santa Clause 2" and "While You Were Sleeping."

The son of a local TV personality in Philadelphia, Boyle was educated in Roman Catholic schools and spent three years in a monastery before abandoning his religious studies. He later described the experience as similar to "living in the Middle Ages."

He explained his decision to leave in 1991: "I felt the call for awhile; then I felt the normal pull of the world and the flesh."

He traveled to New York to study with legendary actress Uta Hagen, supporting himself for five years with various jobs, including postal worker, waiter, maitre d' and office temp. Finally, he was cast in a road company version of "The Odd Couple." When the play reached Chicago he quit to study with that city's famed improvisational troupe Second City.

Upon returning to New York, he began to land roles in TV commercials, off-Broadway plays and finally films.

Through his wife, a friend of Yoko Ono, the actor became close friends with Lennon. "We were both seekers after a truth, looking for a quick way to enlightenment," Boyle once said of Lennon.

In 1990, Boyle had a stroke and couldn't talk for six months. In 1999, he had a heart attack on the "Raymond" set. He soon regained his health, however, and returned to the series.

Despite his work in "Everybody Loves Raymond" and other Hollywood productions, Boyle made New York City his home. He and his wife had two daughters, Lucy and Amy.

彼得·伯耶尔第一次受到观众注意是在1966年的影片《乔》（Joe）中，在那部影片里他扮演了一个在嬉皮士文化兴起背景下的愤怒、顽固的人。

尽管这个角色为他带来评论界的好评，但是他也面临着被定型为“强悍、顽固”的角色路线。因此伯耶尔1972年和1974年分别出演了两部迥然不同与《乔》中角色的影片，罗伯特·雷德福（Robert Redford）的《候选人》（The Candidate）和梅尔·布鲁克斯（Mel Brook）的《年轻的科学怪人》（Young Frankenstein）。尤其是后者，还使他认识了后来成为他妻子的洛兰·奥特曼（Loraine Alterman）——前去片场探班的《滚石》（Rolling Stone）杂志记者，当时伯耶尔还没有卸装，就戴着他怪物的行头邀请洛兰和他约会。

在加入《人人都爱雷蒙德》后，伯耶尔仍然不时参加一些影片的演出，主要是喜剧片。近年来他参演的电影作品有《圣诞老人》系列、《史酷比2》、《死囚之舞》等。






This old man impresses me so much that he is my favorite actor in "Everybody Loves Raymond".  I was so shocked when I heard about the bad news. What a great pity. God bless him a happy life in heaven. I pray for him.