By Aileen Jacobson | Newsday

And you thought "Everybody Loves Raymond" was based entirely on the life of its star, Ray Romano.

Much of it was. But quite a bit emanated from the life of Phil Rosenthal, Hofstra graduate and creator and executive producer of the hit TV show that recently ended its nine-season run with a second Emmy for Best Comedy Series.

"He had lots of stories about his crazy family, and I had lots of stories about my family. What I didn't know about his family, I filled in with my crazy family," says Rosenthal, speaking by phone from his Los Angeles home. He's just flown back from New York but, he informs his caller, "I'm on my elliptical trainer, as you would imagine someone in California being as he talks to you."

Next Sunday, Rosenthal, class of '81, is scheduled to take the stage at Hofstra once again. This time he won't be acting in "Twelfth Night," as he did in a student production, but chatting and showing film clips in a show called "Inside the Writers Room of America's Favorite Sitcom." On Friday, he'll receive the university's "Alumnus of the Year" award.

As it happens, Rosenthal - who was born in Queens and grew up in New City, N.Y. - has a younger brother named Richard. Richard is the real-life name of Ray Romano's older brother, called Robert on the show.

Rosenthal says he and his brother, like TV's Raymond and Robert, experienced "all kinds of jealousy and resentment when we were younger. Now we're best friends, but I can see how it could carry over into adulthood. ... We all have that kind of sibling interaction. But I have parents."

And what are they like?

"If you've seen the show, you've kind of seen them," he says. He cites an episode in which Raymond gives his mother a fruit of the month club gift. "She reacts as though it's a box of plutonium. That actually happened with me. I was the idiot. I had to apologize for the gift. Ray has to apologize for the gift." Was there any embellishment for comic effect? "We found that the truth was usually good enough."

Another intertwining: The role of Amy, who marries Robert on the show, was played by Monica Horan. In real life, she's married to Rosenthal. They have two children. Though she's also a Hofstra theater department grad, '84, they didn't meet until both were struggling Manhattan actors.

He was taken by friends to see "The Cross-Eyed Bear," a play Horan was in, he recalls, and thought she was "very funny." Later, he ran into her on the street, told her he was a fan and recommended her for another play, in which he already had a role.

So did his best friend from college, Tom McGowan, also '81 and another actor in that 1980 Hofstra production of "Twelfth Night." McGowan went on to a recurring role as Bernie in "Raymond," as well as a part in a 1992 sitcom, "Down the Shore," on which Rosenthal was a writer. "He's still one of my best friends."

Romano is also a good friend now, Rosenthal says, though they didn't meet until after David Letterman suggested on TV that Romano should have his own show. Rosenthal was then a writer for "Coach" and "hit it off" right away with Romano. Without his Hofstra training in play analysis and directing, says Rosenthal, "I would have been an empty-headed actor," unable to make the leap to running a TV series.

Hofstra itself appeared on the show: Raymond's father, Frank, steals the winning ball at a Hofstra football game once. Another time, Ray receives an honorary degree from Hofstra - which isn't named, but the robe colors are Hofstra's.

Although Horan was partly a model for her role of Amy, Rosenthal says, she also supplied material for Debra, Ray's TV wife. "It's very strange," says Rosenthal. "When I didn't have a story idea, I would go home and get in a fight with my wife," he quips. But Romano and other writers also contributed: "All of us would come in and complain, and invariably we would find a story idea."

Horan will moderate the Hofstra show. "The audience will get to see our real-life arguments and the inspiration for some of the arguments they see on 'Raymond.'" He'll probably show one of the most popular episodes, involving PMS. "When my wife is in the room, I always say I completely made that story up. I leave it up to the audience to decide whether this could possibly happen in one's home."

He'll also show "President Clinton: Final Days," a short 2000 spoof he directed in which Bill and Hillary Clinton, among others, appear.

Now that he's free of the series, he's writing a book, "hopefully a humorous autobiography," appearing in an episode of HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and working on a special about global warming. There's also talk - especially after the recent surprise second Emmy - of a "Raymond" spin-off centering on Robert. "I would work on it if they put everything together. It's harder than it sounds."