Everybody Loves Raymond’s Dead Dad

That's it - we really don't want to see an Everybody Loves Raymond reunion show any more. That's partly to do with Everybody Loves Raymond being dreadful and partly to do with the actor who played the angry Dad, Peter Boyle, dying.

Peter Boyle died in a New York hospital on Tuesday night aged 71 after a fight with heart disease and plasma cell cancer multiple myeloma. But to remember Peter Boyle solely as the father in a long-running, toothlessly inoffensive sitcom about a family that hates each other would be to do him a great disservice - Peter Boyle also starred in memorable pieces of cinema such as Taxi Driver, Young Frankenstein and Monster's Ball. However, we know how we're going to remember Peter Boyle: as the brutal mastermind of the violent United Kickboxing Association in Kickboxer 2: The Road Back.

For a bald old man who most people will recognise for telling a podgy shouting woman with a bad perm to shut up every week for 10 years, Peter Boyle kind of had quite an exciting life. After leaving the Navy due to a nervous breakdown, Peter Boyle went on to forge an impressive movie CV that includes Taxi Driver, Malcolm X, Monster's Ball, Red Heat and all three Santa Clause movies, as well being the funniest person in the funniest scene of any film ever, as Frankenstein's Monster during the Putting On The Ritz scene in Young Frankenstein. Plus he used to hang out with Jane Fonda in the days before she started making appalling skincare commercials and John Lennon was his best man, which you have to admit is pretty cool.

Despite all this, Peter Boyle will always be best known as Frank Barone, the bitter Dad in Everybody Loves Raymond - the long-running sitcom where a family shouted at each other for 30 minutes 200 times without any jokes. On Tuesday night Peter Boyle died after a struggle with heart disease and multiple myeloma, and the tributes have been thick and fast. Everybody Loves Raymond creator Ray Romano said:

"When I came out to L.A. to do Everybody Loves Raymond, I knew no one. Peter immediately took me under his wing and became my friend and mentor. 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."

While Doris Roberts, who played Peter Boyle's wife in Everybody Loves Raymond, said:

"It's like losing a spouse. I'm going to miss my dear friend, so unlike the character he played on television. He's a brilliant actor, a gentleman, incredibly intelligent, wonderfully well read and a loving friend."

Sadly, as far as we're aware, there has still been no Peter Boyle tribute from oddly-proportioned Everybody Loves Raymond co-star Brad Garrett, who we expect was hoping for an Everybody Loves Raymond reunion to fund more of his oddly secret divorces.

Read more:

Raymond Dad - And Much More - Dead At 71 - E! Online