Peter Boyle's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) Everybody Loves Raymond Frank Barone Joe Bash Joe Bash Tribeca Harry

Main Movie Roles 2008 - All Roads Lead Home 2006 - The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause 2003 - A Decade Under the Influence 2002 - The Adventures of Pluto Nash 2001 - Monster's Ball 1998 - Species II 1998 - Dr. Dolittle 1997 - That Darn Cat 1995 - While You Were Sleeping 1994 - The Shadow 1994 - The Santa Clause 1992 - Death and the Compass 1992 - Honeymoon in Vegas 1992 - Malcolm X 1991 - Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook 1990 - Solar Crisis 1989 - Speed Zone! 1989 - The Dream Team 1988 - Red Heat 1985 - turk 182! 1984 - Johnny Dangerously 1983 - Yellowbeard 1982 - Hammett 1981 - Outland 1980 - Where The Buffalo Roam 1979 - Beyond the Poseidon Adventure 1979 - Hardcore 1978 - The Brink's Job 1978 - F.I.S.T 1976 - Taxi Driver 1976 - Swashbuckler 1974 - Young Frankenstein 1973 - The Friends of Eddie Coyle 1972 - The Candidate 1970 - Diary of a Mad Housewife

BIOGRAPHY:

A bold, blunt instrument of hatred and violence at the onset of his film career, Peter Boyle recoiled from that repugnant, politically incorrect "working class" image to eventually play gruff, gentler bears and even comedy monsters in a career that lasted four decades. He was born on October 18, 1935, in Norristown, Pennsylvania, but eventually moved to Philadelphia where his father, Peter Sr., was a sought-after local TV personality and children's show host. Following a solid Irish-Catholic upbringing (he attended a Catholic high school), Peter was a sensitive youth and joined the Christian Brothers religious order at one point while attending La Salle University in Philadelphia. He left the monastery after only a few years when he "lost" his calling.

Bent on an acting career, Boyle initially studied with guru Uta Hagen in New York. The tall (6'2"), hulking, prematurely bald actor wannabe struggled through a variety of odd jobs (postal worker, waiter, bouncer) while simultaneously building up his credits on stage and waiting for that first big break. Things started progressing for him after appearing in the national company of "The Odd Couple" in 1965 and landing TV commercials on the sly. In the late 60s he joined Chicago's Second City improv group and made his Broadway debut as a replacement for Peter Bonerz in Paul Sills' "Story Theatre" (1971) (Sills was the founder of Second City). Peter's breakout film role did not come without controversy as the hateful, hardhat-donning bigot-turned-murderer Joe (1970) in a tense, violence-prone film directed by John G. Avildsen. The role led to major notoriety, however, and some daunting supporting parts in T.R. Baskin (1971), Slither (1973) and as Robert Redford (I)'s calculating campaign manager in The Candidate (1972). During this time his political radicalism found a visible platform after joining Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland (I) on anti-war crusades, which would include the anti-establishment picture Steelyard Blues (1973). This period also saw the forging of a strong friendship with former Beatle John Lennon (I).

Destined to be cast as monstrous undesirables throughout much of his career, he played a monster of another sort in his early film days, and thus avoided a complete stereotype as a film abhorrent. His hilarious, sexually potent Frankenstein's Monster in the cult Mel Brooks spoof Young Frankenstein (1974) saw him in a sympathetic and certainly more humorous vein. His creature's first public viewing, in which Boyle shares an adroit tap-dancing scene with "creator" Gene Wilder in full Fred Astaire regalia, was a show-stopping audience pleaser. Late 70s filmgoers continued to witness Boyle in seamy, urban settings with brutish roles in Taxi Driver (1976) and Hardcore (1979). At the same time he addressed several TV mini-movie roles with the same brilliant darkness such as his Senator Joe McCarthy in Tail Gunner Joe (1977) (TV), for which he received an Emmy nomination, and his murderous, knife-wielding Fatso in the miniseries remake of "From Here to Eternity" (1979).

While the following decade found Peter in predominantly less noteworthy filming and a short-lived TV series lead as remote cop "Joe Bash" (1986), the 90s brought him Emmy glory (for a guest episode on "X Files"). Despite a blood clot-induced stroke in 1990 that impaired his speech for six months, he ventured on and capped his enviable career on TV wielding funny but crass one-liners in the Archie Bunker mold on the long-running sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond" (1996). A major Emmy blunder had Boyle earning seven nominations for his Frank Barrone character without a win, the only prime player on the show unhonored. He survived a heart attack while on the set of "Everybody Loves Raymond" in 1999, but managed to return full time until its cancellation in 2005.

Following a superb turn as Billy Bob Thornton's unrepentantly racist father in the sobering Oscar-winner Monster's Ball (2001), the remainder of his films were primarily situated in frivolous comedy fare such as The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002), The Santa Clause 2 (2002), Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004), and The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006), typically playing cranky curmudgeons. Boyle died of multiple myeloma (bone-marrow cancer) and heart disease at New York Presbyterian Hospital in 2006, and was survived by his wife Lorraine and two children. He was 71.


TRIVIA:

• Peter's wife 'Loraine Alterman Boyle' (qv) was a reporter for "Rolling Stone" magazine when they first met - he was in his full make-up for _Young Frankenstein (1974)_ (qv). Through her friendship with 'Yoko Ono (I)' (qv), Peter met and became best friends with ex-Beatle 'John Lennon (I)' (qv). Lennon served as best man at their wedding. Their first child Lucy was born two days after Lennon's murder in 1980.
• Received a special tribute as part of the Annual Memorial tribute at _The 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007) (TV)_ (qv).
• After seeing people cheer at his role in _Joe (1970)_ (qv), he refused the lead role in _The French Connection (1971)_ (qv) and other roles that glamorized violence.
• Is Irish-American.
• Suffered a stroke in 1990 and couldn't talk for 6 months.
• Father hosted a popular children's lunchtime cartoon show in Philadelphia in the 1950s titled "Lunch with Uncle Pete."
• In 1999, he suffered a heart attack on the set of "Everybody Loves Raymond". He quickly recovered health, and returned to the series.
• Was the only member of the ensemble cast of _"Everybody Loves Raymond" (1996)_ (qv) who didn't win an Emmy award for acting in a comedy series.