Biography
Yale alumnus Robert Picardo made his off-Broadway debut in
David Mamet's one-act play Sexual Perversity in Chicago. That was in 1975; two years later, Picardo was first seen on Broadway in
Gemini. He launched his TV career in the 1980 miniseries
The Dream Merchants, and in 1981 made his first film,
The Howling--one of several assignments for director
Joe Dante. During his early TV years, he was all too often cast in "first husband" or "wrong boyfriend" supporting roles. Things improved in 1986, when he was hired to play the much-feared high school gym teacher Coach Cutlip in the weekly dramedy
The Wonder Years. He went on to co-star as Dr. Dick Richard in the highly acclaimed Vietnam-era series
China Beach (1989-91). A busy voiceover artist, Picardo has supplied a variety of vocal characterizations for such series as
Dinosaurs and
Batman. Undoubtedly you'll be reading even more about Robert Picardo in the future, by virtue of his being cast as the holographic Doc Zimmerman on TV's Star Trek: Voyager(1995- ). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide