Peter Boyle

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Peter Boyle
Image:Peterboyle.jpg
Birth name	Peter Lawrence Boyle
Born	October 18, 1935[1] Norristown, Pennsylvania, USA
Died	December 12 2006 (aged 71) New York, New York, USA
Spouse(s)	Loraine Alterman (1977-2006)
Awards Emmy Awards Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series 1993 The X-Files

Peter Lawrence Boyle (October 18, 1935 – December 12, 2006)^[1][2] was an Emmy Award-winning American actor who is perhaps best known for his role as Frank Barone on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. He is also well known for his roles in the 1974 film, Young Frankenstein and Taxi Driver in 1976. He won praise for both comedic and dramatic roles following his breakthrough performance in the 1970 film Joe.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life and career 1.2 Screen and theater 1.3 Later life and career 1.4 Death 2 Awards and nominations 3 Trivia 4 Quotes 5 Footnotes 6 External links

Biography

Early life and career

Born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, Boyle later moved to nearby Philadelphia.^[3] Of Irish descent, he was the son of Peter Boyle, Sr., a Philadelphia TV personality from 1951-1963 who, among many other things, played the Western-show host Chuck Wagon Pete, and hosted the popular afterschool children's program Uncle Pete Presents the Little Rascals, which showed vintage Little Rascals and Three Stooges comedy shorts and Popeye cartoons.^[4]

Boyle attended West Philadelphia Catholic High School. After high school Boyle spent three years as a novice of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, or De La Salle Brothers, a Catholic teaching order. He lived in a house of studies with other novices and earned a BA from La Salle University in Philadelphia in 1957, but left the order because he did not feel called to religious life.^[5][6] After spending time in the navy and graduating from Officer Candidate School in 1959, he was commissioned as an ensign in the United States Navy, but his military career was shortened by a nervous breakdown.^[7]

In New York City, he studied acting with famed acting coach Uta Hagen while working as a postal clerk and a maitre d'.^[8] He went on to play Murray the cop in a touring company of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple, leaving the tour in Chicago, Illinois and joining The Second City improv comedy ensemble there.^[8] He had a brief scene as the manager of an indoor shooting range in the critically acclaimed 1969 film Medium Cool, filmed in Chicago.

Screen and theater

His first starring role was as the title character in the 1970 movie Joe, in which Boyle played a bigoted New York City factory worker to wide acclaim. The film's release was surrounded by controversy over its violence and language. It was during this time that Boyle became close friends with the actress Jane Fonda, and with her he participated in many protests against the Vietnam War. After seeing people cheer at his role in Joe, Boyle refused the lead role in The French Connection (1971),^[9] as well as other movie and TV roles that he believed glamorized violence. His next major role was as the campaign manager for a U.S. Senate candidate (Robert Redford) in The Candidate (1972).

Boyle had another hit role as Frankenstein's monster in the 1974 Mel Brooks comedy Young Frankenstein, in which, in an homage to King Kong, the monster is placed onstage in top hat and tails, grunt-singing and dancing to the song "Puttin' on the Ritz". Boyle said at the time, "The Frankenstein monster I play is a baby. He's big and ugly and scary, but he's just been born, remember, and it's been traumatic, and to him the whole world is a brand new alien environment. That's how I'm playing it".^[8]

Boyle received his first Emmy nomination for his acclaimed dramatic performance in the 1977 television film Tail Gunner Joe, in which he played Senator Joseph McCarthy, who led the Communist witch hunts in the 1950s. Yet he was more often cast as a character actor than as a leading man. His roles include the philosophical cab driver "Wizard" in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976), starring Robert De Niro; the attorney of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson (played by Bill Murray) in Where the Buffalo Roam (1980); a corrupt space mining-facility boss in the science-fiction film Outland (1981), opposite Sean Connery; Boatswain Moon in the 1983 pirate comedy Yellowbeard, also starring Cheech and Chong, Madeline Kahn, and members of the comedy troupe Monty Python's Flying Circus; a mental patient who belts out a Ray Charles song in the comedy The Dream Team (1989), starring Michael Keaton; the title character's cab driver in The Shadow (1994), starring Alec Baldwin; the father of Sandra Bullock's fiancee in While You Were Sleeping (1995); the hateful father of Billy Bob Thornton's prison-guard character in Monster's Ball (2001); and Old Man Wickles in the comedy Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004). In cameo roles, he can be seen as a tough police officer in Malcolm X (1992), and as a drawbridge operator in Porky's Revenge (1985). In 1992, he starred in Alex Cox's Death and the Compass, an adaptation of Jorge Luis Borges' La Muerte y la Brujula. However, the film was not released until 1996.

