10/15 9:45am pst - Actor Robert Mangiardi joins Janeane on KUCI 88.9fm to talk about his role in Damaged Furniture - The Dysfunctional Family Heading ...

Robert Mangiardi is a New York actor who came from a family of 9 children. His father was a prominent NY heart surgeon and, although many of his siblings pursued the medical field, Robert did not. His first acting venture was in a high school play The Apple Tree, a musical where he played Adam and he admits he did it to meet the leading lady Janet Murphy who later went on to become Vice President of casting for ABC TV in New York. The play was directed by Peter Strain who went on to become a prominent talent agency on both coasts. He did not attempt to act again until he came to Los Angeles in his mid-thirties and attended an acting class by famed Hollywood director Daniel Mann. Daniel could be brutal was his comments to his actors but the very first scene Robert put up was greeted by such a complimentary response that the actor cried on the spot-he had finally found his calling. His very first role was a recalling role on the famed CBS series Wiseguy which starred the late Ray Sharkey and Ken Whal. The show was a precursor for the likes of The Sopranos and was hailed by critics as one of the "Top 100 TV Shows Ever'. Guest star roles on shows such as Murder She Wrote, Midnight Caller and Jake and the Fat Man, to name a few quickly followed.