Robert Alan Morrow (born September 21, 1962) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Dr. Joel Fleischman on ''
Northern Exposure'', a role that garnered him three
Golden Globe and two
Emmy
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...
nominations for Best Actor in a Dramatic Series, and later for his role as FBI agent
Don Eppes on ''
Numbers
A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The most basic examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...
''.
Early life
Morrow was born in
New Rochelle, New York
New Rochelle ( ; in ) is a Political subdivisions of New York State#City, city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located approximately from Midtow ...
, the son of Diane Francis (
née
The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
Markowitz), a
dental hygienist, and Murray Morrow, an industrial lighting manufacturer. He is Jewish, and had a
Reform
Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...
Bar Mitzvah
A ''bar mitzvah'' () or ''bat mitzvah'' () is a coming of age ritual in Judaism. According to Halakha, Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age ...
. Morrow grew up in
Hartsdale, New York. His parents divorced when he was nine years old. He attended
Cardigan Mountain School and
Edgemont High School and dropped out at the beginning of his senior year to begin his acting career.
Career
Morrow's film career began when he appeared as an extra at age 18 on ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
''. He co-starred alongside
Johnny Depp in ''
Private Resort'' (1985). He later appeared in the Dentyne gum commercials where he would slyly utter the "Time to walk the dog" catch phrase.
Morrow played the lead role in the television show ''
Northern Exposure'' from 1990 to 1995.
Morrow's character, Joel Fleischman, is "a New York City physician who is surprised to be assigned to the isolated and icy town of Cicely, Alaska". For his work on ''Northern Exposure'', Morrow was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards
and two Emmy Awards.
He left the
CBS comedy-drama in 1995 to act in movies.
Morrow starred in the critically acclaimed film ''
Quiz Show'' (1994) as
Dick Goodwin, a congressional investigator intent on uncovering the corruption behind the 1950s game show scandal. Morrow played the younger brother of
Albert Brooks' character in ''
Mother
A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...
'' (1996). In 2000, he directed and starred in ''
Maze
A maze is a path or collection of paths, typically from an entrance to a goal. The word is used to refer both to branching tour puzzles through which the solver must find a route, and to simpler non-branching ("unicursal") patterns that lead ...
'', about an artist with
Tourette syndrome
Tourette syndrome (TS), or simply Tourette's, is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence. It is characterized by multiple movement (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) tic. Common tics are blinkin ...
.
In 2002, Morrow played Kevin Hunter on the
Showtime television series ''Street Time''. He also appeared in the television film ''
Custody''. In 2007, he played
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. Nicholson is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of the 20th century, often playing rebels fighting against the social structure. Over his five-de ...
's doctor, Dr. Hollins, in ''
The Bucket List''. From 2005 to 2010, he starred with
David Krumholtz and
Judd Hirsch as FBI agent Don Eppes in ''
Numb3rs'' on
CBS. On March 8, 2010, it was announced that Morrow had signed on to star in
Jerry Bruckheimer's new series, ''
The Whole Truth'', on
ABC.
The series aired on September 13, 2010, but was pulled from the ABC schedule in December. Morrow filmed 13 episodes. Morrow starred as Henry Rearden in ''
Atlas Shrugged: Part III'', which was released September 12, 2014.
In 2017, Morrow starred in the recurring role of reporter Abe Leonard in the first season of the
ABC political drama ''
Designated Survivor''. He also starred in ''
The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story'' as
Barry Scheck. As of November 2018, news was released that a revival of ''Northern Exposure'' was in the works at CBS and that Morrow would return as Joel Fleischman.

Morrow has a recurring role on the
Showtime drama ''
Billions'' as judge Adam DeGiulio.
Morrow is a teacher at the Ruskin Group Theatre in
Santa Monica
Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
. During the summer of 2019, he starred as
Willy Loman in the theater's production of ''
Death of a Salesman''.
Personal life
On his 36th birthday in 1998, Morrow married actress Debbon Ayer. They have one daughter, Tu Morrow, born in 2001. They live in
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
.
Morrow previously lived in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
at the time of filming ''Northern Exposure''.
Acting credits
Film
Television
Directing credits
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrow, Rob
1962 births
Living people
American male film actors
American male television actors
American television directors
Jewish American male actors
Male actors from New Rochelle, New York
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American Jews