Doris Roberts: Get to Know the 'Everybody Loves Raymond' Star | First For Women

When it comes to mothers on TV sitcoms, nobody did it better than Doris Roberts, who portrayed them a number of times, but never as effectively as Everybody Loves Raymond's Marie Barone. Here she was at 5' 1" tall, a little dynamo who, when she chose to use her gifts of guilt or anger, intimidated the other members of her family, including 6' 8" son Robert.The power that emanated from Doris Roberts — despite the fact it was played on the show for comedy — was actually reflective and a result of the journey she took in life. Born on November 4, 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri, she had (justifiably) "daddy issues" due to the fact her father abandoned she and her mother when she was a child; she fought like hell to establish herself as an actress — a marriage coming together and falling apart in the process — and began eeking out roles on Broadway and in television guest appearances, before scoring some film roles.Her credits are extensive, though there were only a handful of TV shows that sh...