# Robert Mandan
**Robert Mandan** (born Robert Frederic Little; February 2, 1932 – April 29, 2018) was an American character actor best known for playing the womanizing [Wall Street](https://www.edgepedia.org/wall-street) broker Chester Tate on the satirical ABC sitcom *[Soap](https://www.edgepedia.org/soap-tv-series)*, which ran from 1977 to 1981[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/robert-mandan) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0541610/bio/). He was born in Clever, Missouri, and died in Los Angeles, California[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0541610/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | February 2, 1932, Clever, Missouri, USA; birth name Robert Frederic Little[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0541610/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0541610/bio/) |
| Signature role | Chester Tate, the conniving, womanizing stockbroker on the ABC sitcom *Soap* (1977–1981, 78 episodes)[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/robert-mandan) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0541610/) |
| Early career | Daytime soap operas: *From These Roots*, *The Edge of Night* (1963), *The Doctors* (1963), and *Search for Tomorrow* as Sam Reynolds (1966–1970)[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/robert-mandan) • [4](https://www.tvline.com/2018/06/03/robert-mandan-dies-soap-chester-tate-dead-86/) |
| Later series work | James Bradford, Vicky's meddling father, on *Three's a Crowd*; Steven 'Jonesy' Jones on *Days of Our Lives* (41 episodes, 1997–1998)[5](https://www.threescompany.com/about/) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0541610/) |
| Films | Senator Wingwood in *The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas* (1982); Walter J. Coolidge in *[Zapped!](https://www.edgepedia.org/zapped)* (1982)[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0541610/) |
| Stage honors | 2005 Ovation and LA Weekly awards for playing Davies in Harold Pinter's *The Caretaker* at the Zephyr Theater, Los Angeles[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0541610/bio/) |
| Died | April 29, 2018, Los Angeles, California (cause listed by IMDb as prostate cancer), aged 86[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0541610/) • [4](https://www.tvline.com/2018/06/03/robert-mandan-dies-soap-chester-tate-dead-86/) |
## Early life and training
Mandan was born in Clever, Missouri, on February 2, 1932[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0541610/). He described himself as a Southland native who caught the acting bug in school, and he majored in theater at [Pomona College](https://www.edgepedia.org/pomona-college) without graduating[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-09-29-ca-48583-story.html). He left college for work in summer theaters, taking a job as a Mexican poker player in a production of *A Streetcar Named Desire* before starring opposite the veteran actor Edward Arnold in *All My Sons*; Arnold, after the first read-through, told the company, "Thank you for this boy"[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-09-29-ca-48583-story.html).
## Television career
**Daytime beginnings.** Mandan began his professional career in daytime television, with roles on the soap operas *From These Roots*, *The Edge of Night*, *[The Doctors](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-doctors-1963-tv-series)*, and *Search for Tomorrow*, where he played the businessman Sam Reynolds from 1966 to 1970[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/robert-mandan) • [4](https://www.tvline.com/2018/06/03/robert-mandan-dies-soap-chester-tate-dead-86/). Through the 1970s he took small parts on high-profile series including *All in the Family*, *Maude*, *Sanford and Son*, *Mission: Impossible*, *The Streets of San Francisco*, and *Kojak*[4](https://www.tvline.com/2018/06/03/robert-mandan-dies-soap-chester-tate-dead-86/) • [1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/robert-mandan). He appeared in the first episode of *Sanford and Son* in 1972[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0541610/).
**Chester Tate on *Soap*.** In 1977 Mandan took the role that defined his career: Chester Tate on *Soap*, a prime-time send-up of daytime soap operas[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/robert-mandan) • [7](https://www.sfgate.com/tv/article/Robert-Mandan-philandering-husband-on-12980366.php). The show's catalog of events included Chester's infidelities, which the press later described as among the more mundane plot developments on a series otherwise given to parodic excess[7](https://www.sfgate.com/tv/article/Robert-Mandan-philandering-husband-on-12980366.php). Mandan appeared in 78 episodes from 1977 to 1981[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0541610/). The Los Angeles Times described the program as a cult comedy and Chester as a womanizing, pompous businessman, a characterization matching the Hollywood Reporter's "conniving, womanizing Wall Street broker"[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-09-29-ca-48583-story.html) • [1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/robert-mandan).
**Sitcom work after *Soap*.** After *Soap* left the air in 1981, Mandan joined [John Ritter](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-ritter) in *Three's a Crowd*, the short-lived spin-off of *Three's Company*, playing James Bradford, the meddling father of Ritter's live-in girlfriend Vicky; he had worked with Ritter a few years earlier in the CBS television movie *In Love with an Older Woman*[5](https://www.threescompany.com/about/) • [8](https://www.fandango.com/people/robert-mandan-428327/biography). The show lasted one season and produced twenty-two episodes[5](https://www.threescompany.com/about/). His guest credits stretched across four decades, from *The Rockford Files*, *Barney Miller*, *Fantasy Island*, and *The Love Boat* to *Murder, She Wrote*, *The Golden Girls*, *Who's the Boss?*, *Married with Children*, and *ER*[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/robert-mandan).
