Robert Phalen

Robert Anthony Phalen (May 10, 1937 – December 6, 1995) was an American stage, film, and television actor whose career spanned more than three decades. Born in San Francisco, California, he attended George Washington High School, where he participated in the drama club and served as student body president.

Phalen began his professional stage career in San Francisco as a member of the Actor's Workshop in the early 1960s, taking on a range of roles that included Mick in Harold Pinter's The Caretaker. That foundation in classical and contemporary theater carried him to Broadway, where he performed between 1965 and 1974. His Broadway credits included The Crucible, Twelfth Night, Narrow Road to the Deep North, Mary Stuart, and Antigone.

Beyond the stage, Phalen built a substantial screen career in both film and television. He appeared in the 1975 political thriller Three Days of the Condor and went on to appear in John Carpenter's horror film Halloween in 1978, playing Dr. Terence Wynn. That same year he appeared in Carpenter's television film Someone's Watching Me!, and he later returned to work with Carpenter in Starman (1984). His additional film credits include Just You and Me, Kid (1979), Zoot Suit (1981), The Gladiator (1986), and Impulse (1990).

On television, Phalen made guest appearances across numerous series, among them M*A*S*H, Baretta, Centennial, Hill Street Blues, The Facts of Life, and Babylon 5, in which he portrayed the father of main character Susan Ivanova. Phalen died on December 6, 1995, in Los Angeles, California, from complications of AIDS, at the age of 58.