Actor and Comedian Ray Romano (star of Everybody Loves Raymond) and his long-time manager and show Executive Producer Rory Rosegarten were recently inducted into the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame (LIMEHOF) at their Stony Brook Village location (97 Main Street).
The two have the distinct honor of being the first entertainment (non-music related) inductees in the organization’s 22-year history. The event was open to the public and completely sold out to room capacity. The event was more than just an induction; it was a powerful insight into the value of family, friendship, hard work and lucky timing in making up the road to success in a 40-year journey that led to the Hall of Fame.
“I am thrilled that our first non-music inductees are Ray Romano and his longtime manager, Rory Rosegarten,” said Ernie Canadeo, LIMEHOF Chairman. “Our very successful “Everybody Loves Raymond – Celebrating 30 Years” exhibition has been hugely successful and would not have been possible without their input and support. As our organization has expanded from music to include entertainment, they are worthy inductees into our Hall of Fame.”
LIMEHOF inductees need to have either been born on Long Island (including Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk Counties) or have lived on Long Island for a significant amount of time. Ray Romano was born in Queens (which LIMEHOF considers part of Long Island) and Rory Rosegarten is a long time Nassau County resident who grew up in Great Neck.
Since 2006, LIMEHOF has inducted over 140 Long Islanders from the music industry. The two are now the first entertainment inductees joining an impressive line-up of talent from Long Island including Billy Joel, Tony Bennett, Joan Jett, Cyndi Lauper, Debbie Gibson, Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, George Gershwin, Harry Chapin, Neil Sedaka, Lou Reed, Barbara Strisand, and Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, and Peter Criss of KISS, and many others.
The event also featured a comedy set by comedian Paul Anthony and a music performance featuring songs from the show ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ by the LIMEHOF Orchestra, directed by musician Jack Licitra and featuring upcoming musician Albert Liu.
During the induction ceremony, career highlight videos were shown and, in their speeches, Ray and Rory reflected not only on their careers, but also their friendship. The inductions were quite emotional with each of them thanking their families, friends and co-workers for the success that propelled them to the Hall of Fame. Both recognized that their 40-year partnership and friendship was a large part of the success that led to the induction and that neither one would be there without the other. They got there by working together.
“Being born and raised in New York, it’s a huge honor for me to be inducted into the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame,” Romano said. “Their ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ exhibit is the closest thing to time travel for me, transporting me back to a magical period in my life both personally and professionally.”
“In the late 80’s at the KROCK Comedy competition in New York City, I saw a comedian [Romano] from Queens for the first time,” said Rosegarten. “I fell in love with his comedy. I thought he was brilliant. I had no idea he would become such a huge star. I just knew that he was incredibly funny and I wanted to work with him really badly. I became Ray’s manager and I’ve been his manager ever since, his first and only. Working with Ray is the most important business accomplishment of my entire life. To this day it simply makes me happy and proud.”
“In 1996, Everybody Loves Raymond premiered on CBS, followed by 9 seasons and 210 episodes,” Rosegarten said. “I flew to L.A. from New York 28 weeks a year for 9 years which is kind of ironic considering the show took place on Long Island. The Barones lived in Lynbrook and Raymond was a sports columnist for Newsday. For 9 years, we put Long Island into millions of living rooms every week. The love, the arguing and the parents who live way too close.”
And successful it was. Everybody Loves Raymond earned 15 Primetime Emmy Awards out of 69 total nominations throughout its nine-season run from 1996–2005.
Ray went on to prove that with his comedic delivery and timing he is just as talented of a comedian as the musicians in the hall are at music. He shared his comic genius and style of self-depreciating humor; rocking the packed hall with the sound of laughter from his opening line.
“I really think luck is the theme of tonight,” Ray started. “I was so lucky that 40 years ago you (Rory) saw me in a comedy competition and in your head you said, ‘I want 15% of everything that guy makes,’” Romano joked. “And it was equally as lucky that my wife saw me and said, ‘I’ll take whatever’s left.’”
Ray went on to tell behind the scenes stories from Everybody Loves Raymond and thanked and Phil Rosenthal, Patricia Heaton, Doris Roberts, Peter Boyle, Brad Garrett and the writers and crew of the show and credited them with the show’s success. He shared stories about his career and most significant was following a set-back after Ray’s brief two-day stint on the 90’s show News Radio. The story showed how a setback turned into a positive move that led to a greater outcome of the show that we all know and love.
Ray’s brother Richard, who was the inspiration for his brother on the show and who came up with the title of the show, was present.
Ray said the best piece of advice he gives people is to “marry a woman from Queens or Long Island because they’re going to keep it real. If you get successful and you get big, you know you’re not.”
He shared a story about when he won his first Emmy. His wife said, “I hope you win tonight and if you do, and you go up there and in front of everybody you say, ‘you love me,’ don’t think it makes up for never saying it when you’re down here”
Right before the event, the Town of Hempstead made a special presentation of the keys to the Town of Hempstead to Ray Romano and Rory Rosegarten, crediting them with making Lynbrook more famous by setting ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ there.
