The matriarch star of the 2000s show Everybody Loves Raymond passed away at the age of 90 on April 17th.
Doris Roberts, better known for her role as Mamma Barone in the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, was a stage and screen actress who started her career in the 1950s. She won five Emmy awards and was a big-time animal advocate.
From broadway to TV actress
Roberts, who was born in St. Louis Missouri but was raised in The Bronx, New York, started her career in 1950 when she appeared in several Broadway plays such as The Desk Set and Bad Habits.
In 1952, she began her TV career when she appeared in the TV series Studio One, which opened the path for more roles in the short screen, until 1961 when she debuted in the film Something Wild who starred Carol Baker and was directed by Jack Garfein.
Roberts had a steady career in the acting business, starring in movies such as, A Lovely Way to Die, The Honeymoon killers, Such Good Friends, Little Murders, Ruby and Oswald, Rose, and Alice.
Around the late 90’s she started to appear in shows playing the role of the mother or mother-in-law. Until 1996 when she was cast as the mother of Ray Romano, the main character of the TV sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. The show aired on September 13th, 1996, to 2005.
Roberts played the role of Marie Barone, better known as Mamma Barone, a controlling, manipulative and overly-nurturing mom to the main character. She was a well-intentioned mother and perfectionist on households. Barone character was the wife of Peter Boyle’s character.
The show revolved around an Italian-American family, who joke around with cynical and sarcastic jokes.
The cast remembers Roberts
Stars from the show have expressed their condolences on Robert’s passing.
“An energy and a spirit that amazed me, she never stopped whether working professionally or with her charities, or just nurturing and mentoring young, green, comic trying to make it. She did it all with such a grand love for life and people, I will miss her dearly,” Said Ray Romano in a statement to the Los Angeles Time.
Other co-stars such as Patricia Heaton who played Romano’s wife and Phil Rosenthal creator of the show expressed their condolences via Twitter
Roberts, also, received an honorary doctorate of fine arts from the University of South Carolina and worked with the charity work group called Puppies Behind Bars, that worked with inmates training guide dogs for disabled patients.
Source: LA Times