Biography of Patricia Heaton

Heaton was born in Bay Village, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of well-known Cleveland Plain Dealer sportswriter Chuck Heaton. Her mother died when she was a small child. She moved to New York City to study with drama teacher William Esper after graduating from Ohio State University.

Heaton made her Broadway debut in the musical Don't Get God Started, after which she and fellow students created Stage Three, an off-Broadway acting troupe. When they brought one of their productions to Los Angeles, Heaton caught the eye of a casting director for the ABC drama thirtysomething, in which she played an oncologist, leading to three appearances on the series. She was featured in three unsuccessful sitcoms - Room for Two (1992) with Linda Lavin, Someone Like Me (1994), and Women of the House (1995) with Delta Burke - before landing the plum role of beleaguered wife, mother, and in-law Debra Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond (1996 - 2005) with Ray Romano, Doris Roberts, Peter Boyle, Brad Garrett, and Monica Horan. Since 1999, she has been nominated every year for an Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Emmy, winning the award twice. She has also collected two Viewers for Quality Television awards and a Screen Actors Guild trophy for her work on the series.

Heaton's television movies include Shattered Dreams, Miracle in the Woods, A Town Without Christmas, and the remake of Neil Simon's The Goodbye Girl with Jeff Daniels for TNT. Her feature films include Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Beethoven, and Space Jam.

Heaton is a pro-life activist and is the honorary chairperson of Feminists for Life, a nonsectarian, nonpartisan organization (whose members include Jane Sullivan Roberts, wife of John G. Roberts, Jr.) opposed to domestic violence, child abuse, infanticide, and, especially, abortion. She is an active Republican and supporter of President George Walker Bush. Although she has been quoted as saying "once a Catholic, always a Catholic", Heaton now attends an evangelical Presbyterian church with her husband and children.

Her memoir, Motherhood and Hollywood - How to Get a Job Like Mine, was published by Villard Books in 2002. Heaton has been married to British businessman David Hunt II since 1990. The couple has four sons and divides their time between Los Angeles and England, where they own a country estate. Her first marriage (1984-1987) ended in divorce. Since 2003, Heaton has appeared in a series of television and radio commercials as spokesperson for the Albertsons grocery store chain. She has also appeared in advertisements for Pantene hair care products. Heaton has a development deal and will have her own show on ABC.