Robert Walden

• Name — Robert Walden • Birth Name — Robert Wolkowitz • Born — 25 September 1943 • Birthplace — New York City, New York, U.S. • Occupation — Actor • Years Active — 1970–present • Relatives — Howard Deutch (nephew) Madelyn Deutch (grand-niece) Zoey Deutch (grand-niece)

Walden was born in New York City, the son of Hilda and Max Wolkowitz. His nephew is director Howard Deutch, the son of his sister; and his grand-nieces are actresses Zoey Deutch and Madelyn Deutch. Walden first became interested in acting while attending City College of New York, and shortly thereafter became a member of the Actors Studio. Walden's film career began in 1970, in Bloody Mama for Roger Corman. After that, and for the first several years of his career, he often played young doctors, such as in the television series The New Doctors (one of the rotating elements of NBC's The Bold Ones) as Dr. Cohen, after the departure of John Saxon prior to the final season; and notably in films Blue Sunshine and Paddy Chayefsky's The Hospital. His breakthrough role was in the television series Lou Grant, on which he played journalist Joe Rossi. MTM producers James L. Brooks and Allan Burns "discovered" Walden when he played the role of police officer Ernie Joyce on the Mary Tyler Moore spin-off show Rhoda in an episode that aired in January 1977. In a 2017 interview, Walden said that the MTM producers created the new Mary Tyler Moore spin-off Lou Grant with Walden in mind for the role of Rossi. He was a cast member on Lou Grant during its entire run (1977–1982), and received three Emmy Award nominations (in 1979, 1980 and 1981) for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for the role. Walden has played several historical characters, including Donald Segretti in the 1976 film All the President's Men, and J. Robert Oppenheimer in the 1980 TV movie Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb. From 1984 until 1989, he starred in the groundbreaking Showtime sitcom Brothers as the middle of three brothers, the owner of a bar/restaurant who was a retired NFL placekicker. His youngest brother, played by Paul Regina, was gay and the series dealt with issues regarding homosexuality. Walden also made a cameo appearance as a sound engineer in the 1994 film Radioland Murders. In 2011, Walden made a return to series television in the TV Land sitcom Happily Divorced, playing Glenn Newman, the father of the lead character played by series creator and writer Fran Drescher, with Rita Moreno co-starring as his wife. As on his previous series Brothers, Happily Divorced is also predominantly gay-themed, as the plot is based on Drescher's divorce from series co-creator Peter Marc Jacobson, who later revealed he was gay and remained friends with Drescher. The series was cancelled in 2013 after two seasons.

He was a member of the Doo Wop group Bobby & The Chord-A-Roys in 1960. Walden is a distinguished teacher of acting at The New School for Drama, division of the New York City university The New School. In August, 2006 he appeared in the Herbert Berghof Playwrights Foundation (HB Studio) production of Arthur Miller's The American Clock under the direction of Austin Pendleton. Walden also appeared in the movie Capricorn One (1978) as Elliot Whitter.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1970 — Bloody Mama — Fred Barker • The Out-of-Towners — Looter • The Sidelong Glances of a Pigeon Kicker — Winslow Smith • 1971 — The Hospital — Dr. Brubaker • 1972 — A Run for the Money — Murdock • Bobby Jo and the Big Apple Good Time Band — Augie — Unsold TV pilot • Rage — Dr. Tom Janeway • Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex — Sperm • 1973 — The Rookies — Joey — S2.E2 - "Margin for Error" • Columbo — Billy Fine — Episode S3.E2 - "Any Old Port in a Storm" • Maxie — Finn • Shirts/Skins — Dick Dubin — ABC Movie of the Week • 1974 — Larry — Tom Corman • The Great Ice Rip-Off — Checker — ABC Movie of the Week • Our Time — Frank • 1974–75 — Medical Center — Dr. Frank Corelli — 3 episodes • 1975 — The Kansas City Massacre — Adam Richetti — TV movie • Kate McShane — Vogel — Episode S1.E2 - "Terror on Sycamore Street" • 1976 — Starsky & Hutch — Marty Simon — Episode S2.E3 - "Murder at Sea" • All the President's Men — Donald Segretti • The Rockford Files — Barry Silverstein — Episode S3.E2 - "The Oracle Wore a Cashmere Suit" • The Blue Knight — Joey — Episode S2.E10 - "Death Echo" • Police Woman — Spider Denton — Episode S3.E5 - "Broken Angels" • 1977 — Audrey Rose — Brice Mack • Blue Sunshine — David Blume • Capricorn One — Elliot Whitter • Police Story — Investigator Lou Bleyer — Episode S4.E13 - "Spitfire" • Rhoda — Ernie Joyce — Episode S3.E17 - "Somebody Has to Say They're Sorry" • Hunter — Bellheimer — Episode S1.E13 - "U.F.M. 13" • 1978 — Centennial — Dr. Richard Butler — Episode S1.E1 - "Only the Rocks Live Forever" • 1980 — Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb — Robert Oppenheimer — TV movie • 1983 — Memorial Day — Gibbs — TV film • 1985 — Murder, She Wrote — Lt. Antonelli — Episode S2.E3 - "Murder in the Afternoon" • 1987 — Matlock — Roger Bundy — Episode S1.E17 - "The Convict" • Perry Mason: The Case of the Lost Love — Robert Lane — TV Movie • 1988 — Hotel — Tom Conners — Episode S5.E17 - "Aftershocks" • 1989 — Father Dowling Mysteries — Vincent Tillman — Episode S1.E1 - "The Missing Body Mystery" • 1992 — Reasonable Doubts — Joe McMann — Episode S1.E20 - "Home to Roost" • 1994 — Radioland Murders — Tommy • 1997 — In Dark Places — Diller • Pacific Blue — Carl Regis — Episode S3.E6 - "Sandman" • 1998 — Heist — Police Detective • Kiss of a Stranger — Stephen Block • 1999 — Desert Thunder — Gen. Tom Brockton • 2000 — Judging Amy — Ian Tyson — Episode S1.E15 - "Culture Clash" • 2001 — The Fluffer — Herman Lasky • The West Wing — Senator Rossiter — Episode S2.E21 - "18th and Potomac" • 2002 — Time of Fear — Sheriff Joe Calabro • 2005 — Whiskey School — Alex Cavanaugh • Law & Order: Special Victims Unit — William Dorsey — Episode S7.E1 - "Demons" • 2007 — Mattie Fresno and the Holoflux Universe — Dr. Kubelkoff • 2010 — Trooper — VA Doctor • 2020 — Surviving in L.A. — Walter • 2023 — Love & Death — Dr. Irving Stone — 2 episodes

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1972–73 — The Bold Ones: The New Doctors — Dr. Martin Cohen — 15 episodes • 1977–82 — Lou Grant — Joe Rossi — 114 episodes • 1984–89 — Brothers — Joe Waters — 115 episodes • 2011–13 — Happily Divorced — Glen Newman — 34 episodes