Phil Rosenthal’s Parents Were the Stars of ‘Somebody Feed Phil’
Updated May 29 2020, 5:29 p.m. ET
Phil Rosenthal is the creator, writer, and executive producer of Everybody Loves Raymond. He is also the host of Somebody Feed Phil on Netflix in which he takes viewers along for a food journey where he is joined by friends and family to discover new food and cultures. He has been accompanied by celebrities like Al Roker, Tracy Morgan, Elaine May, Nelson Mandela’s grandchildren, and chefs such as Nancy Silverton.
The third season of Somebody Feed Phil was just released on Netflix, and fans were looking forward to more scenes of Phil Rosenthal hanging out with his hilarious parents, but they are not featured in the show the way they have been in past seasons. Unfortunately, Season 3 of Somebody Feed Phil will not feature his mom, Helen.
Phil’s mom, Helen, passed away in October 2019.
In an Instagram post from October 2019, Phil paid tribute to his mother’s life. “Helen Rosenthal 1933-2019 We love you Mom,” he wrote on Instagram.
Now that Season 3 is up on Netflix, fans have noticed Helen missing from Phil’s video calls to his family. Viewers reacted to the news with devastation, as her wit and charm were one of the favorite aspects of Somebody Feel Phil.
One user wrote, “Literally I just paused at the part where you would video call your parents to share bits and pieces of the exciting things you experienced during the trip in S3E1, then noticed your mom wasn’t next to your father. I couldn’t proceed without knowing, and found this post.. breaks my heart. Condolences to you & your family. Always loved seeing your parents together, they’re real gems.”
Some may not know, but Helen was the inspiration for the infamous character of Marie Barone, Ray’s mother, on Everybody Loves Raymond.
The Belleview News reported, “Helen...provided a never-ending source of hilarious plot ideas. That is, they were funny once Phil survived the frequent real-life frustration of being the son of sometimes stereotypical Jewish parents.”
Phil’s parents were both immigrants from Germany.
Phil told the National Museum of American History, “My parents were born in Germany. My grandfather was a tailor, and they lived in Berlin.”
He continued, “Being the son of German immigrants...Pop culture was almost unheard of in my house. My mother was an opera fan, a ballet fan. My father liked a certain type of old-school Jewish comedy. In fact, he dabbled in it a little bit in the Catskills and stuff. So maybe that’s where I got a sense of humor. My mother was also very funny. But there were things that they just didn’t understand about American culture.”
Twitter gushes over Phil’s parents on ‘Somebody Feed Phil’.
Whether a viewer has stuck with Somebody Feed Phil from the first season or is just now getting into the series during its third season, fans took to Twitter to express their love for Phil’s parents, Helen and Max.
After a tweet went out asking for a good Netflix show recommendation, one user wrote, “Somebody Feed Phil. @PhilRosenthal travels to great locals, eats amazing food and is hilarious...as always. That said, his parents steal the show. Worth the watch.”
