All About Ray Romano's Brothers, Richard and Robert Romano

Ray Romano’s brothers, Robert and Richard, influenced his hit sitcom ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’

Ray Romano is the middle child between his two brothers, Richard and Robert.

Ray’s older brother Richard was an NYPD cop for 20 years before becoming a teacher. His younger brother Robert has the same profession and taught second-graders. Growing up, the brothers all shared the same bedroom, and while they always loved each other they sometimes fought.

“We never had fistfights," Richard told Houston Chronicle in 2005, "but we wrestled a lot.”

Throughout their lives, all three have remained incredibly close and have even collaborated together numerous times throughout the years.

So, who are Richard and Robert Romano? Here's everything to know about Ray Romano's brothers.

All three brothers wrote a children’s book together in 2005

In 2005, Ray, Richard, and Robert all collaborated on the children’s book Raymie, Dickie, and the Bean. The book follows the three young Romano brothers as they spend a day at a theme park. Though they bicker at times, the book shows the power of siblinghood and the joys that come from it.

In a 2005 interview with The Spokesman-Review, Ray explained how he ended up getting his brothers to collaborate on the project after he was approached to write a children’s book. “I thought about what would I write about if I did do it,” the actor said, “and when I thought of childhood, all I thought about was these guys. Then I thought, why not do it with them?”

In that same interview, the brothers discussed the name “Bean” in the book’s title, revealing that to this day, they still call Robert by his childhood nickname, “The Bean."

Richard and Robert both have appeared in Ray’s TV shows

The hit sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond was heavily inspired by the real lives and families of Ray and the show’s creator Phil Rosenthal.

Keeping the show a true family affair, both of Ray’s brothers held guest spots on the series. Robert appeared on a season 5 episode in 2001, and from 1998-2004 Richard appeared on the show several times, playing various characters.

In 2010, Richard was able to team up with Ray again, holding a guest spot on his series Men of a Certain Age.

Richard gave Everybody Loves Raymond its name

In a 2019 interview with NPR, Ray said that his show Everybody Loves Raymond got its name from the way his brother Richard used to poke fun at him.

“This is a quote from my brother, my real-life brother, who was a police officer,” Ray said. “And he'd see — what? — I got an award, or I got something for stand-up comedy. And he would jokingly, kind of tongue-in-cheek he'd say, well, look at Raymond. Raymond gets awards when he goes to work. You know, when I go to work, people shoot at me. People spit at me. When Raymond goes, everybody loves Raymond.”

In the interview, Ray also said he told the story to Rosenthal, who immediately loved it and decided to call the show Everybody Loves Raymond.

The character Robert Barone is based on Ray’s brothers

When speaking to NPR, Ray said that Brad Garrett’s character Robert Barone is based on his older brother Richard.

Despite Garrett’s more goofy and comedic approach to the character, Ray told NPR that his brother was still thrilled to be source material for the show. “He met Brad,” Ray said, “and he told Brad that he's proud that he's portraying him.”

While the character’s inspiration came from Richard, he’s named after Ray’s younger brother Robert, thanks to their mom. Ray told CBS News that when he was trying to think of a name for the character, his mom came up with the idea. “Of course, my mother said, 'How about Robert?' ” he said.

Ray also told CBS News they considered calling Garrett’s character “The Bean” but ultimately decided against it, saying, “That just didn't fit."

Richard wrote a screenplay in 2013

Richard is a Christian and after retiring from the NYPD he became determined to investigate the death and alleged resurrection of Jesus.

In 2013 he wrote the screenplay for the film The Investigator which details his journey of researching Jesus’ crucifixion. His brother Robert also had a small role in the movie.

The Investigator had a limited release in a handful of theaters, and Ray supported his brother by attending the movie’s premiere in St. Petersburg, Florida.

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