Robert Picardo was born on October 27, 1953 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, where he spent his whole childhood. He graduated from the William Penn Charter School and attended Yale University. At Yale, he landed a role in Leonard Bernstein's "Mass" and at age 19, he played a leading role in the European premiere of "Mass". Later, he graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Drama from Yale University. He appeared in the David Mamet play "Sexual Perversity in Chicago and with Diane Keaton in "The Primary English Class". In 1977, he made his Broadway debut in the comedy hit "Gemini" with Danny Aiello and also appeared in Bernard Slade's "Tribute", "Beyond Therapy" as well as "Geniuses" and "The Normal Heart" for which he won a Drama-Logue Award.
Then, he became involved in television, where he soon was nominated for an Emmy Award for his role as Coach Cutlip on the series Les années coup de coeur (1988). Robert appeared in several other series: China Beach (1988), Frasier (1993), Ally McBeal (1997), Papa bricole (1991), Au-delà du réel - l'aventure continue (1995) and Sabrina, l'apprentie sorcière (1996). In 1995, he got the role of the holographic doctor on Star Trek: Voyager (1995) where he also directed two episodes. He also got roles in Hurlements (1981), Star 80 (1983), Get Crazy (1983), Oh, God! You Devil (1984), L'aventure intérieure (1987), Munchies (1987), Samantha (1991), Les rapides de la mort (1994), Star Trek: Premier Contact (1996), Small Soldiers (1998), Les Looney Tunes passent à l'action (2003), Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey (2010), and so on.
He resides in Los Angeles, California with his wife Linda, and their two daughters.
