The Everybody Loves Raymond cast addressed child star Sawyer Sweeten’s tragic death while reflecting on the hit sitcom’s 30th anniversary.
During the CBS reunion special, which premiered on Monday, November 24, stars Ray Romano, Brad Garrett, Patricia Heaton and Monica Horan were joined by Madylin Sweeten and Sullivan Sweeten, who played the younger members of the Barone family when the series aired from 1996 to 2005.
Romano, 67, mentioned the absence of Sullivan’s twin brother, Sawyer — in addition to Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts, who died after the show’s finale.
“Sawyer is no longer with us and we miss him,” Romano said to the studio audience. “He was this bright energy and light.”
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Sawyer died by suicide at age 19 in April 2015. Sawyer’s siblings explained how they have prioritized raising awareness for suicide prevention ever since.
“None of us really expected what happened. But I try to think about the good moments and oftentimes it was on this set,” Sullivan, 30, shared before Madylin, 34, added, “I just think it is important that every conversation we are having about Sawyer, we are very fortunate in our family about suicide prevention.”
She continued: “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.”
Sullivan and Sawyer rose to stardom playing Raymond (Romano) and Debra’s (Heaton) twin sons. Their real-life sister Madylin played Ally, a.k.a the oldest of the Barone children.
Following his death, Sawyer’s manager, Dino May, told Us Weekly that there were “no signs” that the former child star was struggling.
“Everybody was shocked,” he said. “[There was] no depression, no nothing. He was a good kid. Teenage stuff, but no depression, no signs or anything.”
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May noted that Sullivan and Sawyer “had definitely taken a very strong hiatus” when Everybody Loves Raymond ended. “[Sawyer] loved his video games,” May added. “I always thought he would go into some kind of video game adventure.”
Along with losing Sawyer, the Everybody Loves Raymond cast has also mourned Boyle’s death. The actor, who played Romano’s onscreen dad, died in December 2006 at the age of 71 after battling multiple myeloma and heart disease. Roberts, who played Romano’s onscreen mom, died of natural causes in April 2016 at the age of 90.
“This is a reunion,” Romano told the studio audience at the reunion special. “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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