Sawyer Storm Sweeten (May 12, 1995 – April 23, 2015) was an American

child actor The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in film, movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associ ...

, known for playing Geoffrey Barone on the sitcom ''

Everybody Loves Raymond ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' is an American sitcom television series created by Philip Rosenthal that aired on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005, with a total of 210 episodes spanning nine seasons. It was produced by Where's Lunch and ...

''.

Early life

Sweeten was born in

Brownwood, Texas Brownwood is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, Texas, United States. The population was 18,862 at th2020 census Brownwood is located in the Northern Texas Hill Country and is home to Howard Payne University that was founded in 1889. ...

, to parents Timothy Sweeten and Elizabeth Millsap. He had a sister Madylin, and an identical twin brother, Sullivan – all three starring on the CBS sitcom ''

'' for nine seasons. The Sweeten family moved to California when the twins were six months old; the siblings were cast less than a year later. Later, Sawyer and Sullivan owned a house together in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

Death

On April 23, 2015, Sweeten died due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, nineteen days before his 20th birthday. His death prompted public tributes by his ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' costars. His on-screen father

Ray Romano Raymond Albert Romano (born December 21, 1957) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and screenwriter. He is best known for his role as Ray Barone on the CBS sitcom '' Everybody Loves Raymond'', for which he received an Emmy Award, and as t ...

was shocked by the news and said he was a "wonderful and sweet kid to be around". Sweeten's on-screen mother

Patricia Heaton Patricia Helen Heaton (born March 4, 1958) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for her work on sitcoms, having played Debra Barone on ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' (1996–2005) as well as Frances "Frankie" Heck on '' The Middl ...

said that he was "a funny and exceptionally bright young man. He is gone from us far too soon."

Brad Garrett Bradley Henry Gerstenfeld (born April 14, 1960), known professionally as Brad Garrett, is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Possessing a distinctive deep voice, he has appeared in numerous television and film roles in both live-action and ...

, who portrayed Sweeten's on-screen Uncle Robert, released a statement that: "The Sweeten family was our family for those nine years on Raymond. My deepest condolences and love go out to them during this unimaginable time." Sweeten's on-screen grandmother

Doris Roberts Doris May Roberts ( Green; November 4, 1925 – April 17, 2016) was an American actress whose career spanned seven decades of television and film. She received five Emmy Awards and a Screen Actors Guild award during her acting career, which bega ...

remembered Sawyer as "a very sweet young man" and reminded fans to "make sure your loved ones know how much you care about them. It's very important to keep in touch."

Phil Rosenthal Philip Rosenthal (born January 27, 1960) is an American television writer and producer who is the creator, writer, and executive producer of the CBS sitcom ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' (1996–2005). In recent years, he has presented food and t ...

, creator of ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' and husband of co-star

Monica Horan Monica Louise Horan (born January 29, 1963) is an American actress best known for her role as Amy MacDougall-Barone on the television sitcom ''Everybody Loves Raymond''. Life and career Horan was born in Darby, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Selm ...

, remembered Sawyer, his twin brother Sullivan, and their older sister Madylin as "children that never failed to make us laugh, or remind us of how we feel about our own children". His on-screen/real life sister Madylin released a statement regarding her brother's death and pleaded for everyone "to reach out to the ones you love".

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweeten, Sawyer 1995 births 2015 deaths 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American identical twin male child actors American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from Texas People from Brownwood, Texas Suicides by firearm in Texas 2015 suicides