This is a list of fictional characters from Everybody Loves Raymond, an American sitcom, originally broadcast on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005.

The show revolves around the life of Italian-American Ray Barone, a sportswriter from Long Island, and his wife, Debra Barone. Other main characters include Ray's parents, Frank and Marie Barone, Ray's children Ally, Michael, and Geoffrey Barone, and Ray's brother Robert Barone, with his wife Amy Barone.

Some of the main characters had crossover appearances in other sitcoms, including The King of Queens, The Nanny, Becker, and Cosby.

Overview Character Actor Seasons 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9Ensemble cast Ray Barone Ray Romano colspan="9" Debra Barone Patricia Heaton colspan="9" Marie Barone Doris Roberts colspan="9" Frank Barone Peter Boyle colspan="9" Robert Barone Brad Garrett colspan="9" Ally Barone Madylin Sweeten colspan="9" Amy MacDougall Monica Horan colspan="7" colspan="2" Geoffrey Barone Sullivan Sweeten colspan="9" Michael Barone Sawyer Sweeten colspan="9" Recurring characters Bernie Gruenfelder Tom McGowan colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="3" colspan="1" Linda Gruenfelder Maggie Wheeler colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="1" Suzy Susan Varon colspan="1" colspan="3" colspan="1" colspan="4" Angelina Tina Arning colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="6" Nemo Joseph V. Perry, Robert Ruth colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="1" colspan="4" Mel Barone Phil Leeds colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="7" Garvin Len Lesser colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" Stan Victor Raider-Wexler colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" Warren Whelan Robert Culp colspan="2" colspan="1" colspan="2" colspan="1" colspan="2" colspan="1" Lois Whelan Katherine Helmond colspan="6" colspan="1" colspan="2" Andy Andy Kindler colspan="5" colspan="1" colspan="2" colspan="1" Doug Heffernan Kevin James colspan="1" colspan="2" colspan="6" Shamsky II (dog) Uncredited colspan="3" colspan="6" Gianni Jon Manfrellotti colspan="1" colspan="8" Judy Potter Sherri Shepherd colspan="1" colspan="2" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="2" Father Hubley Charles Durning colspan="1" colspan="2" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="3" Gerard Fred Stoller colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="2" Bill Parker David Hunt colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="3" Joanne Glotz Suzie Plakson colspan="3" colspan="2" colspan="4" Marco Fogagnolo David Proval colspan="4" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="3" Stefania Fogagnolo Alex Meneses colspan="4" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="2" colspan="1" Peggy Ardolino Amy Aquino colspan="5" colspan="4" Molly Ardolino Alexandra Romano colspan="5" colspan="2" colspan="1" colspan="2" Hank MacDougall Fred Willard colspan="6" colspan="3" Pat MacDougall Georgia Engel colspan="6" colspan="3" Peter MacDougall Chris Elliott colspan="6" colspan="3"

Main characters Ray Barone

Raymond Albert "Ray" Barone (Ray Romano) is the protagonist of the show. He lives on Long Island, with his wife, Debra Barone, and their three children, daughter Ally Barone and twin boys Michael and Geoffrey Barone. The family lives across the street from Raymond's parents, Marie and Frank. Ray attended St. John's University in Queens, New York. He is well-known and well-liked in his community as a result of his profession as a sportswriter for Newsday, later being promoted to chief sports writer. In the early episodes, he is sometimes seen interviewing a famous sportsperson, but this happens less frequently in the later seasons. Due to the nature of his work, Ray is often seen on the couch watching sports, rather than assisting Debra with household duties and the children. His attempts to have sex with Debra are a recurring theme of the show.

Raymond rants in a nasal, whiny voice, but he also wants to be liked by everyone he meets regardless of his reputation in the community, occasionally to the point of appearing neurotic. As a result, he finds it difficult to confront people, especially his mother, Marie.

Parts of his backstory explain Raymond's attitude and personality; as a child, Raymond was spoiled rotten by Marie and had behavioral problems among his peers. His father, Frank, worked long hours and rarely showed him and Robert any forms of affection. Unfortunately, Ray sometimes displays a similar pattern of behavior with his children.

Raymond's laziness and immaturity as a result of his mother's coddling is another major running gag in the show. Very often, to defend himself from Debra during conflicts, he goes to his mother for advice and protection. He is also very scared of her and often sides with her instead of Debra.

Despite him constantly trying to avoid his obnoxious parents who interfere with his life on a daily basis, it is perfectly clear that he still loves and cares for them.

In 2004, TV Guide ranked Ray Barone number 10 on its '50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time' list.

The character has made several crossover appearances: 1997: Cosby – "Lucas Raymondicus" 1998: The Nanny – "The Reunion Show" 1998–2005: The King of Queens (4 episodes) 1999: Becker – "Drive, They Said"

Ray Barone made his final character appearance in an episode of The King of Queens that aired after Everybody Loves Raymond ended.

