John Ratzenberger

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John Ratzenberger (2011)

John Dezso Ratzenberger (born April 6, 1947 in Bridgeport , Connecticut ) is an American actor and voice actor . He became known for the role of the know-it-all "Clifford C." Cliff "Clavin, Jr." (Cliff Clavin for short) in the US television series Cheers .

Life

Ratzenberger was born in Bridgeport and grew up in Black Rock . He attended Sacred Heart University , where he studied English, learned karate and worked as an archery teacher. In his spare time he joined an acting club. The first piece he appeared in was Summer and Smoke . He then pursued acting further and later landed leading roles in West Side Story and Waiting for Godot .

Ratzenberger left school after four years and took a job on an oyster- catching boat. Former college mates tracked him down and offered him a lead role in their Production Luv (by Murray Schisgal ) at the Stowe Playhouse. He stayed at the Playhouse, where he appeared in various one-man plays. After the theater burned down, he went to North Wolcott , Vermont , where he took a job as a blacksmith and carpenter . He pursued these activities for almost two years, then flew to England , where he actually only wanted to spend a three-week vacation, but then he stayed there for ten years.

In London , Ratzenberger founded an improvisation theater group called "Sal's Meat Market", for which he worked as a co-author, directed and also appeared himself. He sometimes played up to 15 different characters at a time. At some point the British Arts Council became aware of him, and Ratzenberger and a partner received financial support so that they could tour clubs and theaters across Europe.

In 1976 Ratzenberger had his first role as a patron in a movie, in The Ritz, alongside Rita Moreno . Since then he has acted in over twenty films, mostly in supporting roles such as The Bridge of Arnhem , Yanks - Yesterday We Were Strangers , Superman , Superman II , Ragtime , Star Wars V - The Empire Strikes Back , Outland , The Battle Colossus and Gandhi . In the DVD version of Star Wars Episode V , however, the short scene in which he played has been deleted.

Ratzenberger returned to the United States in 1981. From then on, his roles shifted more towards television films and series . In the 2009 film What If… A Heavenly Plan , he played an angel. The best known series he starred in were Hill Street Blues , Code Red and Cheers . He also works as a director on many films and series to this day.

He lent his voice to various characters in the US editions of all Pixar animation films. He was also featured in the 1997 Disney movie That Itchy Hangover .

Ratzenberger now lives divorced in Los Angeles. He works as a producer, director and writer. He owns his own production company called Fiddlers Bay Productions .

Others

John Ratzenberger (1992)
  • Along with George Wendt , his partner from Cheers, as well as Richard Belzer and Paul Fusco, Ratzenberger is one of only four actors who played the same character - the eternally annoying and know-it-all guest of "Cheers", Cliff Clavin - in six different television series. Except in the original series, he played this character in guest appearances
    • as a cartoon character and with his voice in the animated series The Simpsons , episode: Fear of Flying , 1994
    • in chief physician Dr. Westphall (OT: St. Elsewhere ), episode: Cheers , 1985
    • in The Tortellis , episode: Frankie Comes to Dinner , 1987
    • in Überflieger (OT: Wings ), episode: The Story of Joe , 1990
    • and the spin-off of Cheers , Frasier , subsequently Cheerful Goodbyes / Cheers zum Abschied, 2002.

In all of these series he played alongside George Wendt.

  • One of Ratzenberger's children has diabetes . So he founded the Ratzenberger Diabetes Research Fund and became chairman of childrenwithdiabetes.com , an internet platform that provides information about diabetes in adolescents. Fundraising campaigns for research have raised over $ 100 million.
  • Ratzenberger is also committed to environmental protection . He founded Eco-Pak Industries , a company that produces environmentally friendly packaging materials that are now sold worldwide.
  • Ratzenberger played / spoke in eleven of the 250 top 250 films in the Internet Movie Database . Bess Flowers , who herself starred in twelve of these 250 films, beats him in this regard . After all, Ratzenberger was able to stand out from third place with two films ( Alfred Hitchcock and Gino Corrado ), as these two took part in nine top 250 films (as of July 21, 2011).

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Commons : John Ratzenberger  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Jump up ↑ Top 250 Movies
personal data
SURNAME Ratzenberger, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ratzenberger, John Deszo (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actor, television director, and voice actor
DATE OF BIRTH April 6, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Bridgeport , Connecticut , United States