Patricia Helen Heaton is an American actress and producer.
She is known for portraying Debra Barone on the CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond from
1996 to 2005, for which she won two Primetime Emmy Awards, and as Frances "Frankie" Heck
on the ABC sitcom The Middle.
Early life Patricia Heaton was born in Bay Village, Ohio,
the daughter of Patricia and Chuck Heaton, who was a sportswriter for the Plain Dealer.
She was raised as a devout Roman Catholic.
Heaton has three sisters, Sharon, Alice, and Frances, and one brother, Michael, who is
the "Minister of Culture" columnist for the Plain Dealer and a writer for the paper's
Friday Magazine.
Career While attending Ohio State University, she
became a sister of Delta Gamma Sorority.
She later graduated with a B.A. in drama.
In 1980, Heaton moved to New York City to study with drama teacher William Esper.
Heaton made her first Broadway appearance in the chorus of Don't Get God Started, after
which she and fellow students created Stage Three, an Off-Broadway acting troupe.
When Stage Three brought one of their productions to Los Angeles, Heaton caught the eye of a
casting director for the ABC drama thirtysomething.
She was cast as an oncologist, leading to six appearances on the series from 1989 to
1991.
Other TV guest appearances include: Alien Nation, Matlock, Party of Five, The King of
Queens, and Danny Phantom.
Heaton's feature films include Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Beethoven, The New Age,
and Space Jam.
Heaton was featured in three short-lived sitcoms—Room for Two with Linda Lavin, Someone Like Me,
and Women of the House with Delta Burke and Teri Garr—before landing her signature role
of beleaguered wife, mother, and in-law Debra Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond with Ray
Romano, Doris Roberts, the late Peter Boyle, Brad Garrett, and Monica Horan.
She was nominated in each of the series' last seven seasons for the Primetime Emmy Award
for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, winning the twice in 2000 and 2001.
She has also collected two Viewers for Quality Television Awards and a Screen Actors Guild
trophy for her work on the series.
Starting September 2007, Heaton co-starred with Kelsey Grammer in Back to You, a situation
comedy on Fox.
The show was canceled in May 2008.
Heaton appeared on the season seven of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition where she helped build
a home for a firefighter and his family.
Heaton's television movies include Shattered Dreams, Miracle in the Woods, A Town Without
Christmas, as well as the remake of Neil Simon's The Goodbye Girl with Jeff Daniels, The Engagement
Ring, Heaton also played former U.S. Ambassador to Yemen, Barbara Bodine, in the 2006 ABC
docudrama The Path to 9/11, and the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie Front of the Class, based
on the real story of a mother, Ellen Cohen, dealing with a son, Brad Cohen, who has Tourette
Syndrome, in 2008.
Heaton was the producer for the 2005 documentary The Bituminous Coal Queens of Pennsylvania,
which was directed by her husband.
She was also one of the producers of the William Wilberforce drama Amazing Grace.
In January 2007, Heaton returned to the stage to co-star with Tony Shalhoub in the Off-Broadway
play The Scene at Second Stage Theatre in New York City.
For this performance, Heaton was nominated in the Outstanding Lead Actress category for
the 22nd Lucille Lortel Awards.
Since September 2009, she has starred in the ABC comedy The Middle.
In 2011, Heaton was ranked #24 on the TV Guide Network special, Funniest Women on TV.
She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on May 22, 2012.
The star is located at 6533 Hollywood Blvd. in front of The Hudson Apartments.
Other credits In 2003, Heaton appeared in a series of television
and radio commercials as spokesperson for the various incarnations of the grocery chain
Albertsons, such as Acme, Jewel and Shaw's.
Heaton also was featured on the cover of the company's 2003 and 2004 annual reports.
In 2007, Albertsons created the Crazy About Food slogan/campaign and Heaton's association
with the company ended.
She has also appeared in advertisements for Pantene hair-care products.
Personal life Heaton has been married to British actor David
Hunt since 1990; it is her second marriage.
Her first marriage ended in divorce.
Heaton and Hunt have four sons: Samuel David; John Basil; Joseph Charles; and Daniel Patrick.
They divide their time between Los Angeles and Cambridgeshire, where they own a house,
as well as a house in her hometown of Bay Village.
Her memoir, Motherhood and Hollywood: How to Get a Job Like Mine, was published by Villard
Books in 2002.
Although she and her family attend a Presbyterian Church, Heaton says she is still a Catholic.
Political and social advocacy Heaton is a consistent life ethicist and is
supportive of pro-life groups and causes, opposing abortion, euthanasia, and the death
penalty.
Heaton's advocacy became particularly visible during the debate regarding the Terri Schiavo
case.
In addition, Heaton is Honorary Chair of Feminists for Life, an organization which opposes abortion
and embryonic stem cell research and supports other pro-life causes on the basis of feminism.
A confirmed Republican, Heaton openly supports gay rights, and has publicly stated that she
is not against same-sex marriage.
Heaton's name was in an advertisement in the Los Angeles Times that condemned Hamas and
Hezbollah and supported Israel in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict.
In October 2006, Heaton appeared in a commercial opposing a Missouri state constitutional amendment
concerning embryonic stem cell research, which subsequently passed.
The advertisement was a response to the election of Democratic Senate hopeful Claire McCaskill
and aired at the same time as Michael J. Fox's advertisement supporting the amendment.
Appearing with Heaton were actor Jim Caviezel, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jeff Suppan, Seattle
Mariner Mike Sweeney and St. Louis Rams/Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner.
Following a public outcry, Heaton later said she regretted doing the ad and sent an apology
to Fox, saying she was unaware of Fox's ad.
Fox accepted her apology and later stated, “If we can have a healthy dialogue about
issues that people see differently, that’s marvelous.”
On February 29, 2012, Heaton made several negative public remarks against Georgetown
University law student Sandra Fluke, joining the controversy surrounding the law requiring
insurance companies to cover contraception.
Following criticism for her remarks, Heaton apologized days later.
Filmography Awards and nominations
References
External links Patricia Heaton at the Internet Movie Database
Patricia Heaton Archive of American Television Interview