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Robert Walden (bornRobert Wolkowitz; September 25, 1943)^[1] is an American television and motion picture actor. He is best known for his role as Joe Rossi onLou Grant,^[2]: 625 which earned him three nominations forPrimetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series; for his role as Joe Waters onBrothers;^[2] and as Glenn Newman onHappily Divorced. Walden is also well known for his roles in the filmsBlue Sunshine,The Hospital,All the President's Men,Audrey Rose, andCapricorn One.

Walden was born inNew York City, the son of Hilda and Max Wolkowitz.^[3] His nephew is directorHoward Deutch, the son of his sister; and his grand-nieces are actressesZoey Deutch andMadelyn Deutch. Walden first became interested in acting while attendingCity College of New York, and shortly thereafter became a member of theActors Studio.^[4][5]

Walden's film career began in 1970, inBloody Mama forRoger Corman. After that, and for the first several years of his career, he often played young doctors, such as in the television seriesThe New Doctors (one of the rotating elements ofNBC'sThe Bold Ones) as Dr. Cohen, after the departure ofJohn Saxon prior to the final season; and notably in filmsBlue Sunshine andPaddy Chayefsky'sThe Hospital. His breakthrough role was in the television seriesLou Grant, on which he played journalist Joe Rossi.^[6] MTM producers James L. Brooks and Allan Burns "discovered" Walden when he played the role of police officer Ernie Joyce on theMary Tyler Moore spin-off showRhoda in an episode that aired in January 1977.^[7] In a 2017 interview, Walden said that the MTM producers created the newMary Tyler Moore spin-offLou Grant with Walden in mind for the role of Rossi.^[8] He was a cast member onLou Grant during its entire run (1977–1982), and received threeEmmy Award nominations (in 1979, 1980 and 1981) for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for the role. Walden has played several historical characters, includingDonald Segretti in the 1976 filmAll the President's Men, andJ. Robert Oppenheimer in the 1980 TV movieEnola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb. From 1984 until 1989, he starred in the groundbreakingShowtime sitcomBrothers as the middle of three brothers, the owner of a bar/restaurant who was a retired NFL placekicker.^[6] His youngest brother, played byPaul Regina, was gay and the series dealt with issues regardinghomosexuality. Walden also made a cameo appearance as a sound engineer in the 1994 filmRadioland Murders.^[6]

In 2011, Walden made a return to series television in theTV Land sitcomHappily Divorced,^[6] playing Glenn Newman, the father of the lead character played by series creator and writerFran Drescher, withRita Moreno co-starring as his wife. As on his previous seriesBrothers,Happily Divorced is also predominantly gay-themed, as the plot is based on Drescher's divorce from series co-creatorPeter 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 groupBobby & The Chord-A-Roys in 1960.^[9]

Walden is a distinguished teacher of acting atThe New School for Drama, division of the New York City universityThe New School. In August, 2006 he appeared in theHerbert Berghof Playwrights Foundation (HB Studio) production ofArthur Miller'sThe American Clock under the direction ofAustin Pendleton. Walden also appeared in the movieCapricorn One (1978) as Elliot Whitter.

• Robert Walden atIMDb
• Robert Walden at theInternet Off-Broadway Database (archived)

• Living people
• 1943 births
• American male film actors
• Actors Studio alumni
• American male television actors
• City College of New York alumni
• Male actors from New York City
• 20th-century American male actors
• 21st-century American male actors
• Pseudonymous actors

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• BLP articles lacking sources from March 2013
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• Articles with hCards
• Internet Off-Broadway Database person ID same as Wikidata