The hit show Everybody Loves Raymond ran for nine seasons and became a household favorite. The cast recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of the popular sitcom with a CBS special, however the Barone family was noticeably smaller. Fans surely missed the charming and hilarious actors who have passed, including Sawyer Sweeten, Peter Boyle, and Doris Roberts who have all left their mark on the show.
The fictional family was like a real family and they came together during all the hardships. Executive Producer Rory Rosegarten shared exclusively with HELLO!: "I will answer how they kept their memory alive. We always talk about the cast. We talk about Peter and Doris, and Sawyer of course and it was very sad. Tragic. And they were like family members to us so imagine how a family would feel and that’s exactly how the Raymond family felt."
He emphasized just how special and rare the cast — including Ray Romano and Patricia Heaton, who played the parents in the show — bond was. Rory expressed: "[Their family-like bond] was really crazy. I don't want to overstate. It was a job and they had their own families and their own children, husbands and wives and whatever, but it was very special the kinship that they had, and I gotta really say [that] all these years later, I think that kinship had a lot to do with how good the show was."
Rory explained that the joy between the castmates was palpable on set and he believes that that definitely led to the show being as popular as it was. He continued: "They actually made each other laugh. They horsed around a little bit and Ray was a cut-up when he wanted to be and Brad was, Patty was, and Peter and Doris were, and Monica was…You know what it is? It was so loose and so light that everybody sort of felt free to do what they wanted to do, within reason of course, but a lot of good things came out of that, because of that."
He also provided insight into the life of the child stars on set including Madylin Sweeten, Sullivan Sweeten and Sawyer, who were all actual siblings in real life, and fittingly on the show as well. Sawyer tragically passed away in April 2015, at the young age of 19 due to suicide. Rory explained: “Well first of all, they had a tutor on set. They were really good kids. They were very professional even when they were younger. We had fun with them. The show isn't about the kids…. they're on the show and we love them very much, but they were very appropriate and great. We never really had any trouble with the kids."
Kids grow up so fast as they say, however regardless of their ages, Rory emphasized just how "hard" the children worked and what it was like watching them get older before his very eyes. He shared: “Well I can only speak for myself. It wasn't a matter of feeling like a parent. They had parents. They had teachers. Nobody tried to overstep their bounds, but no one's ever asked me that before. I mean, the reality is it was sort of weird to see them grow up…kids grow up fast…but it was a joy."
He continued: "I mean everybody, even the kids, everybody on that cast was so…They worked really hard, I gotta say that everybody did, the kids did too, they worked hard. But we played too. It was a very casual set. There was a lot of laughter all the time and everyone was making jokes and carrying on….like a real family…and Brad Garrett is just hysterically funny on and off camera. It was like a family; that's the only way to describe it. The Barone family was like a real family."