Robert is a police officer with the NYPD and brother of Ray in Everybody Loves Raymond.
Robert lives with his parents (and later his wife Amy) directly across the street from his brother. Robert has always been jealous of Ray. Their mother Marie always favored Ray over Robert. So for his entire life, he claims that he's lived in Ray's shadow. But he is a police officer and doesn't hesitate to protect his family.
Robert has some quirky habits, like touching food to his chin before eating it. (It was aptly nicknamed "crazy chin" in the episode of the same name.) He also faces his toothbrush east, separates the "goods" from the "plenty" (the candy) and keeps his left socks in his left drawer and his right socks in his right drawer, eating his foods in alphabetical order, seperating nuts into a peanut group, an almond group, and a cashew group, screaming at pickles, braying at funerals, sleeping with a tennis racket under his bed as a "ghost swatter",seperating his m&ms ...among other things.
Robert is the first character in the entire series to say the line, "Everybody loves Raymond." It is said in the very first episode, Pilot.
Also, his unusual height was a running joke through the series as well as his smelly feet and hairyness.
He also had a fear of his childhood shoe tree when he was a kid and thought it was a monkey with an axe hiding in his closet.
Childhood and Background
All through Robert's childhood, and into adulthood, he had been competing with his little brother Ray. He even succeeded in harming Ray, such as breaking his arm.
Growing up, Robert had a bed-wetting problem. But it turns out that Ray would pour water in his bed while he slept to make everyone think Robert wet the bed.
Robert first moved out of his parents house when he married a red-headed stripper named Joanne. She turned out to be a mean, controlling wife. Robert ended up divorcing her and moving back in with his parents.
Also, Robert had a bulldog he named Shamsky, after his favorite baseball player Art Shamsky.
In the episode "Boys' Therapy", Robert finds out that he came from a long line of physically abusive disciplinarians. But Frank was the exception. He was never physically abusive toward Ray and Robert.
Character Development
A lot happened to Robert over the course of the series. In the season 1 episode entited The Dog, Robert got a dog just like the bulldog he had as a kid. He named this new dog Shamsky Number 2, after his first dog. The dog was only seen in a few episodes, then it seemed to disappear from the show.
After growing tired of dealing with his parents for so long, he decided to move out. He lived in an apartment that was over a mile away from them. Soon after, while breaking up an illegal rodeo, Robert was gored in the "upper thigh" by a bull which Ray was immensely insensitive about. During the recovery, he had to move back in with his parents. Around half way through the shows run, Robert is promoted from Sergeant to Lieutenant in the New York City Police Department.
Having dated many women over the course of the 9 seasons, Robert always had an on-again-off-again relationship with Debra's friend Amy. Finally, in season 7, they got married.
In season 9, when Frank and Marie move to a retirement home, Robert and Amy buy their house from them. They live in it for one episode when his parents get kicked out of the home and decide to move back in. So...Frank, Marie, Robert, and Amy all live in the same house.
Relationship to other characters
- Brother to Ray
- Brother-in-law to Debra
- Son to Frank and Marie
- Uncle to Ally, Michael and Geoffrey
- Husband to Amy
- Ex-Husband to Joanne
Memorable Quotes
- ROBERT: I'm a cop, and I live with my parents. I'm on a steady diet of human suffering.
- ROBERT: WOW LOOK AT RAYMOND GO
- ROBERT: Is this about me?
- ROBERT: You're a lucky man, Raymond. Lucky man!
- ROBERT: So, Debra can finally cook. The missing color in the Raymond rainbow.
- ROBERT: Every time something good happens to me, I want to say, "How about that, Ray?" But if something bad happens to me, I...say a prayer that Raymond doesn't do so good that day.
- DEBRA: You say a prayer?
- ROBERT (Looking at the ceiling): "Come on, God. Get 'im!"
- ROBERT:"Raymond gets everything!"
- ROBERT:"Everybody loves Raymond
- ROBERT: why don't i weld your mouth to your butt and make a donut out of ya
- Robert: AH ma agrees with raymond thats 47 years in a row
- ROBERT:(to MARIE) you remember the 2nd grade play you tried to put different pants on me?
- Marie: Yours were ruined any mother would do the same
- ROBERT: NOT WHILE I WAS ONSTAGE!!!
- Amy: Actually all we wanted to do is return your roasting pan.
- robert: should have just mailed the pan
- ROBERT: THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO GO OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!