Biography

Los Angeles-born Zappia went from owning a TV repair shop to an award-winning career in editing that spanned four decades when he joined CBS in 1968 as an engineer in the videotape department, where he helped install the network's first electronic editing system. His first editing gig on CBS's variety show Hee Haw nabbed him his first Emmy and also marked the network's first-ever win for editing. Zappia went on to edit numerous TV specials and series including Maude, The Jeffersons, The Sonny & Cher Show, All in The Family, Archie Bunker's Place, Roseanne, and Faerie Tale Theatre.

His prolific '90s sitcom credits include My Two Dads, Dinosaurs, Who's The Boss?, The Torkelsons and spin-off Almost Home, Where I Live, Thunder Alley, Boy Meets World, and Suddenly Susan. Zappia was twice-nominated for a Cable ACE award, for 1988's Vietnam War Story II and 1982's Faerie Tale Theatre and for his work on Home Improvement earned five of his 15 Emmy nods for editing.

A member of the DGA, Motion Picture Editors Guild, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Zappia also contributed to the development of the multi-cam Avid Editing System, which he was the first to use to edit a multi-cam sitcom while on Home Improvement. In 2013 he published his memoir "Smartest Guy In The Room" detailing his career in entertainment. Says Zappia, "A good editor must have a delicate balance between technical know-how, inventiveness, creative ability, and social grace. If you think you're the smartest guy in the room, keep it to yourself and check your ego at the Door!"
- IMDb mini biography by: Robert Zappia