Closer USA – August 26, 2019

EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND

She won two Emmys as Ray Romano’s

long-suffering spouse on the CBS hit.

P

atriciaHeatonisnota

doctor,butsheplays

one onCarol’sSec-

ondAct. Andlikeher

character on CBS’

fallcomedy—as well

asonherpreviouslong-runningsit-

comsEverybodyLovesRaymondand

The Middle—sheis amominreal

li fe.“Everynightlikeclockworkwe

watchJeopardy!andWheelof For-

tune,”Patriciasaysof herhusband

andfoursons.“I impressmykids.

They’resurprisedI knowso manyof

the answers’causeI generallydon’t

thinktheyholdme inthathighof a

regardas faras my mentalcapacity.”

It’sjustthiskindof dry,deadpan

wit thathasmadePatricia,61,be-

lovedby TVviewersandco-workers

alike.“Pattyis oneof themostgen-

eroushumansI’vecometoknow,”

naJalees,who’sbe-

comeafriend,“I’m

golfingwithPatriciaHeatonnow.

Mylifeis,like,perfect.”

Asforlifeinher60s,“I feellikeI

knowsomuchmore,andI’mmore

relaxedabouta lotof things,”Patri-

ciarecentlytoldCloserattheTCA

SummerPressTour.“Partof that

isworkingwithWorldVision—I’ve

beentravelingaroundAfricavis-

itingrefugeecamps,andI’mvery

awareof howblessedwe arehere.”

ROOMFORSIX

PatriciahasbeenmarriedtoBrit-

ishactorDavidHuntsince1990,

andtheirsonsrangeinagefrom 20

to25.She’slongcherishedthevalue

offamily.“Mymotherdiedsudden-

ly[ofananeurysm]whenI was12,”

saystheOhionative,whodeveloped

a “carpediem”attitude.“Youneedto

dowhatyou wantto do now,because

tomorrowis notguaranteed.”

Shestruggledas anactressuntil

she landeda recurringstintas Patri-

ciaWettig’scancerdoctoronThirty-

somethingfrom1989–’91,followed

THE EMMY

WINNER

ALWAYSPUTS

FAMILYFIRST

ONTV AND

ATHOME

NEXT CHAPTER

bya leadroleas LindaLavin’sdaugh-

teronthe1992–’93sitcomRoomfor

Two. “Ididn’treallymakemy living

asanactoruntilI was32,”Patricia

recalls.“I startedrelativelylate;I al-

waysfeellikeI’mcatchingup.”

ShesharesthatqualitywithCar-

ol,anemptynesterwhogoesbackto

medicalschoolandbecomesa resi-

dent.“Mykidsareprettymuchout

ofthehouse,andI wasfeelinga bit

atsea,”Patriciaexplainsof whyshe

signedonforthenewshow.“I’mno

longera full-timemom,andI didn’t

haveajobas anactress—I very

muchfeltwhatCarolfeels:Who

amI withoutthesethings?”

Theanswer: She’sa wom-

an who hasn’t crossed all

the items off her bucket

li st.“Attheageof 61,I still

have dreams of things I

wanttodo,”saysPatricia.

Andit’sontothenextact!

—BruceFretts,

with reportingbyAmanda

Champagne-Meadows

Pat t y ’s

Many

Acts

PATRICIA

Everybody Loves

WOMEN OF

THE HOUSE

“It was so much

fun,” she says

of Delta Burke’s

1995 Designing

Women

spinoff. “Linda

Bloodworth-

Thomason is

an amazing

writer.”

48 August 26, 2019 CLOSER