Robert Thaler (born October 15, 1959)^[1] is an American stage and television actor. He is known for playing Pearl Bradford in the American television soap opera Santa Barbara.^[1][2][3]

Thaler was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa,^[1] and raised in Marion, Iowa.^[4] He had a brother and two sisters.^[4] Thaler attended at University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics.^[5] Seeing a local production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest inspired him to become an actor, and he began appearing in regional theatres.^[4]

Thaler began his screen career in 1983, in the role of "Dancer" in the short-lived ABC crime drama television series The Renegades.^[5][6]

Thaler was seen in a Los Angeles production of a play titled Tamara by Bridget and Jerome Dobson, creators of the television soap opera Santa Barbara.^[4] They created the role of Pearl Bradford, an eccentric waiter, for him,^[4] and he joined the cast of Santa Barbara in October 1985.^[5] His final appearance on Santa Barbara was in April 1988. Thaler also guest-starred in television programs including Hardcastle and McCormick, V, Remington Steele, T.J. Hooker and Hill Street Blues.^[6]