| Marie Janella Barone | |
| Full Name | Marie Janella Barone |
| Actor/Actress | Doris Roberts |
| First Appearance | Season 1 Episode 1 "Pilot" |
| Number of episodes | 210 |
| Relatives | Husband - Frank Sons - Ray, Robert Grandchildren - Ally, Michael, Geoffrey Sister - Alda Niece - Stacy In-Laws - Debra, Amy |
Marie Janella Barone (born December 9, 1930) was the mother of Ray and Robert Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond. She was played by the wonderful actress Doris Roberts.
She is the matriarch of the Barone family. As in the sixth season episode titled Lucky Suit (#6.16), Robert refers to her as "Queen Marie". Even though her sons are in their forties, she still coddles them like little kids, but she has always favored the younger son Ray over Robert. She was over-indulgent with Raymond, often offering to take over the responsibilities he is supposed to do (which he rarely does anyway) so he can go play instead of act like a responsible adult. She was constantly in everybody's business and was very bossy and condescending, feigning that "everything she does, is only out of love". It is stated that she had an uneasy relationship with her mother-in-law/Frank's mother.
She was an amazing cook and always has a clean house (Decorated in 1960's/1970's style) with plastic on the sofa. Marie often openly criticizes Ray's wife, Debra, for not keeping her own house "clean enough" and feeding her family properly and she dismisses anyone who doesn't live up to her standards. She thinks Debra is a bossy wife for expecting Raymond to act like a responsible adult. Even though she loves Frank, she constantly bickers with him and calls him a lazy, stubborn slob.
Marie has a passive-aggressive personality making others feel guilty in order to get what she wants. Most of the time, the person that she makes feel guilty is Ray. Debra once called Marie the "Guilt Bomb" because she makes people feel guilty when she doesn't get her way. In "The Finale," Raymond states that her birthday is December 9th, to which Frank jokingly responds, "1802!" She was actually born in 1925, the same year as her actress, Doris Roberts.
Personality[]
Marie was what most people call a ”Self Appointed Matriarch”, since she’s completely under the impression that because she is the oldest woman of the family, and the grandma, she has full authority. What she says goes, and it’s either her way or no way. Marie is a condescending, overbearing, critical, conceited, patronizing, manipulative control freak. She is very narcissistic, and can be very ungenerous. Marie commands respect from everyone. If anybody stands up to her, or talks back to her, she’ll have a very butthurt look on her face as if to say “nobody talks to me that way”. She’s pretty much the ultimate epitome of the aggravating mother in law. She lives for her youngest son Raymond, so she tries in every way possible to give Raymond what he wants no matter what. Debra on the other hand is someone she was not too nuts about. For one thing she took Raymond away from her when she married him. Marie is also super critical of Debra, she criticizes her every move, cooking, cleaning, hair, raising her kids, you name it. Throughout most of the series Marie and Debra butt heads, and they have their fair share of fights and arguments but make up most of the time. Marie is also a phenomenal cook and very, very mindful of it. She loves to cook for people especially Raymond, and every time he comes over to say hello, she always asks Ray if he’s hungry. Most of the time he says yes, but she’ll cook for him even if he says no. There are have also been several occasions where Marie would do something petty or unacceptable when she doesn’t approve of something or is not paid attention to. There were also two occasions where she went too far, and actually admitted it. For instance in Marie's Meatballs (Season 2, Episode 15), Debra wanted to know how to make Marie’s world famous spaghetti and meatballs. Marie freaks out, but plans to teach Debra how to make them, however she has a trick up her sleeve, so she brings over a jar of what says “basil” but it’s really tarragon. When Ray goes over to confront her, and Marie has nowhere to go, Ray and Debra pretty much catch her red handed, and eventually she admits she was wrong. The other occasion was Lucky Suit (Season 6 Episode 16) where Robert gets a job opportunity when the FBI. Marie accidentally ruins his lucky suit by burning it with an ironing board in an effort to sabotage his job interview. She faxed the FBI interviewer, but later on confesses was wrong.
Relationship to other characters[]
- Mother to Ray and Robert Barone
- Mother-in-law to Debra and Amy
- Wife to Frank Barone
- Grandmother to Ally, Michael, and Geoffrey Barone
- Friend to Lee and Stan
Memorable Quotes[]
- MARIE: I can't talk! There's too much fruit in the house!
- MARIE: (frequently throughout the series) I don't like that, Raymond.
- DEBRA: (chuckles) Cleaning is cleaning.
- MARIE: You'd think so!
- RAY: Did you say that you like Amy more than Debra?
- MARIE: I am not saying that.
- RAY: I know. I know you're not saying it now. But did you say it--ever?
(Pause)
- RAY: What if I told you that we have a tape of you saying it, Ma?
- MARIE: Give me the tape.
- MARIE: (as Debra rolls eyes) May I say something as an impartial observer?
- MARIE: Years ago, I gave birth to two beautiful boys. And I wanted nothing more than to see them grow up, get married, and give me grandchildren. But if you want to take that away from me, by all means you go and tell that to Robert. And I'll just be back across the street living out the rest of my life...as best I can...with a hole in my heart.
- (To Debra) Don’t let a suitcase full of cheese be your big fork and spoon.
- (To Frank) YOUR’E LUCKY THIS BREAD IS NOT STALE BECAUSE I WOULD GIVE YOU A CONCUSSION!!!!
