Robert Anthony Phalen (May 10, 1937 – December 6, 1995) was an American actor who starred in films and on television.

Life and career

He was born on May 10, 1937 in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, where he attended George Washington High School, was active in the school's drama club, and served as student body president. Fowler, Keith, ''A History of the San Francisco Actor's Workshop''," 1969, Yale Drama Library. His early stage work includes his membership of San Francisco's

Actor's Workshop The Actor's Workshop was a theatre company founded in San Francisco in 1952. It was the first professional theatre on the west coast to premiere many of the modern American classics such as Arthur Miller's ''Death of a Salesman'' and ''The Crucib ...

, where he played a variety of roles in the early 1960s, including Mick in Harold Pinter's '' The Caretaker''. He was in the 1978 hit horror movie ''

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

'' as Dr. Terence Wynn. He also appeared in two other

John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, composer, and actor. Most commonly associated with horror film, horror, action film, action, and science fiction film, science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s, he is ...

movies, ''

Someone's Watching Me! ''Someone's Watching Me!'' is a 1978 American made-for-television horror film written and directed by John Carpenter and starring Lauren Hutton, David Birney and Adrienne Barbeau. The film was made immediately prior to Carpenter's theatrical h ...

'' (1978) and '' Starman'' (1984). His other film credits include ''

Three Days of the Condor ''Three Days of the Condor'' is a 1975 American spy thriller film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson, and Max von Sydow. The screenplay by Lorenzo Semple Jr. and David Rayfiel was based on the ...

'' (1975), ''

Just You and Me, Kid ''Just You and Me, Kid'' is a 1979 American comedy film starring George Burns, Brooke Shields, Lorraine Gary, Ray Bolger, Leon Ames, Carl Ballantine, Keye Luke and Burl Ives. It was directed by Leonard B. Stern and was released in July 197 ...

'' (1979), ''

Zoot Suit A zoot suit (occasionally spelled zuit suit) is a men's Suit (clothing), suit with high-waisted, wide-legged, tight-cuffed, wikt:pegged pants, pegged trousers, and a long coat with wide lapels and wide padded shoulders. It is most notable for its ...

'' (1981), '' The Gladiator'' (1986) and ''

Impulse Impulse or Impulsive may refer to: Science * Impulse (physics), in mechanics, the change of momentum of an object; the integral of a force with respect to time * Impulse noise (disambiguation) * Specific impulse, the change in momentum per unit ...

'' (1990). Phalen made guest appearances on many television shows, including ''

M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (an acronym for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richa ...

'', ''

Baretta ''Baretta'' is an American detective television series which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1978. The show was a revised and milder version of a 1973–1974 ABC series, '' Toma'', starring Tony Musante as chameleon-like, real-life New Jersey police ...

'', ''

Centennial A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century. Notable events Notable centennial events at a national or world-level include: * Centennial Exhibition, 1876, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

'', ''

Hill Street Blues ''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the Metropolitan Police Department staff ...

'', '' The Facts of Life'', and ''

Babylon 5 ''Babylon 5'' is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Tel ...

'' (as the father of main character

Susan Ivanova Susan Ivanova () is a lead fictional character in the science fiction television series ''Babylon 5'', played by Claudia Christian. Character overview Susan Ivanova holds the rank of lieutenant commander during the first season and is promoted ...

). He died from complications of

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

on December 6, 1995, at the age of 58.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phalen, Robert 1937 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American male actors AIDS-related deaths in California American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from San Francisco