The “Everybody Loves Raymond” cast got together for a reunion special Monday night, opening up about the loss of one of their cast members, Sawyer Sweeten.
Ray Romano, Brad Garrett, Patricia Heaton and Monica Horan gathered along with Madilyn Sweeten and Sullivan Sweeten, who played the Barone children on the show (and are siblings in real life as well).
“Sawyer is no longer with us and we miss him,” Romano told the studio audience. “He was this bright energy and light.”
The young actor died by suicide at age 19 in 2015.
“None of us really expected what happened. But I try to think about the good moments and oftentimes it was on this set,” Sullivan, Sawyer’s twin, said during the special.
Their sister, Madilyn, added that the family has been active in raising awareness for suicide prevention, saying “I just think it is important that every conversation we are having about Sawyer, we are very fortunate in our family about suicide prevention.”
“It is the second leading cause of death between the ages of 18 and 25. But 90 percent of people who seek treatment are cured,” she noted.
Sawyer, Sullivan and Madilyn all rose to fame playing the Barone children on series from 1996 to 2005.
After Sawyer’s death, his manager Dino May told Us Weekly, “Everybody was shocked. There was no depression, no nothing. He was a good kid. Teenage stuff, but no depression, no signs or anything.”
The cast also acknowledged the late Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts, who played Romano’s parents on the series.
“This is a reunion,” Romano said during the taping. “We are never going to do a reboot because we are missing three cast members — and family members — so we would never try to do it without them.”
“Everybody Loves Raymond: 30th Anniversary Reunion” is now streaming on Paramount+.
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