Brad Garrett

After dropping out of college to pursue stand-up comedy, this tall deep-voiced comedian became the first $100,000-grand-prize winner on the syndicated talent competitionStar Search. The win led him to an appearance on the Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and from there he hit the comedy stages both big and small. He opened for acts like Frank Sinatra and Diana Ross, and returned to television to appear on several game shows. In 1988, he headlined his first TV series, the short-lived CBS sitcom First Impressions. Through the early 90's, he appeared in a wide range of film and television projects. With his career gaining momentum, he found his height a hindrance but embraced success as a voice actor, lending his unmistakable deep timbre to numerous TV series (Where's Waldo?, Transformers) and films (Casper, Jetsons: The Movie) in between occasional on-screen gigs. In 1996, he became a familiar face as Ray Romano's sad-sack brother on the wildly popular sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond and earned three Emmys during his tenure. Although there was some tension behind the scenes — Garrett briefly boycotted the show in 2003 due to a salary dispute — on screen he remained a lovable, if depressed, mensch. After the show packed up in 2005, there were talks of a spin-off for his character but ultimately Garrett decided to move on to other ventures. He appeared on Broadway and on the silver screen before making the move back to TV. In 2006, he signed on for a new part on the sitcom'Til Death, and the series ran for four seasons until it was cancelled in 2010. Meanwhile, Garrett continued to nurture his comedy career, enjoyed an avid interest in poker, and founded a charity to help families with terminally ill children called Maximum Hope Foundation, which he named after his two kids, Max and Hope. ~ Rovi