**A return to daytime.** Late in his career Mandan returned to the genre where he began, appearing on *Santa Barbara*, *Days of Our Lives*, and *General Hospital*[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/robert-mandan). On *Days of Our Lives* he played Steven 'Jonesy' Jones in 41 episodes from 1997 to 1998[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0541610/). One of his last appearances was on *General Hospital* in 2006[9](https://www.legacy.com/legacy/notable-deaths/robert-mandan).
## Film
Mandan's film work was secondary to his television and stage careers but included two 1982 releases: he played Senator Wingwood in *The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas*, starring [Burt Reynolds](https://www.edgepedia.org/burt-reynolds) and [Dolly Parton](https://www.edgepedia.org/dolly-parton), and Walter J. Coolidge in *Zapped!*[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0541610/). His other screen credits include an episode of *Star Trek: Deep Space Nine* in 1993, in the recurring [Cardassian](https://www.edgepedia.org/cardassian) role of Kotan Pa'Dar[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0541610/).
## Stage career
Mandan was a veteran of Broadway, appearing in the 1970 musical *[Applause](https://www.edgepedia.org/applause-musical)*, which starred [Lauren Bacall](https://www.edgepedia.org/lauren-bacall)[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-09-29-ca-48583-story.html) • [7](https://www.sfgate.com/tv/article/Robert-Mandan-philandering-husband-on-12980366.php). In person he was, by a Times reporter's account, polite and soft-spoken, a contrast with the bombastic businessmen he usually played[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-09-29-ca-48583-story.html).
**Los Angeles theater in the 1990s.** By the mid-1990s Mandan worked nonstop on the Los Angeles stage. In the fall of 1996 he opened in *All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten* at the Tiffany Theater in West Hollywood while also directing a revival of John Patrick's 1950 drama *The Curious Savage* at the Stella Adler Theatre[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-09-29-ca-48583-story.html). Earlier Los Angeles appearances included Michael Arabian's *A History of Shadows* in 1994, Col. Pickering in a Theater League production of *My Fair Lady* at the Alex Theatre, and the La Jolla Playhouse production of *How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying* with [Matthew Broderick](https://www.edgepedia.org/matthew-broderick), a production he did not follow to Broadway after artistic differences with director Des McAnuff[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-09-29-ca-48583-story.html).
**Later awards.** In 2005 he starred as Davies in [Harold Pinter](https://www.edgepedia.org/harold-pinter)'s *The Caretaker* at the Zephyr Theater in Los Angeles, a performance that earned him that year's Ovation and LA Weekly awards[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0541610/bio/). In 1998 he appeared onstage in Los Angeles in *AfterPlay*, written by [Anne Meara](https://www.edgepedia.org/anne-meara)[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0541610/bio/). His friend, the screenwriter Gary Goldstein, told [The Hollywood Reporter](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-hollywood-reporter) that Mandan did a lot of local theater later in his career[9](https://www.legacy.com/legacy/notable-deaths/robert-mandan).
## Typecasting and personal traits
Mandan cut an authoritative, blustering figure on screen and was often cast as pompous businessmen, most memorably Chester Tate[7](https://www.sfgate.com/tv/article/Robert-Mandan-philandering-husband-on-12980366.php). A Fandango biography described the character as devious but ultimately good-hearted[8](https://www.fandango.com/people/robert-mandan-428327/biography). He stood 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m)[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0541610/).
## Death
Mandan died on April 29, 2018, in Los Angeles at the age of 86[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/robert-mandan) • [4](https://www.tvline.com/2018/06/03/robert-mandan-dies-soap-chester-tate-dead-86/). IMDb lists the cause as prostate cancer, and he had suffered a long, undisclosed illness according to The Hollywood Reporter as reported by TVLine[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0541610/) • [4](https://www.tvline.com/2018/06/03/robert-mandan-dies-soap-chester-tate-dead-86/). He was survived by his wife, Sherry Mandan, whom he married in 1963[4](https://www.tvline.com/2018/06/03/robert-mandan-dies-soap-chester-tate-dead-86/) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0541610/). His body was cremated and his ashes given to surviving relatives[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0541610/bio/).
## References
1. [Robert Mandan, Television Academy bio](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/robert-mandan)
2. [Robert Mandan – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0541610/bio/)
3. [Robert Mandan, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0541610/)
4. [Soap's Robert Mandan Dead At 86, TVLine](https://www.tvline.com/2018/06/03/robert-mandan-dies-soap-chester-tate-dead-86/)
5. [About the show – Three's Company / Three's a Crowd](https://www.threescompany.com/about/)
6. [A Busy Stage in His Career, Los Angeles Times (Sept. 29, 1996)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-09-29-ca-48583-story.html)
7. [Robert Mandan, philandering husband on 'Soap,' dies, SFGate](https://www.sfgate.com/tv/article/Robert-Mandan-philandering-husband-on-12980366.php)
8. [Robert Mandan Biography, Fandango](https://www.fandango.com/people/robert-mandan-428327/biography)
9. [Robert Mandan Obituary, Legacy.com](https://www.legacy.com/legacy/notable-deaths/robert-mandan)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames M to Ma*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license