•
Ray Barone (
Ray Romano) is a sportswriter for
Newsday. He lives in
Lynbrook,
Long Island with his wife, Debra, and their three children Alexandra ("Ally"), Geoffrey, and Michael. His parents Frank and Marie and brother Robert live across the street. Raymond's character is loosely based on the real-life Romano, as he is the father of twin boys and a girl. Ray is emotionally unable to take any sort of stand on anything, especially if it brings him to any sort of conflict with his mother—the exception is when he protests about sex or some trivial matter. Raymond's mother favors him over Robert. •
Debra Barone (
Patricia Heaton) is Raymond's wife, and mother of Ally, Michael and Geoffrey. As a housewife, Debra claims she is frequently overworked, underappreciated, and stressed out. This leads to her yelling and occasionally attacking inanimate objects, largely because she has to deal with all the housework and her three rambunctious children with almost no assistance or support from Raymond; additionally, she constantly puts up with Marie's intrusiveness and criticism. On frequent occasions this frustration boils over and is vented towards Raymond. While Debra has a fractious relationship with Marie, she is shown to share many tender moments with Robert, and occasionally Frank. •
Robert Barone (
Brad Garrett) is Raymond's older brother and the son of Frank and Marie. Standing at , he is the tallest Barone, and has several quirks, the biggest being a nervous habit of touching food to his chin before eating it, once referred to as "crazy chin". Robert is often jealous of the attention that Raymond receives from their mother, to the exclusion of his every achievement. Robert has been a
New York City police officer for over 23 years (explicitly stated as 15 years early in season 1) and attains the rank of lieutenant by the end of the series. His height, appearance, and depressed demeanor are the source of much humor. However, despite his imposing size, Robert is a very skilled dancer. Divorced from first wife Joanne prior to the beginning of the series, he is frequently unlucky with women, until his on-off relationship with his girlfriend Amy McDougall finally results in marriage. Also, despite his tough appearance, he appears to be more sensitive, affectionate, tender and open to sharing his emotions compared to the rest of his family. •
Marie Barone (
Doris Roberts) is Raymond and Robert's mother and the wife of Frank. Intrusive, controlling, manipulative, and over-nurturing (at least with Raymond), she is a housewife who excels in cooking, cleaning, and other things dealing with keeping a good home and family. Marie and Frank live across the street from Raymond and Debra in
Lynbrook,
Long Island, New York, which often irritates the latter couple. Marie's meddling tendencies include going through their mail, redoing their laundry, and upstaging Debra in the kitchen. She also goes to great lengths to control Robert's love life and get him to settle down and bring her more grandchildren. •
Frank Barone (
Peter Boyle) is Raymond and Robert's father and Marie's husband, a retired
bookkeeper, and registered real estate agent, with a stubborn masculine personality and no interest in personal hygiene. A
United States Army veteran, Frank served in the
Korean War, which he frequently brings up to everyone's annoyance. He mocks his sons' inability to handle their own personal and domestic problems; unlike his sons, he is not intimidated by Marie and disparages her regularly with little to no provocation. Although both he and Marie maintain that he only married her for her cooking, he is shown to care about her genuinely. He is a member of the Order of the Caribou Lodge, and was named Man of the Year by his fellow members. •
Amy MacDougall (
Monica Horan) (recurring seasons 1–7, starring seasons 8 & 9) becomes Robert Barone's second wife (in season 7, after years of dating), and is the best friend of Debra, who introduces her to Robert. A recurring character for the first seven seasons of the series, Amy became essentially a regular cast member for the remainder of the show's run. However, Horan's name did not get added to the opening credits until the final season. Many issues cause Amy and Robert to break up in the first six seasons, with one being blamed on Raymond, and another happening because Robert was seeing other women, one of whom was his ex-wife. Quite often, Amy apologizes to someone even if she did not do anything wrong. She was born to very religious parents who, according to Amy, "wouldn't yell if they were on fire." In real life, Horan is married to creator/executive producer
Philip Rosenthal. •
Ally Barone (
Madylin Sweeten) is the daughter of Raymond and Debra. She is the oldest of the Barone children. She is not seen much, even though she is credited in the main cast. She is said to be a better cook than her mother, and maybe someday her grandmother. In real life, Madylin is the sister of Sawyer and Sullivan Sweeten. •
Geoffrey Barone (
Sawyer Sweeten) and
Michael Barone (Sullivan Sweeten) are the twin sons of Raymond and Debra. Their names in the pilot were Gregory and Matthew. In real life, twins Sawyer and Sullivan are brothers of Madylin Sweeten. == Development ==