Print edition: 
BURBANK, Calif. —Everybody may love Raymond except for Ray Romano himself. The star of the long-running hit sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond" has managed to stay the same guy he was when he was repairing futon mattresses for his best friend and living in Queens.
In Hollywood that's as rare as real blondes.
One of the things that's kept him humble is his 21-year marriage to Anna. When "Raymond" premiered, Anna was in New York with three little kids and Romano was in L.A. He and his friend Kevin James decided to celebrate in Las Vegas. Romano phoned to tell her.
"She said, 'Oh, really.' So I just played along and went, 'Hey, my show aired last night. You know what? Millions and millions of people saw me on TV.' I'm just goofing around with this bravado. 'OK? So that's why I'm doing what I'm doing, 'cause I am a TV STAR.' She said, 'You're still the (dork) I married.' "
Laughing, and leaning back in his black vinyl office chair, Romano says, "That's good for me. There's somebody in my life you get the truth from."
Now the father of four kids (a daughter, 19, twins, 16, and an 11-year-old), Romano is the counterpoint to his character in the endearing new TNT show, "Men of a Certain Age," which premieres Monday.
The comedian plays a party-store owner with a gambling problem, who is separated from his wife. Scott Bakula as a wanna-be actor and Andre Braugher as a car salesman are also in the trio of old pals who are sharing a midlife crisis.
Romano admits he, too, likes wagering. "I've gambled. I've dipped my toe in there, but it's not as dramatic as what Joe's going through. But I know the world. I grew up going to the racetrack in New York and betting in football pools and this and that. And I work in Vegas, so I know the world. I have a penchant. I am attracted to throwing a bet down here and there, but I control it."
Though "Raymond" catapulted Romano into the highest tax bracket, you'd never know it by looking at him. He's dressed in a white T-shirt with "Kentucky" written on it, an unbuttoned teal-blue suede-cloth shirt and jeans. On his left wrist is a plastic LED watch.
While "Men of a Certain Age" is both funny and touching, it shines with veracity, a quality that Romano (who co-wrote the first episode with Mike Royce) treasures.
"I got a passion for this kind of thing where it's just real," he says, brushing his hand through his salt-and-pepper hair.
"But I don't need to do heavy melodrama. I don't mind doing something that's funny and dramatic at the same time as long as it's real. I think I've had my fill — I love what I did on 'Raymond' but I've had my fill of that type of comedy where it's a little broad and slightly farcical and heightened past the reality level. But I like doing something that people can relate to on a real level."
Another element that keeps Romano, 51, down to earth is his disbelief in his own good fortune. "I don't know if this is true of all comedians, but we don't really believe the success we have. You think at any minute someone's going to expose you as an imposter."
