Biography
Robert Dunlap, born on November 29, 1942, is an actor and producer.
He comes from a Scottish and Czech heritage. Dunlap attended Lincoln High School in San Jose, graduating in 1960. At 17, he was accepted to train as an actor at the Pasadena Playhouse. In 1961, he became a contract player for Warner Brothers Studios. Dunlap gained recognition through his media appearances, with notable roles in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), Dance 'Til Dawn (1988), and The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case (1976). His television credits include guest roles on The Rockford Files, Joe Forrester, The Voyagers, Future Cop, My Three Sons, Peyton Place, and Wonder Woman. In 1970, he portrayed Chester in the live Australian Broadcasting Commission play Chimes at Midnight. He initially played Dr. Scott in an educational science series and later appeared in six more TV series such as Delta, and performed in Puccini's opera La Rondine. Throughout his career, Dunlap has worked alongside Gene Hackman, James Garner, George Kennedy, Tony Scott, Ernest Borgnine, Lloyd Bridges, and Robin Williams in the Richard Pryor series.
Dunlap began his filmmaking career in 1971 after attending Los Angeles Valley College, earning an AA Degree and Technician’s Certificate. He was named Student Filmmaker of the Year and received an Emmy Citation for the documentary Grandpa. In 1982, he founded RED Productions and produced Anton, a film about a renowned gay interior decorator in West Hollywood. Anton won multiple awards at festivals including Aspen, Sinking Creek, the Special Jury Gold Award at the Houston International Film Festival, and was featured in the Directors Fortnight at Cannes. It aired on Showtime and was part of Since Stonewall, a retrospective of classic 1980s gay films.
Dunlap has contributed to over 45 films as a producer, editor, and writer, with works broadcast on the Discovery Channel like Impact: Earth and Alaska: The Great Land, as well as PBS programs Dinosaur: The Arctic Expedition and Mass Extinctions, which also aired on Canal Plus and in the Middle East. In 2002, he produced the acclaimed documentary Beyond Vanilla: An Unforgettable Journey into the Wilder Side of Sex, exploring the kink and fetish community. He followed this with the 2008 production Xaviera Hollander, the Happy Hooker: Portrait of a Sexual Revolutionary.
After making Beyond Vanilla, Dunlap studied at the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality (IASHS) in San Francisco, earning a PhD in 2005. He is now a Clinical Sexologist and Certified Sex Coach. He authored Aphrodisiacs 101, the basis for his doctoral dissertation. Dunlap co-hosts the monthly radio show The Boom Doctors with his partner, Dr. Patti Britton, targeting the baby boomer generation and discussing various aspects of boomer life.
