The past week seemed to start in the best of ways for Everybody Loves Raymond's ever-genial creator Phil Rosenthal, as his nosh-worthy Netflix series Somebody Feed Phil was officially renewed for a super-sized Season 5, which will give the food-lover a whopping ten episodes to fill up on. Unfortunately, that stellar piece of good news was soon followed by something far more disheartening, as the travel show host's father Max Rosenthal passed away over the weekend at the age of 95.
Just one week after honoring his dad Max with a loving Father's Day post on social media, Phil Rosenthal used the same methods to share the sad news about his father's passing. (No cause of death has been reported at this time.) Though he kept things pretty short and sweet with his R.I.P. message on Twitter, Rosenthal shared a lengthier message via Instagram, along with a selection of awesome photos from years gone by.
Everybody Loves Raymond fanatics almost definitely recognize Max Rosenthal from his recurring role in four different episodes between Seasons 6 and 8. His character, also fittingly named Max, was one of the lodge member pals of the late Peter Boyle's Frank Barone. It's widely known that Max and wife Helen served as the inspiration for Ray Romano's fictional parents on the show, with Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts portraying them, respectively.
Outside of the hit CBS sitcom, though, the elder Rosenthal also popped up on his son's PBS travel series I'll Have What Phil's Having (as seen below), as well as the aforementioned Netflix series Somebody Feed Phil, where he appears via video chat as Phil is out and about.
Life probably didn't seem destined for a future tied to television programs for Max Rosenthal, as he was a Holocaust survivor who was able to flee Germany after Kristallnacht. His wife Helen, whom he was married to for 60 years, was also a survivor, having been held in a French concentration camp. They remained together until Helen's death in 2019 at the age of 86.
Thankfully, Max Rosenthal kept his sense of humor throughout his long life, passing it on to sons Phil and Richard. Phil also shared this video on Twitter, featuring his father's joke delivery skills, with Paul Reiser and Normal Lear as his A+ audience.
To be expected, fans and friends filled Phil Rosenthal's comment sections with loving and sorrowful messages about his father's death. One such friend of the family was Happy Days vet and award-winning Barry star Henry Winkler, who could totally give Rosenthal a run for his money as the nicest guy on TV.
We here at CinemaBlend send our thoughts and condolences to Phil Rosenthal, his family and friends in their time of mourning.
