Patricia Helen Heaton (born March 4, 1958 in Bay Village, Ohio) is an American actress best known for playing lead character and Ray Barone's wife Debra Barone on the CBS television sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. She currently stars as Frankie Heck on the ABC sitcom The Middle.
She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on May 22, 2012.
Early life
Patricia Heaton was born in Bay Village, Ohio, the daughter of Patricia (née Hurd) and Chuck Heaton, who was a sportswriter for The Plain Dealer. Heaton's mother died of an aneurysm when the actress was 12. The fourth of five children, Heaton was raised as a devout 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.
Personal life
Heaton has been married to British actor David Hunt since 1990. They have four sons and they divide their time between Los Angeles and Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. Her memoir, Motherhood and Hollywood: How to Get a Job Like Mine, was published by Villard Books in 2002.
Hunt is Heaton's second husband. After her divorce from her first husband, she went through a self-described "Protestant wilderness". Since June 2017, Heaton's first marriage has been annulled by the Catholic Church and has since returned as an observant of Catholicism.
Heaton has been open about having plastic surgery; citing having a tummy-tuck and a breast reduction after undergoing four Caesarean sections.
Filmography
Emmy Awards
Heaton won two Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Emmy Awards for her work in Everybody Loves Raymond: for: "Bad Moon Rising" (2000) for: "The Canister" (2001)
She has been nominated for five others for the same series: for: "Be Nice" (1999) for: "A Vote for Debra" (2002) "Baggage" (2003) "Fun with Debra" (2004) for: "Finale" (2005)