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‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ Star Still Cashes Wild Payday Decades Later

The star became the highest-paid television actor during the show’s final season.

Ray Romano is still cashing in big from Everybody Loves Raymond more than two decades after the sitcom went off the air. Romano famously made television history during the show’s final season in 2005, earning nearly $2 million per episode to play sportswriter Ray Barone alongside his chaotic Long Island family. The payday landed him a Guinness World Records title at the time for the highest per-episode salary earned by a TV actor. According to Vanity Fair, the 68-year-old still pulls in as much as $18 million annually in residuals, thanks to syndication deals and streaming platforms, including Paramount+ and Peacock, that carry the beloved sitcom. The endless rerun checks were baked into Romano’s massive final-season contract, which secured him royalties from future airings after the series wrapped its nine-season run. Romano’s enormous salary also sparked tension behind the scenes after castmates learned about the deal. Brad Garrett, who played Robert Barone in the series, led negotiations for raises after learning Romano was earning far more than the rest of the ensemble. “When my salary came out in the papers, I knew stuff would happen,” Romano later admitted. “I’d do exactly the same thing.”