Patricia Heaton (born March 4, 1958 in Bay Village, Ohio) is an Emmy Award-winning American actress best known for playing lead character and Ray Barone's wife Debra Barone on the CBS
television sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. She recently made a return to
television opposite Kelsey Grammer in the FOX comedy series Back To You.
Childhood and family
Heaton was the second youngest of five children born to an Irish American
Roman Catholic family in Bay Village,
Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. Her father is well-known Cleveland Plain Dealer sportswriter, Chuck Heaton. Patricia spent her grade school
years attending St. Raphael Elementary School in Bay Village, Ohio.
When Heaton was twelve, her mother died.[1] Heaton has three sisters, Sharon, Alice, and Frances, and one brother, Michael, who is the
"Minister of Culture" columnist for Cleveland Plain Dealer and a
writer for the paper's Friday Magazine.
Her memoir, Motherhood and Hollywood: How to Get a Job Like Mine, was published by Villard Books in 2002. Heaton has
been married to British actor David Hunt
since 1990. The couple has four sons: Sam Hunt (b. 1994); John Basil Hunt (b. 1996); Joseph Charles 'Joe' Hunt (b. 1997); and
Daniel Patrick 'Dan' Hunt (b. January 20, 1999). They divide
their time between Los Angeles and England,
where they own a country estate. Her first marriage (1984-1987) ended in divorce.
Heaton was once quoted as saying "once a Catholic, always a Catholic";[citation needed] however, she now attends an evangelical Presbyterian church with Hunt and their kids. She
has neither left the Roman Catholic Church nor converted to Presbyterianism.
Career
After graduating from Ohio State University, where she became a sister of Delta
Gamma Sorority, with a B.A. in drama in 1980, Heaton
moved to New York City to study with drama teacher William
Esper.
Theater
Heaton made her only Broadway appearance in the chorus of the Don't Get God Started (1987), after which she and fellow students created Stage Three, an
off-Broadway acting troupe.
In January 2007, Heaton returned to the stage to co-star with Tony Shalhoub in the
Off-Broadway play The Scene at Second Stage Theater in New
York City.[2] For this performance, Heaton has been
nominated in the Outstanding Lead Actress category for the 22nd Lucille Lortel
Awards.
Television
When Stage Three brought one of their productions to Los Angeles, Heaton
caught the eye of a casting director for the ABC drama thirtysomething. She was cast as an oncologist,
leading to six appearances on the series from 1989-1991. Other TV guest appearances include: Alien Nation (1989), Matlock (1990), Party of Five (1996), The King of Queens (1999),
and Danny Phantom (2004).
Heaton was featured in three short-lived sitcoms - Room for Two (1992) with
Linda Lavin, Someone Like Me (1994), and
Women of the House (1995) with Delta
Burke - before landing the plum role of beleaguered wife, mother, and in-law Debra
Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond (1996 - 2005) with
Ray Romano, Doris Roberts, Peter Boyle, Brad Garrett, and Monica
Horan. She was nominated in each of the series' last seven seasons for the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Emmy, winning the award twice. She has also collected two Viewers
for Quality Television awards and a Screen Actors Guild trophy for her work
on the series.
Starting September 2007, Heaton is scheduled to co-star with Kelsey Grammer in
Back to You, a new situation comedy on FOX.
Film
Heaton's television movies include Shattered Dreams (1990), Miracle in the Woods (1997), A Town Without
Christmas (2001), as well as the remake of Neil Simon's The Goodbye Girl (2004) with Jeff Daniels, and
The Engagement Ring (2005), both for TNT.
Heaton also played former U.S. Ambassador to Yemen, Barbara
Bodine, in the controversial 2006 ABC docudrama The Path to 9/11. Her
feature films include Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992),
Beethoven (1992), The New Age
(1994), and Space Jam (1996).
Other credits
In 2003, Heaton appeared in a series of television and radio commercials as spokesperson for the various incarnations of the
grocery chain Albertsons, such as Acme,
Jewel, Shaw's, and Albertsons. In 2007,
Albertsons created the Crazy About Food slogan and campaign and decided they no longer needed Heaton.[3] She has also appeared in advertisements for Pantene hair-care products.
Political advocacy
Heaton is supportive of pro-life groups and causes, opposing abortion, euthanasia, and the death
penalty. According to The New York Times, Heaton also supports
gay rights and the use of most birth
control.[1]
Heaton's advocacy became particularly visible during the debate regarding Terri
Schiavo.[4] In addition, Heaton is Honorary Chair of
Feminists for Life, a non-partisan organization which opposes abortion and
embryonic stem cell research and supports other pro-life causes.
In October 2006, Heaton appeared in a commercial opposing a Missouri state constitutional amendment concerning embryonic stem cell research, which subsequently passed. The
ad was a response to Michael J. Fox's ad supporting the amendment and the election of
Democratic Senate hopeful Claire McCaskill. Appearing with Heaton were actor
Jim Caviezel, Jeff Suppan of the Milwaukee Brewers, Mike Sweeney of the Kansas City Royals and Arizona Cardinals quarterback
Kurt Warner, formerly of the St. Louis Rams.
[5] Heaton later said she regretted doing the ad and sent
an apology to Fox saying she wasn't aware of Fox's ad before she did hers.[1]
Heaton is also part of several other organizations, including Heifer
International, a nonprofit world-hunger organization.
Emmy Awards
Heaton has won two Emmy Awards:
Other nominations were :
- 1999 - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - Everybody Loves Raymond
- 2002 - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - Everybody Loves Raymond
- 2003 - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - Everybody Loves Raymond
- 2004 - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - Everybody Loves Raymond
- 2005 - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - Everybody Loves Raymond
See also
Notes and references
Motherhood and Hollywood: How to Get a Job Like Mine
External links
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