<P> Heaton made her first Broadway appearance in the chorus of Don't Get God Started (1987), after which she and fellow students created Stage Three, an Off - Broadway acting troupe . </P> <P> When Stage Three brought one of their productions to Los Angeles, Heaton caught the eye of a casting director for the ABC drama Thirtysomething . She was cast as an oncologist, leading to six appearances on the series from 1989 to 1991 . Other TV guest appearances include: Alien Nation (1989), Matlock (1990), Party of Five (1996), The King of Queens (1999), and Danny Phantom (2004). </P> <P> Heaton's feature films include Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992), Beethoven (1992), The New Age (1994), and Space Jam (1996). </P> <P> Heaton was featured in three short - lived sitcoms--Room for Two, Someone Like Me and Women of the House--before landing the role of Debra Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond . She was nominated in each of the series' last seven seasons for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, winning in 2000 and 2001 . With her win in 2000, she became the first of the cast members on the show to win an Emmy . She has also collected two Viewers for Quality Television Awards and a Screen Actors Guild trophy for her work on the series . </P>

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