Ray Romano, the star of hit US comedy series Everybody Loves Raymond, has struck a deal that will make him the highest paid actor in television. A salary of nearly $50 million for the forthcoming eighth season means he will earn a staggering $1.8 million per episode.
The new deal means that Ray has broken Kelsey Grammer's previous record, of $1.6 million per episode for the series Frasier. The contract is for just one season, though CBS and producers HBO have also agreed to a further two seasons.
It is expected that Ray will stay on until 2005, therefore, despite having commented that he would like to move into film. And the actor has already made some moves in that direction, having appeared opposite Winona Ryder in Eulogy and Gene Hackman in Mooseport.
In a magazine interview last year he said "there could be one more season after this, but you don't want to leave when you're sliding down." For the moment there's little threat of any such slide, however, as it currently ranks ninth amongst all primetime series in the US.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
