Ray Romano Recalls Starring on ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ with Late Peter Boyle (Exclusive) [Video]

When Ray Romano reflects on his time working with Peter Boyle on Everybody Loves Raymond, it’s with an incredible sense of fondness and reverence.

During a recent interview with PEOPLE, Romano, 66, discussed his early days with his former costar, who died on December 12, 2006 at 71 from multiple myeloma and heart disease. Romano hosted The International Myeloma Foundation Gala on Thursday, April 18, which benefits the Peter Boyle Research Fund and advances in myeloma research.

At the time Everybody Loves Raymond premiered in September 1996, Boyle was already an accomplished actor with a long list of credits to his name, including his breakout role in 1970’s Joe, the 1974 comedy Young Frankenstein directed by Mel Brooks and the 1989 comedy thriller The Dream Team.

“When I met him, he, of course, was a well-known movie actor, star, and I was nobody. I was a stand-up who got his own sitcom and was trying acting,” Romano recalls …