Robert LaSardo (born September 20, 1963) is an American character actor.

Early life

LaSardo was born in Brooklyn, New York City, and is of Italian-American and Native American descent. He began his career studying at the High School of Performing Arts in New York City where he became an honors student, before attending the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. He spent four years in the U.S. Navy. For two of those years, he handled Navy attack dogs in the Aleutian Islands. LaSardo was stationed on Adak Island, in the middle of the Aleutian chain, with LaSardo saying that the weather was "atrocious", and that alcoholism and depression was rife among others serving there. As part of the Navy, he would also go on to spend time in Africa, Australia, Fiji, Indonesia the Philippines and Saudi Arabia.

Career

LaSardo started his acting career in 1987 with the independent film China Girl by Abel Ferrara. He was cast in the 1990 Steven Seagal film Hard to Kill, and LaSardo claimed that Seagal took a liking to him, helping him get cast in his next project Out for Justice. After several smaller roles he appeared in such TV series as The X-Files, CSI: Miami, Nip/Tuck and Femme Fatales, most often playing bad guys, in particular drug dealers or gang leaders. He also appeared in feature films as bad guys in several movies, including Waterworld and The Mule. He has appeared often in independent horror movies, such as in The Human Centipede 3 (Final Sequence), Autopsy, and Parlor. In 2020, he appeared in Hope for the Holidays with Sally Kirkland. In December 2021, it was reported that LaSardo has been cast in The Legend of Jack and Diane, a feature film described as a female-led revenge thriller written and directed by Bruce Bellocchi, starring Tom Sizemore, Lydia Zelmac, David Tomlinson and Carlo Mendez. The film's producers include Bellocchi, and filming began in Los Angeles on January 17, 2022. In 2022, it was announced that LaSardo will be starring in the horror film Camp Pleasant Lake with Jonathan Lipnicki.

Personal life

LaSardo lives with his family in California. Due to his work in the Navy, he supports USA Cares, an organization that supports families of soldiers.

Filmography

Films

Television

Books by LaSardo