His New York theater work included playing a comedian who is the object of The Roast, a 1980 Broadway play directed by Carl Reiner. Also in 1980 he co-starred with Tommy Lee Jones in an Off-Broadway production of playwright Sam Shepard's acclaimed True West. Two years later, Boyle played the head of a dysfunctional family in Joe Pintauro's less well-received Snow Orchid, at the Circle Repertory.

In 1986, Boyle played the title role of the acclaimed but short-lived TV series Joe Bash, created by Danny Arnold (Barney Miller). A comedy-drama that followed the life of lonely, world-weary, and sometimes compromised New York City beat cop whose closest friend was a prostitute played by actress DeLane Matthews.^[10]

Later life and career

In 1990, Boyle suffered a stroke that rendered him speechless for six months. After recovering, he went on to win an Emmy Award in 1996 as Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his appearance on The X-Files. In the episode, "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose", he played an insurance salesman who can see selected things in the near future, particularly others' deaths. Boyle also guest starred in two episodes as Bill Church in Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

Boyle was perhaps most widely known for his role as the deadpan, cranky Frank Barone in the popular CBS television sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, which aired from 1996 to 2005. The show was shot in Los Angeles, to which Boyle commuted from his New York City home. He was nominated for an Emmy seven times for this role, but never won (beaten out multiple times in the Supporting Actor category by his co-star Brad Garrett), though fellow co-stars Garrett, Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton, and Boyle's TV wife Doris Roberts won at least one Emmy each for their performances.

In 1999, he had a heart attack on the set of Everybody Loves Raymond. He soon regained his health and returned to the series.

In 2005 and 2006 he made several appearances on the Comedy Central show Mind of Mencia as himself, mostly delivering "cranky old person" one-liners. Show host Carlos Mencia gave a short tribute to Boyle consisting of his most memorable jokes on the show at the beginning of its third season in 2007.

Death

On December 12, 2006, Boyle died in New York City at New York Presbyterian Hospital after suffering from multiple myeloma and heart disease. He was 71 years old.

At the time of his death, Boyle had completed the film All Roads Lead Home, and was scheduled to appear in the film Chatham.

Awards and nominations

• Emmy Award

Nomination (1977) — Lead Actor in a Drama or Comedy Special: Tail Gunner Joe

Nomination (1989) — Guest Actor in a Drama Series: J.J. Killian in Midnight Caller episode "Fathers and Sins"

Win (1996) — Guest Actor in a Drama Series: Clyde Bruckman in The X-Files episode "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose"

Nominations (1999-2005) — Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Everybody Loves Raymond

• Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award

The cast of Everybody Loves Raymond was nominated for Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series each year from 1999-2000 and 2002-2006. Boyle was additionally nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series in 2002.^[11]

Trivia

• Boyle met Alterman on the set of Young Frankenstein while she was there as a reporter for Rolling Stone. He was still in his Frankenstein makeup when he asked her for a date.^[12] Through Alterman and her friend Yoko Ono, Boyle became friends with John Lennon, who was the best man at Boyle and Alterman's 1977 wedding.^[13] Boyle and his wife have two daughters, Lucy and Amy.
• When he hosted Saturday Night Live on February 14, 1976, Boyle had the opportunity to demonstrate his singing voice on screen. He also participated in the sketch "Dueling Brandos", a take-off on the "Dueling Banjos" scene in the movie Deliverance, with Boyle and John Belushi competitively trading off Marlon Brando impressions rather than banjo licks.
• Boyle's vocal talent was also demonstrated during a karaoke scene in Everybody Loves Raymond.
• Boyle had a role in all three of The Santa Clause films. In The Santa Clause, he plays Scott Calvin's boss. In The Santa Clause 2 and The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, he plays Father Time.
• He appears in Sony Music's unaired Roger Waters' music video "Three Wishes" (1992) as a scruffy genie in a dirty coat and red scarf, who tries to tempt Waters at a desert diner. Videos, both aired and unaired, are routinely distributed to the music press; this clip appears on fan-made, bootleg video compilations.^[14][15]
• Introduced by Carlos Mencia as the most honest man in show business, Boyle made guest appearances on three episodes of the Comedy Central program Mind of Mencia (one appearance was shown as a tribute in a segment he made before he died), in which he read hate mail, explained the "hidden meanings" behind bumper stickers, and, on occasion, told star Carlos Mencia how he felt about him.
• Starting in late 2005, Boyle and former TV wife Doris Roberts appear in TV commercials for the 75th anniversary of Alka-Seltzer, reprising the famous line, "I can't believe I ate that whole thing!" Although this quote has entered into popular culture, it is often misquoted as, "...the whole thing."^[16]

Quotes

Ray Romano: "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. ... To get the audience to hate your character ... but love you is unique".^[17]

Footnotes

Wikipedia information about Peter Boyle This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Peter Boyle". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.