Robert Romano (ER)
Dr.
Robert "Rocket" Romano was a
fictional medical doctor on the
ER television series who worked at County General. He was portrayed by
Paul McCrane.
The producers of the show wanted to have a doctor who was arrogant, mean-sprited, and prone to making unwelcome advances towards women. Many medical professionals have commented that they have known real-life medical doctors who were quite like Romano. Although Romano was a deliberately unpleasant character, he also frequently provided the show's comic relief, and thus became popular with viewers as ER's "man you love to hate".
Dr. Romano was a brilliant
surgeon, but he did not get along with the majority of the staff. When
Dr. Benton arranged for the surgery of a
Medicare patient over the objections of Dr. Romano, Romano fired Benton. Romano then
blacklisted Benton throughout the community, making it almost impossible for him to find a job in
Chicago. This forced Benton to come back and beg for a job from Romano. While
Dr. Kerry Weaver had initially backed Romano for chief of staff, they soon turned against each other. Romano did, however, seem genuinely fond of medical student
Lucy Knight, and showed grief and anger when he was unable to save her after a homicidal attack.
At the beginning of the ninth season, Dr. Romano lost his arm when he backed into the tail rotor blades of a
helicopter that was evacuating a patient.
Dr. Kovač was able to save Romano's life, and surgeons at another Chicago area hospital were able to reattach Romano's arm.
However, Romano found that the reattached arm was lacking in both its motor and its sensory capacities: not only was he unable to properly perform surgery, he failed to notice when the arm sustained further injuries, and - after a kitchen accident in which the arm caught fire - he had it amputated, and resorted to a mechanical
prosthetic. Since the hospital's policies impeded his efforts to obtain a more suitable replacement, his career as a surgeon ended; Romano moved to the ER and took over there. He managed to get himself beaten up in a bar after complaining about a strong man show, and calling another bar patron "homo-erotic" for watching the show.
Romano died when a helicopter fell off the roof of the hospital and crashed on top of him, a widely-derided denouement intended to be ironic as the character had developed a phobia toward helicopters. The only person to attend his memorial service was
Elizabeth Corday, for whom Romano had had feelings since Corday first arrived in the fourth season, during which she rejected his amorous advances. He bequeathed a substantial amount of money to the hospital; Dr. Weaver, a lesbian who had been personally offended by Romano's homophobia, decided to ironically use the money to fund a Gay and Lesbian medical program at the hospital.
Romano: "You're one grade A bitch. You know that Kerry?"
Weaver: "No, Robert. I'm your boss. And as long as I am, you're my bitch. Now, get your ass back to work."
