john lennon and peter boyle

Peter Boyle, John Lennon Friend, Dies In New York

 Emmy Award-winning actor Peter Boyle died at the New York Presbyterian Hospital on Tuesday night (12Dec06). He was 71.

Boyle, best known in recent years for playing Frank Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond, had been suffering from multiple myeloma - a form of cancer - and heart disease.

Peter Boyle Joins John Lennon For a Karma Klatch Up North

Peter Boyle was a far more spiritual soul than is widely understood and certainly a better and more versatile actor than he's given credit for. He died Tuesday evening of complications from multiple myeloma (cancer) and heart disease and had been in fragile health for some time, having suffered a 1990 stroke that robbed him of his ability to speak for six months and a 1999 heart attack that nearly killed him. But he fought hard to make it to 71, and in so doing he was able to glean a measure of deserved prominence upon his death.

It was "Everybody Loves Raymond," of course, that transformed Boyle from a respected character actor to a recognized star. Ironically, he was the only member of the regular "Raymond" cast who failed to win an Emmy for the series despite being the finest performer in the ensemble -- garnering seven noms and coming away empty-handed (he won his only Emmy as a guest performer on "The X-Files"). No matter what project Boyle was in, he made it better with his mesmerizing blend of humanity and menace. But in "Raymond," he showed off some considerable comdeic chops, too.

The role of Boyle's life, however, was as the hippie-hating bigot in the 1970 feature "Joe," a tour de force that landed him on the acting map but never the A-list. Boyle seemed fine with his level of fame, choosing to live in New York and commute to work in Los Angeles weekly throughout the "Raymond" run.

But what may have been most intriguing of all about Boyle was his close friendship with John Lennon. It always stood as a great piece of trivia: Lennon served as best man at the 1977 wedding of Boyle and his wife Loraine. They met through Loraine's friendship with Lennon's wife Yoko Ono and became close themselves before Lennon was murdered in 1980. So for all of the tough guy bluster that Boyle demonstrated onscreen, he was obviously very much a man of depth and soul to have so connected with the likes of the former Beatle.

When I interviewed Boyle over the telephone to discuss his thoughts on the end of "Raymond" in the spring of 2005, he admitted having very much mixed emotions -- but mostly relief. Among the cast, he alone expressed the simple observation, "It's time." He wanted to spend more of that time with his family, to enjoy his life and his wealth while he still could. He deserved more precious moments than he got -- a poignant reminder for the rest of us to embrace the stuff that really matters while we still can.