LOS ANGELES — For Patricia Heaton, the last 20 years appear to have been a motherhood marathon. “You can see where people might think that,” says the Emmy-winning actress, who played the long-suffering wife and mother of three on the CBS comedy “Everybody Loves Raymond.” Heaton, 56, stars as the matriarch on ABC's “The Middle.” And Heaton and her actor-husband, David Hunt, are part of the ensemble cast in the family comedy “Moms' Night Out,” now in theaters. Oh yes, Heaton and Hunt have four sons, ages 15 to 20. So, bring on that tidal wave of Mother's Day memories. “Zero Mother's Day memories,” Heaton says, smiling. “I don't really have any Mother's Day memories because my children have not created them for me.” Her sons “didn't want to come out to the premiere of ‘Moms' Night Out,'” she says. “They don't watch ‘The Middle.' They are too busy with their lives.” And that's exactly as Heaton wants it. “There's too many kids who grow up as the children of celebrities who cannot find their own identities,” she says, adding that one of her children wants to become an actor. She earned two Emmy Awards for “Raymond,” but “The Middle” rarely gets media attention or awards-group love. — AP
