Robert Machray Ward (born May 4, 1945) is a retired American stage and television actor. He is known for playing fire marshal " Captain Dobbins" in the American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

television series ''

Cheers ''Cheers'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on NBC from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993, with a total of 275 half-hour episodes across 11 seasons. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association w ...

''.

Life and career

Machray was born in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

. He worked as a flower seller, with also working as a person dressing up as

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a Legend, legendary figure originating in Western Christianity, Western Christian culture who is said to Christmas gift-bringer, bring ...

in taverns. Machray performed on stage for which Machray was a

shakespearean actor Thousands of performances of William Shakespeare's plays have been staged since the end of the 16th century. While Shakespeare was alive, many of his greatest plays were performed by the Lord Chamberlain's Men and King's Men acting companies at ...

, in which he appeared on numerous

shakespeare festivals William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. He performed at numerous stage productions for which his role were preferred as major, appearing in companies such as the

Los Angeles Civic Light Opera The Los Angeles Civic Light Opera (LACLO) was an American theatre/opera company in Los Angeles, California. Founded under the motto "Light Opera in the Grand Opera manner" in 1938 by impresario Edwin Lester, the organization presented fifty season ...

Hartford Stage Hartford Stage is an American 501(c)(3) non-profit regional theatre company located on Church Street in downtown Hartford, Connecticut. Since its founding in 1963, Hartford Stage has won the Regional Theatre Tony Award (1989) and many Connectic ...

and Playwrights Horizons, among others. Machray began his film and television career in 1977, where he appeared in the television film ''Panic in Echo Park''. He then appeared in the

television series '' Operation Petticoat''. Machray guest-starred in television programs including ''

Roseanne ''Roseanne'' is an American sitcom television series created by Matt Williams and Roseanne Barr which aired on ABC from October 18, 1988, to May 20, 1997, and briefly revived from March 27, 2018, to May 22, 2018. The show stars Barr as Roseann ...

'', '' Life Goes On'', '' The Drew Carey Show'', '' Suddenly Susan'', '' Profiler'' and '' Three's Company''. He also appeared in two films: ''

Cutting Class ''Cutting Class'' is a 1989 American black comedy slasher film directed by Rospo Pallenberg in his directorial debut, written by Steve Slavkin, and starring Donovan Leitch, Jill Schoelen, Brad Pitt, Roddy McDowall, and Martin Mull. It was Pitt's ...

'' (as Mr. Conklin) and '' The Master of Disguise''. In 1983, Machray was cast in a summer stage production, titled, '' My Fair Lady''. In 1991, he appeared in a stage play called ''A Passenger Train of Sixty-One Coaches'', in which according to the

Lexington Herald-Leader The ''Lexington Herald-Leader'' is a newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and based in Lexington, Kentucky. According to the ''1999 Editor & Publisher International Yearbook'', the paid circulation of the ''Herald-Leader'' is the second large ...

, Joe Marks who played Sidney Reidlitch had glanced and resonated like Machray for which he was described as personified. Machray retired his career in 2011, last appearing in the

political satire Political satire is satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where Political discourse analysis, political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing ...

mockumentary sitcom television series ''

Parks and Recreation ''Parks and Recreation'' (also known as ''Parks and Rec'') is an American political satire mockumentary sitcom television series created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. The series aired on NBC from April 9, 2009, to February 24, 2015, for 125 ...

''.

References

External links

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Rotten Tomatoes profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Machray, Robert 1945 births Living people Actors from San Diego Male actors from California American male stage actors American male television actors American male Shakespearean actors 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors