About

Raphael Sbarge

Raphael Sbarge has explored countless worlds in 50 plus years as an actor, director, producer and now podcaster.
His own story began in Manhattan, as the only child of a Broadway costume designer, mother, Jeanne Button, and his father, Stephen Sbarge an artist, filmmaker, and author.

He began acting at the age of 4 1/2, when a new PBS show called “Sesame Street”  was looking for kids. He did his first play at the age of 7 in Tanglewood, more plays at the Yale Rep starting at 10, when his mother was a professor at the Drama School.  At the ripe age of 13, he decided to be an actor. But his mother had no interest in being a “stage mother”—she was busy with her own career.  So, precocious and very determined, he found himself an agent, began studying in NYC and started working almost immediately.  By age 16, he was in his first Broadway show, The The Curse of An Aching Heart, opposite film star Faye Dunaway. At 18, just days after graduating high school, he flew to Chicago to co-star in Risky Business with Tom Cruise.

He has gone on to appear in dozens of films, including Independence Day, Message in a Bottle, Vision Quest, Pearl Harbor and The Exorcist Believer. In the coming months, he will be seen in Friendship with Paul Rudd, and The History of Sound with Paul Mezcal.  His resume includes more than 100 guest appearances and series regular roles on network television shows, among them Dr. Hopper and Jiminy Cricket on Once Upon a Time; David Molk on Murder in the First;  The Guardian with Simon Baker and Dabney Coleman. He has recurred on series including Star Trek: Voyager, Dexter,  Longmire, 24, Prison Break, among many others.  

His voice acting credits include the very popular game, Mass Effect, 1,2 and 3, Knights of the Old Republicand Star Wars: Knights: Republic Commandos among others. 

Raphael has also worked behind the camera and is a multi-nominated, Emmy award winning director. He won his first Emmy for a PBS series he directed and produced called 10 Days in Watts. The series was also nominated five times by the LA Press Club and won a journalism award for excellence.  His feature documentary, Only in Theaters, was a critical success with a theatrical run, playing over 100 dates around the US. The New York Times called the film, “Undeniably compelling.”  The LA Times called it “Beautiful and Complicated.”  Variety said it was “(The year’s) most emotional theatrical experience.”  The Forward said it’s a “Funny, heartbreaking and moving story about the power of movies.”  It has a 97% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.  His other feature LA Foodways, was also nominated for an Emmy, and his film of Obie Award winning play, The Tricky Part, won him Best Director at the Awareness Film Festival. His narrative film called The Bird Who Could Fly, about a Korean immigrant family, won Best Director at First Glance Film Festival, Asians on Film Festival, DisOrient Asian American Film Festival and Greenpoint Film Festival.

In 2024 Raphael began co-hosting a new video podcast with the CEO of Laemmle Theatres, Greg Laemmle, called Inside The Arthouse.  Greg and Raphael interview filmmakers, actors and producers whose films are opening in theaters. Filmed with high production values, they have a very successful YouTube channel and a weekly show. 

Raphael has been on Broadway five times, including “Ah Wilderness” with Jason Robards; “Shadow Box” with Mercedes Ruehl; “Voices in the Dark,” with Judith Ivey; and “Twilight of the Golds” (including the pre-Broadway national tour and the Kennedy Center). He has performed on stages all over the country, notably with Al Pacino, Frank Langella, Colleen Dewhurst, Blythe Danner, Annette Bening, Alfred Molina, among many others.

He lives in New York City with his wife Jenna DeAngeles, and their dog, Ophelia. Sbarge is also a certified volunteer firefighter in the state of Connecticut.