Patricia Heaton (born March 4, 1958) is an American actress best-known for co-starring as the wife of the title character in the CBS comedy series Everybody Loves Raymond.
She was born in Bay Village, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of well-known Cleveland Plain Dealer sportswriter Chuck Heaton . She moved to New York City to study with drama teacher William Esper after graduating from Ohio State University.
She made her Broadway debut in the musical Don't Get God Started, after which she and fellow students created Stage Three, an off-Broadway acting troupe. When they brought one of their productions to Los Angeles, Heaton caught the eye of a casting director for the ABC drama thirtysomething, leading to three appearances on the series. She was featured in three unsuccessful 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 beleagured wife, mother, and in-law Debra Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond (1996 - 2005) with Ray Romano. Since 1999, she has been nominated every year for an 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.
Heaton's television movies include Shattered Dreams, Miracle in the Woods, A Town Without Christmas, and the remake of Neil Simon's The Goodbye Girl with Jeff Daniels for TNT. Her feature films include Memoirs of an Invisible Man , Beethoven, and Space Jam.
Heaton is a pro-life activist and is the honorary chairperson of Feminists for Life, a nonsectarian, nonpartisan organization opposed to domestic violence, child abuse, infanticide, and abortion. She is an outspoken Republican.
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 businessman David Hunt II since 1990. The couple has four sons (all delivered by Caesarean) and divides their time between Los Angeles and England, where they own a country estate. She also had a brief marriage (1984-1987) that ended in divorce.
Since 2003, Heaton has appeared in a series of television and radio commercials as spokesperson for the Albertson's grocery store chain.
While Heaton has been quoted as saying "...once a Catholic, always a Catholic..." according to her book and following interviews, she currently attends a Presbyterian church.
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Last updated: 09-12-2005 02:39:13
