Born and raised in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, Robert Picardo ("Bob") graduated from the William Penn
Charter School. He entered Yale University as a pre-med student, not
knowing that he would someday portray doctors in three separate
productions: first as Dr. Dick Richard on the ABC series "China Beach,
"then as Dr. McCaskill in the theater production "In The Waiting Room" at
the Mark Taper Forum, and now as The Doctor on "Star Trek: Voyager." While at Yale, Bob landed a role in Leonard Bernstein's "Mass," a musical theater piece originally commissioned for the 1972 opening of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. In 1974, armed with a B.A. in Drama from Yale, he enrolled at the Circle in the Square Professional Theater Workshop (fellow alumni include Kevin Bacon and Ken Olin). He waited tables for a couple of years, and then his theatrical work prospered (in 1976) when he appeared in the David Mamet play "Sexual Perversity in Chicago," and with Diane Keaton in "The Primary English Class." In 1977, Bob made his
Broadway debut in the leading role in the comedy hit "Gemini" with Danny
Aiello (picture
from "Gemini"). He went on to co-star
with Jack Lemmon (picture of
Bob and Jack Lemmon)
in Bernard Slade's"Tribute" in 1978 on Broadway (picture
of Bob and Catherine Hicks
in "Tribute")
and in a west coast run which brought him to Los Angeles, where he decided
to try out film and TV.
The awards and recognition continued as Bob became involved in television. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for his role as Mr. Cutlip on the ABC series "The Wonder Years." Furthermore, Bob was awarded the Viewers For Quality Television Founder's Award for his outstanding performances in "The Wonder Years" and as military surgeon Dr. Dick Richard on "China Beach." Bob's extensive television
work has included a starring role opposite Helena Bonham-Carter in NBC's
movie-of-the-week "Fatal Deception: Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald," the HBO movie
"White Mile," and the NBC mini-series "Deadly Matrimony." Bob resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Linda, and two daughters. Credits for images linked to this page: the photograph from "Gemini" is by Ken Howard (© 1977), the photographs from "Tribute" are by Martha Swope (© 1978), the photographs from "Lend Me A Tenor" and "A Class Act" are by Craig Schwartz (© 1992 and 2002), and the photograph from "On the Twentieth Century" is by Tom Drucker (© 2003). |
His
work in theater also includes "Beyond Therapy" and "Geniuses" at the Los
Angeles Public Theater, "The Normal Heart" at the Berkeley Repertory
Theater, for which he won a Drama-Logue Award (picture of
He
has had recurring roles on "Stargate SG-1," "The Lyon's Den," "Home
Improvement," "L.A. Law," and "Alice," and he has guest-starred in such
series as "The Dead Zone," "The Practice," "Frasier," "Crossing Jordan,"
"Seven Days," "Ally McBeal," "Outer Limits," "Early Edition," "ER," "Tales
From The Crypt," "Amazing Stories," "Benson," and "Taxi." Bob recently
appeared in the feature films "Looney Tunes: Back in Action" and "Small
Soldiers," and he starred in the feature film "Wagons East." For a listing
of his many other film and television appearances, go to his
