Holy Crap!

America has lost a genius.

Philadelphia native, and star of "Everybody Loves Raymond" actor Peter Boyle died last night of heart disease. He was 71.

A member of the Christian Brothers religious order who turned to acting, the tall, prematurely balding Boyle gained notice in the title role of the 1970 sleeper hit "Joe," playing an angry, murderous bigot at odds with the emerging hippie youth culture.

Smiting hippies before it was cool. NICE!

The son of a local TV personality in Philadelphia, Boyle was educated in Roman Catholic schools and spent three years in a monastery before abandoning his religious studies. He later described the experience as similar to "living in the Middle Ages."He explained his decision to leave in 1991: "I felt the call for awhile; then I felt the normal pull of the world and the flesh."

And the world was better for it. Boyle was a comic genius on ELR, and was equally terrific in Young Frankenstein. He will be sorely missed.