Peter Boyle; from villain to crochety dad to hoofing Frankenstein
WASHINGTON -- Peter Boyle, a prolific film and television actor who was a working-class bigot in "Joe," the tap-dancing monster in Mel Brooks's horror spoof "Young Frankenstein," and the crotchety father on the long-running sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond," died Tuesday at New York Presbyterian Hospital. He had multiple myeloma and heart disease and was 71.
After abandoning a life as a monk, Mr. Boyle became a member of the Second City improvisational acting troupe in Chicago before he started winning film and television roles.
His bald pate, rubbery face, and hulking physique all-but-guaranteed his career would be one of a character actor, but he managed to dazzle critics in two extraordinarily different early roles: as the hippie-hating factory worker in John G. Avildsen's "Joe" (1970) and the zipper-necked, lovable monster in "Young Frankenstein" (1974).
In one memorable scene, the monster and his creator, played by Gene Wilder, take the stage at a medical conference in Bucharest to demonstrate the creature's abilities. Donning white tie and tails and sporting a cane, they perform "Puttin' on the Ritz." Mr. Boyle, a cadaver brought to life, grunts the classic Irving Berlin song.
Mr. Boyle told a reporter at the time: "The Frankenstein monster I play is a baby. He's big and ugly and scary, but he's just been born, remember, and it's been traumatic, and to him the whole world is a brand new alien environment. That's how I'm playing it."
He had an active career in film and television. As alcoholic Senator Joseph McCarthy in "Tail Gunner Joe" (1977), he received the first of 10 Emmy nominations. He won an Emmy in 1996 for playing a psychic who predicts death as a guest star of the dramatic series "The X Files."
"Everybody Loves Raymond," which aired on CBS from 1996 to 2005, starred the comedian Ray Romano, but Mr. Boyle had a central role and was nominated seven times for an Emmy as best supporting actor in a comedy series.
"I'm going to miss my dear friend, so unlike the character he played on television," said Doris Roberts, who played his wife, Marie, on the show. "He's a brilliant actor, a gentleman, incredibly intelligent, wonderfully well read, and a loving friend."
Mr. Boyle played Frank Barone, a Korean War veteran and beer-swilling sexist fond of obnoxious commentary and oblivious to the problems of others. He belittles his sons as "ladies" -- one of whom was played by Romano -- and is dismissive of his wife.
When she tells Frank she is not a trophy wife, he asks: "You're a trophy wife? What contest in hell did I win?"
Peter Lawrence Boyle was born Oct. 18, 1935, in Philadelphia, where his father, Francis "Pete" Boyle, had a late-afternoon TV show called "Chuckwagon Pete."
After high school, he spent three years as a monk in the Christian Brothers monastery while attending what is now La Salle University in Philadelphia. A fellow monk was quoted in Entertainment Weekly as saying Mr. Boyle's piety was often in conflict with his interest in "Beat" literature and jazz.
Mr. Boyle went to New York after his graduation in 1957 to be an actor. "Theater comes from the Mass; that's how it started," he said.
He became a postal clerk and maitre d' while studying acting with Uta Hagen, and then was Murray the cop in a touring company of Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple." He left the play in Chicago and tried a career in stand-up comedy. While at Second City, Elaine May became a mentor, and that led to better acting jobs.
Mr. Boyle campaigned for Democratic antiwar presidential candidates, but was routinely cast onscreen as right-wingers. He was a gun clinic manager in "Medium Cool" (1969), Haskell Wexler's pseudo-documentary set during the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention, and then came "Joe."
As Joe Curran, a bar slob who rages against "Commies, hippies, homos," Mr. Boyle allies with a homicidal, wealthy businessman to rescue the rich man's daughter from her hippie friends. The story ends in a violent spree that many critics found contrived, but the low-budget production became a surprise hit and won much praise for Mr. Boyle.
Film critic Gary Arnold writing in the
Mr. Boyle was disturbed that the character of Joe was cheered by audiences. He began refusing other violent parts, notably "Popeye" Doyle in "The French Connection," a police drama that transformed Gene Hackman into a major star.
During the next few years, Mr. Boyle was the bearded campaign manager in Michael Ritchie's "The Candidate" opposite Robert Redford; a bar owner and police informant in "The Friends of Eddie Coyle," set in Boston; gangster Joey Gallo in "Crazy Joe"; and a cabbie-philosopher named Wizard in Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver" (1976).
On the set of "Young Frankenstein," he met Loraine Alterman, a reporter with Rolling Stone magazine. She accepted a date with him while he was still in monster makeup, and they were married in 1977. Because of Alterman's friendship with Yoko Ono, musician John Lennon was best man at the wedding.
In 1990, Mr. Boyle had a stroke and couldn't talk for six months. In 1999, he had a heart attack on the "Raymond" set. He soon regained his health, however, and returned to the series.
Besides his wife, Mr. Boyle leaves two daughters, Lucy and Amy.
Of the character of Frank Barone, he said, "I've been doing this character -- angry blue-collar guy -- so many times in different versions that it's really easy for me."
