Just got the news...great actor. Young Frankenstein was a hoot. Perhaps an urban legend, but I heard that the real reason he was cast as Ray's father, in lieu of other actors, was that he had gotten stuck in traffic to the "go see' and was so frustrated and crabby, that the producers liked the attitude that they saw in him..thus he got the role.
Just read this: He had been suffering from multiple myeloma and heart disease And this goes with what Hatteras said: When Boyle tried out for the role opposite series star Ray Romano's Ray Barone, however, he was kept waiting for his audition — and he was not happy. "He came in all hot and angry," recalled the show's creator, Phil Rosenthal, "and I hired him because I was afraid of him." I read that on Yahoo News.
Just saw it on the news, very sad. He will be missed, loved his character on "Everybody Loves Raymond"
I thought he was older than 71 when he was on the Raymond show. Regardless, he was great and he'll be missed.
