There probably are as many ways for an actor to make it from the east coast to Hollywood as there are actors trying to make the move.
       Michael D. Roberts, who stars as Tyrone "Ty" Earl in "Manimal", traversed the 3,000 miles from New York in a meat packaging truck!
       The trip began when Michael was age 10 and was occasioned by the fact that his mother had married the manager of the Four Star Meat Packing Company, who was sending a shipment of meat to California.
       Even while crossing the country on his Western hegira Roberts was thinking in terms of comedy acting, and when he enrolled at George Washington High School in Los Angeles, it was as an acting major.
       He continued his acting goals in college going first to Cal State University Long Beach then to the school of performing arts at United States International University in San Diego, and finally California Institute of the Arts where he studied under Barbara Bacho in the days before she became a star on "Hill Street Blues".
       Even while at Cal Arts Roberts was working in Hollywood television, little theatre and motion pictures.
       He made a decision to drop out of acting after leaving college to pursue spiritual goals including Macrobiotics, Yoga, and a year at the heels of a guru.
       He found Scientology, started getting answers to the questions he was seeking, and eventually returned to his chosen profession.
       Guest star roles on such TV shows as "Jigsaw John", "Insight", -The Flip Wilson Show", "Medical Center", "B J and the Bear", and "Vegas" led him to his highly- acclaimed role as "Rooster" in the "Baretta" series.
       Following "Baretta" and prior to his selection to the "Manimal" scenes, Roberts spanned a wide range of acting arenas including starring with wife, Pamela, and son, Jody, in "Raisin In The Sun", at the Pacific Renaissance Theatre in Hollywood; a live theatrical performance, appearing in the motion pictures "Ice Pirates", "Heartbreaker", "Stir Crazy" and "The Hunter", and guesting in such television senes as "Jessica Novak" and "The Fall Guy" starring Lee Maprs.
       His selection to the "Manimal" role is in effect a homecoming for Roberts who spent many hours at the Fox lot while appearing in "Jessica Novak" and "The Fall Guy".
       He and the former Pamela Frey were wed in 1976 and in addition to son Jody the couple have a daughter, Shannon Star.
       "I won't say she was born into show business," Roberts says of his daughter, "but with that moniker she'll always be entitled to a star on her dressing room door "