Joe Regalbuto

Joe Regalbuto is an American actor and director born on August 24, 1949, in Brooklyn, New York. Of Italian heritage, he grew up in New Milford, New Jersey, where he graduated from New Milford High School in 1967. He went on to establish a career spanning stage, film, and television over several decades.

Regalbuto made his Broadway appearance in 1980 in Division Street. That same period saw him take on his first significant television role, playing attorney Elliot Streeter in the legal sitcom The Associates, which ran from 1979 to 1980 and also featured Martin Short. The early 1980s brought a range of film and television work: in 1982 he appeared in the film Missing, took the role of Darius in the fantasy film The Sword and the Sorcerer, and recurred as the alien character Kalnik across three episodes of Mork & Mindy. That year also marked his co-starring role alongside Tom Selleck in Lassiter. In 1983 he joined the cast of Ace Crawford, Private Eye, playing accountant Toomey opposite Tim Conway. He then joined the CBS series Knots Landing for the 1984–1985 and 1985–1986 seasons as Harry Fisher, a character central to the show's Black Market storyline involving the illegal possession of the Ewing twins. In 1984 he also appeared in the Wes Craven television film Invitation to Hell, and in 1985 he guest starred in the Magnum, P.I. episode "Going Home" as Don Eddie Rice. That same year he starred in the TV movie Fuzz Bucket and appeared in the short-lived series Street Hawk.

The role that brought Regalbuto his widest recognition was Frank Fontana on the CBS sitcom Murphy Brown, which premiered on November 14, 1988. He remained with the series through its entire original run, which concluded on May 18, 1998, and earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for the role in 1989. During the later seasons he also directed more than 20 episodes of the series. In 1988, prior to Murphy Brown's debut, he appeared in an episode of The Golden Girls as Jeremy, a verbally abusive boyfriend of Rebecca Devereaux. In 1992 he had an uncredited appearance in the film The Babe.

Following Murphy Brown's original run, Regalbuto continued working in television. In 2002 he appeared in the fifth and final season of Ally McBeal, playing Harvey Hall in the episode "One Hundred Tears." In 2008 he had a small role in the film Bottle Shock and guest starred in both Ghost Whisperer and Criminal Minds. A guest appearance on NCIS followed in 2009. In 2012 he played Mr. Rogers in the television series Southland, and in 2015 he guest starred as Stuart Sloan in the Major Crimes episode "Turn Down." Regalbuto returned to Murphy Brown when the series was revived in 2018, reuniting with cast members Candice Bergen, Faith Ford, and Grant Shaud.

Alongside his acting work, Regalbuto has directed episodes of numerous television series, including Friends, Titus, George Lopez, Wizards of Waverly Place, and Hot in Cleveland. He is married to RoseMary Regalbuto, who served as a former president of Meals On Wheels West in Santa Monica, California, a board member of Santa Monica Travel and Tourism from 2014 to 2022, and an eight-year board member of the Commission on Older Americans. The couple have three children.