Robert Picardo

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Robert Picardo
Picardo at Gatecon
Birth name	Robert Picardo
Born	October 27, 1953 (age 53) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,  United States
Spouse(s)	Linda Pawlik (1984 - present)
Notable roles	Dr. Richard in China Beach The Doctor in Star Trek: Voyager

Robert Picardo (born October 27, 1953 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American actor. He is probably best known for his portrayals of Dr. Dick Richards on ABC's China Beach and the Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH), one version of which became known as The Doctor, on UPN's Star Trek: Voyager, as Joe "The Meat Man" Morton on Home Improvement, and as Richard Woolsey in Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Career 2 Personal life 3 Trivia 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Picardo graduated from William Penn Charter School in 1971 and originally entered Yale University as a pre-med student, but opted to act instead. On Broadway he appeared in Gemini (1977) and Tribute (1978).

[edit] Career

Best known for his portrayals of Dr. Dick Richards in China Beach and The Doctor in Voyager, Picardo also lent his voice to portray his role as The Doctor on Activision's Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force and the related expansion pack. He also played Lewis Zimmerman, the Doctor's creator, and repeated the role in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Doctor Bashir, I Presume?". Picardo also made a brief appearance in the feature film Star Trek: First Contact. He played Coach Cutlip on the television series The Wonder Years.

Picardo starred in the 1981 hit film, The Howling, as Eddie Quist, his screen debut after being discovered on Broadway. His is the longest werewolf transformation scene. In 1983 he had a supporting comedic role in Get Crazy, playing by-the-book fire inspector Connell O'Connell. He played a number of roles in the 1985 children's sci-fi film Explorers, and played Meg Mucklebones (a green demon who lived in a swamp) in Legend. He had a small role as a funeral director in John Landis's Amazon Women on the Moon. In the 1998 movie Small Soldiers, he had a minor role as Ralph, the scientist responsible for the creation of the X-1000 series munitions microprocessor that was central to the story. Both this and the film The Howling were directed by Joe Dante; Picardo has made appearances in almost all of Dante's films.

In 2002, 2004 and 2005, Picardo provided the voice of Amazo on the cartoon series Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. This is only the most prominent of the characters he has done for the DCAU, having also voiced a tough small-time gangster in one episode of Batman: The Animated Series and Blackhawk on Justice League.

In 2004, he began playing the recurring role of NID Agent Richard Woolsey in Stargate SG-1. His first appearance in the series was in "Heroes (Part 2)". Since then, his portrayal of Woolsey has made appearances in Stargate Atlantis as well.

Picardo has also appeared on "E-Ring" as a media rep in The Pentagon, and as an enraged father in Cold Case.

Away from acting, Picardo is a member of the Board of Directors' Advisory Council of The Planetary Society, where he has served since the late 1990's. In 2002, Picardo authored the book The Hologram's Handbook, published by Pocket Books.

Other career highlights include performing in Leonard Bernstein's Mass in D during its European debut tour, performing with the Yale University Society of Orpheus & Bacchus a cappella singing group as an undergraduate, and appearing in dozens of other television and film roles.

[edit] Personal life

Picardo is also a keen hobbyist; his most notable achievements include placing fifth in the SOCAL Hula Dance Championships in both 1982 and 1993.

Robert Picardo is married to Linda Pawlik since 1984 and has two daughters.

[edit] Trivia

• He received the role of the EMH due to an ad lib during the audition. The line the prospective actors were asked to read was a complaint about having been left "switched on." After reading the line, Picardo, an admitted Star Trek fan, added "I'm a doctor, not a light bulb." ^{[1][citation needed]}

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The Official Robert Picardo website
• Robert Picardo at the Internet Movie Database
• Robert Picardo article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
• The Planetary Society Home Page

Major Cast Members of Star Trek: Voyager
Kate Mulgrew | Robert Beltran | Tim Russ | Robert Duncan McNeill | Roxann Dawson | Garrett Wang | Robert Picardo | Ethan Phillips | Jeri Ryan | Jennifer Lien