Wait, What? John Lennon Served as the Best Man at the Wedding of This ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ Star

You never know who you’ll meet at a celebrity wedding!

On Monday, June 16, the creator of the hit 90’s sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond shared a surprising fact about one of the show’s stars, Peter Boyle — that John Lennon was his best man!

Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton and Maggie Wheeler sat down alongside creator Phil Rosenthal and producer Tom Caltabiano for an event at the Paley Center in New York City. The group took a trip down memory lane in honor of the series’ 30th anniversary, which ran for nine seasons from 1996 until 2005.

During the event, the panelists discussed the cast members that they have since lost, including Doris Roberts and Boyle, who played Ray’s parents on the show.

Boyle, who passed away in 2007, was remembered by the show’s creator as being a “cool” guy.

“Two interesting things about Peter Boyle,” he said. “He studied to be a monk when he was younger. I asked him, ‘Why’d you give it up?’ and he says, ‘There weren’t enough girls there.’”

He then went on to dish out one particularly surprising anecdote about the late actor.

“You know who the best man at his wedding was? John Lennon,” Rosenthal revealed. “He was cool, Peter Boyle.”

Boyle married his wife, music writer Lorraine Alterman in 1997. Through her work, Alterman knew Lennon’s wife, Yoko Ono. Boyle became friends with the legendary Beatle through that connection, leading to his presence front and center at their wedding.

In a 2005 interview with Philadelphia Inquirer, Boyle said that their nuptials were a relaxed affair.

“My wife and I had a very low-key wedding,” he said. “At the last minute, I asked John to stand in as my best man. And he said yes. The rest is history.”

When asked if Lennon sang, Boyle said that no, “but he is John Lennon. And everything he does is memorable.”

In a pre-panel interview with People, Rosenthal said that without Roberts and Boyle, a reboot of Everybody Loves Raymond would be “impossible.” (Boyle was nominated for seven Emmy Awards during his years playing Frank, while Roberts won four for her role as Marie.)

Rosenthal said that while he doesn’t want to revisit the series, he does miss working with those who made the show what it was.

“I’ll be honest with you, I’m a student of TV, and I’ve seen the shows that try to come back and do reboots,” he said. “They’re never as good — so I’m happy with the memory.”