Debra Barone

Debra Louise Barone (née Whelan) (Patricia Heaton) is Ray Barone's wife. She was raised by wealthy parents, Lois and Warren Whelan, and grew up in an upper-class background, unlike the other major characters. She has a sister, Jennifer Whelan, who is only seen once in the entire series. Following her graduation from high school, she travelled a lot and dated a few famous sportsmen. Before marrying Ray, she worked in public relations for the New York Rangers hockey team.

Debra is vulnerable and emotionally sensitive. She is sometimes unhappy as a housewife, having to put up not only with Ray's jokes and laziness, but more with his intrusive family members, who very often barge in uninvited, leaving havoc in their wake. Though Ray's parents frustrate her, she rarely shows her feelings to them, resulting in occasional bursts in private of yelling, stomping, and throwing objects. Debra does, however, subject her husband to infrequent bouts of verbal abuse, yelling at and insulting him whenever Ray messes up even over the smallest things. Occasionally, she has also been physically abusive towards him, once shoving him into a bookcase in a fit of rage.

Debra has a feud with her mother-in-law Marie Barone, who shows distrust of her ability to be a mother and a wife. Throughout the series, Debra often finds Robert Barone easily the nicest and friendliest of the Barones, and at times she is shown to get along with Frank Barone, who thinks of her as a daughter and understands Debra's resentment of Marie. Despite the frustration she often holds on Ray's parents, it is evident that she still loves and cares for them, as well as Robert and Ray.

She is also depressed about her parents when they argue, and she is distraught when she finds out they are divorcing. Even though she grew up in a traditional conservative family, she was a free-spirited and a popular teen in her early years. Ray once noted that, during college, she went to Mardi Gras and flashed her breasts to many people who gave her beads and also ended up topless in the newspaper, much to her horror and fury.

The character has also appeared in the King of Queens episode "Dire Strayts".

Marie Barone

Marie Barone (née Janella) (Doris Roberts) is the wife of Frank, and matriarch of the Barone family. As a housewife, she excels in household duties, including cooking, cleaning, and keeping and maintaining a good household. She is very nosy, snobbish, and insulting, and has a strong hold over her family, using guilt and a victim complex to get her way. Her penchant for this type of behavior becomes a focal point of many episodes of the show. She has very high self-esteem and regards herself as a positive example of what every wife, mother and woman should be, but is also responsible, at least in part, for much of the misery and conflict within the Barone family. She takes special pride in the family's Italian heritage and even arranges a vacation to Italy for them out of her own savings.

Throughout the series, she is shown to have favorites with certain people, with her younger son, Raymond, being the first and her daughter-in-law, Debra being possibly the last. Other than Frank, nearly everyone has a hard time standing up to Marie due to her ability to make people feel guilty, although Debra does occasionally take a stand. She is well aware of Raymond's reluctance to stand up to her, and in many situations takes advantage of this to achieve her own interests.

It is established in the flashbacks of "How They Met" that she has never liked Debra, even back when Ray and Debra were dating. Marie has never admitted her dislike of Debra outright and is careful about not saying it out loud, but she jumps at most every chance to annoy her or indirectly insult her on many occasions just for her own pleasure.

She has saved a little money on the side every day and admitted to Debra that she collected over $46,000 since her wedding. Marie is also shown to actually control the family's finances in front of Frank, who had always thought he was the one in charge and remained oblivious to much of her savings or expenses.

As her boys were growing up, she spoiled Raymond rotten while mostly allowing Robert to fend for himself. In a later episode, she claims that this was because Robert was able to take care of himself and was independent, in contrast to Ray who was a sensitive, timid, needy little boy (much to Ray's complete shock). For example, in the season 7 episode "The Disclipinarian", Robert remembers how Marie always let Ray play and always put him on chores. However, this was just said to manipulate Robert into getting Amy MacDougall pregnant. Marie then winks to Ray, indicating this is another manipulation. In some cases, however, she is shown to care and be overprotective of Robert as well. This includes when he had nightmares growing up, when his first wife announced her intention to divorce him and Marie threw her out of the house, when he was attacked by a bull on the job, when he was interviewing for an FBI position, and her frequent attempts to get Robert out of the police force in an effort to keep him safe.

Marie is also seen constantly arguing with Frank in nearly every episode, with them constantly fighting and annoying each other. However, in some situations, there have been times when they do evidence their love for one another, despite their reluctance to be open with it. Much to Debra's annoyance, even Debra's parents find them more interesting, since they are honest to each other.

Her catchphrase is "I don't like that, [insert name]." whenever anyone says anything inappropriate.

The final episode reveals that her birthday is December 9 (this was one of Frank's classic "one-liners" as he adds "1802").

The character has also appeared in the King of Queens episode "Rayny Day".

Frank Barone