Robert Picardo is a successful singer and actor whose career spans 45 years and shows no signs of slowing down. He has been performing professionally since he was in college in the mid-1970s, appearing on stage in high-profile productions such as Leonard Bernstein's The Table and singing in his college a cappella choir. After college, he gained recognition for his performance in the 1976 David Mamet production of "Sexual Perversion in Chicago."

His move into television was a natural for the hard-working actor, starting with small roles in notable hit shows. He appeared in two episodes of Kojak in 1977 and has never had a "down" period since. He went on to appear in Taxi, Silver Spoons, Alice, Benson, 21 Jump Street and 15 episodes of The Wonder Years as the stubborn Coach Cutlip, in addition to dozens of other TV shows too too numerous to list here. On the big screen, Picardo became "bare" for director Joe Dante, appearing in most of the director's films; he was the werewolf in Howl, multiple characters in The Explorers, the cowboy in Inner Space, took out the trash in The Burbs, and dealt with Gremlins in Gremlins 2: The New Squad. He also appeared in Ridley Scott's The Legend, was a robot taxi driver in Paul Verhoeven's Total Recall, and appeared in many other hit films.

Picardo, in other words, is one of the toughest and most reliable character actors in the business. By the time he was elected as the holographic doctor in Star Trek: Voyager in 1995, he was already a beloved "Hey, it's that guy!" an actor. Voyager, however, was something that made his name more memorable, and remains his longest and most recognizable gig.

Just prior to Voyager, Picardo even made guest appearances in a pair of Season 3 episodes of hit sitcom "Home Improvement." He played a character named Joe Morton who met Tim (Tim Allen) twice in his garage.

Picardo first appeared in the Home Improvement episode "A Sew, Sew Evening" (October 6, 1993). He played Joe Morton, Tim's new neighbor, who had something of an overbearing personality. Both are obsessed with cars, and Joe accidentally punctures Tim's car, causing some tension between them. Picardo's only thing was being boring and cocky, two of Tim's least endearing traits to other people. Joe Morton was a broad archetype, but Picardo played the role with gusto.

The character returned in Blow Up (November 3, 1993), but he only played a minor role in that one. According to the episode's trivia page on IMDb, Picardo was set to become a semi-regular on Home Improvement, and the producers had already figured out that they would include him in multiple episodes. However, in 1994, Picardo began his audition for Star Trek: Voyager, and had to commit to the sci-fi series instead. Picardo was initially unsure whether he should be in the Star Trek spinoff or whether he would find more success on the already popular Home Improvement. Tim Allen, a Trekkie, seems to have encouraged him towards the former.

However, Picardo was not one to rest on his laurels. During the Voyager audition process, Picardo landed a role in a TV movie about Lee Harvey Oswald, an episode of Tales from the Crypt, the sequel Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love, an episode of Insurgent. Highway', a TV thriller called 'The White Mile' and an episode of 'ER'. It was also in "Wagons East!" and "The Pagemaster" at this point. He would go on to appear in 172 episodes of Voyager from 1995 to 2001.

Picardo didn't stop there either. Even after Voyager, his TV credits number in the dozens. He continued to work with Dante (he was in "Looney Tunes: Back in Action") and even appeared in further "Star Trek" projects. He also lent his voice to video games and reprized the role of the Doctor in the animated series Star Trek: Prodigy. At the time of writing, it should also appear in the the upcoming Star Trek show Starfleet Academy.

Home Improvement was just one gig out of hundreds for Picardo.