Patricia Heaton Reveals Why This Is Her Proudest Career Moment
Actor Patricia Heaton’s career has taken her from the stage to three network shows, onto the big screen, and everywhere in between.
While the Everybody Loves Raymond star would hardly say her career is done, the industry veteran at one time called out one part of her professional work that she would say has been her best yet.
Her latest show ‘Carol’s Second Act’ didn’t make it to its 2nd season
It was a huge disappointment for Heaton and her Carol’s Second Act cast when the CBS comedy was not renewed for a second season.
The mother of four told CBS in 2019 why she was so excited to play an older woman pursuing an ambition she’d had all her life – to become a doctor.
“It used to be that as women got older, they became more invisible,” she said. “But this is a great time to be a woman. I have a lot of experience, and hopefully wisdom, that I can offer others. And so does Carol. She might not be as tech-savvy as her junior interns, but she has experience that comes in handy, especially when you’re dealing with life-and-death situations in a hospital.”
Heaton got into the role of Dr. Carol Kenney as she ended her nine-year run as Frankie Heck on the ABC comedy series, The Middle.
At the series’ end, the 62-year-old posted her sadness on Instagram, saying “Every day with the cast of Carol was pure joy. I’ll miss everyone involved but I’m looking forward to seeing what all our “second acts” will be.”
Patricia Heaton’s encouraging others in their 2nd acts
Heaton’s new book, Your Second Act: Inspiring Stories of Transformation, opens up about her life acting on the stage and television – as well as the more challenging experience of becoming an empty-nester.
The actor credited the cancellation of Carol’s Second Act for her motivation in writing the book.
“Maybe that’s the cosmic reason for ‘Carol’ to have come into being for one season, is to inspire this book,” she told USA Today in July 2020. “And with the pandemic … it makes you realize how precious and how sort of fragile life is. We need to make the most of the opportunities we have here.”
What Heaton calls the best moment in her career
As for what the star of The Middle considers a favorite moment in her career?
“I guess it would have to be Everybody Loves Raymond,” Heaton told Television Academy Foundation in a 2006 interview. “It was quite an adjustment, it was kind of a relief to be done [with the series] at first, but weird, and now I’ve settled into a rhythm with my family. . . The thing about Raymond was it was a joy to go to work every day.”
“Every episode, every episode, I felt proud of and was excited to work on.”
