John Ratzenberger
John Ratzenberger | |
|---|---|
 Ratzenberger at the 2011 Time 100 gala | |
| Born | John Deszo Ratzenberger[1] April 6, 1947 Bridgeport, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, voice actor, entrepreneur |
| Years active | 1976–present |
| Spouse | Georgia Stiny (1985-2004; divorced) |
| Website | http://www.ratzenberger.com/ |
John Deszo Ratzenberger (born April 6, 1947)[1] is an American actor, voice actor, and entrepreneur. He is best known for his role as Cliff Clavin in Cheers, as well as for being the only actor to voice a part in all animated feature films by Pixar.
Early life
Ratzenberger was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the son of Bertha (née Grohowski) and Deszo Alexander Ratzenberger.[2] He attended St. Ann's School in Bridgeport and Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut.[1] In 1969 Ratzenberger was a tractor operator at the Woodstock Festival.[3] He moved to London in 1971, living there for ten years.[1]
Career
Ratzenberger was a house framer[4] living in London when he began his career in the performing arts.[1] His first role was a patron in The Ritz (1976). Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s Ratzenberger appeared in various minor roles in major feaure films, including Firefox; A Bridge Too Far; Superman as a missile controller; Superman II as the NASA control man; Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back as "Major Bren Derlin"; Motel Hell as a drummer; Outland as a doomed mine worker named Tarlow; and Gandhi, playing an American Lieutenant.
Ratzenberger's work for Pixar, as well as his parts in Superman and The Empire Strikes Back, makes him the 4th most successful actor of all time, as measured by a total box office of over $3,000,000,000. He's also the actor with the most Oscar-nominations for his movies.[5]
Cheers
Ratzenberger is well known for playing mail carrier Cliff Clavin on the sitcom Cheers. He had read for the part of Norm Peterson, but after the audition, he could tell they weren't going to give him the part. Sensing an opportunity, he asked if they had written a bar know-it-all, which the producers decided was a great idea.[6] Cliff became known for his outlandish stories of plausible half-truths, uninteresting trivia, and misinformation, and in general for being a pretentious blowhard. Cliff and Norm, the primary customer characters, became iconic bar buddies. Ratzenberger provided the voice for an animated version of Cliff on The Simpsons 6th season episode "Fear of Flying".
When Paramount Television licensed the look of the Cheers bar to the Host International subsidiary of Host Marriott Services for use in airports in the U.S. and New Zealand, the group also created animatronic barflies. They were called "Hank" and "Bob"; Ratzenberger and George Wendt claimed Hank and Bob resembled them, and in January 1993 sued Host for using their likenesses without permission.[7] The case languished in court for eight years before all sides settled in 2001.[8]
Pixar
Ratzenberger has had a voice part in all of Pixar's feature films made to date.[9] His roles include:
- Hamm the Piggy Bank in the Toy Story series (1995, 1999, 2010)
- P.T. Flea, the Circus Ring Leader in A Bug's Life (1998)
- The Abominable Snowman in Monsters, Inc. (2001)
- The school of Moonfish in Finding Nemo (2003)
- The Underminer in The Incredibles (2004)
- Mack the truck in the Cars series (2006, 2011)
- Mustafa the waiter in Ratatouille (2007)
- John in WALL-E (2008)
- Tom the construction worker in Up (2009)
- unknown in Brave (2012)
He also voiced the bathhouse's assistant manager, Aniyaku, in the English dub of Spirited Away, a film whose U.S. executive producer was Pixar's CEO John Lasseter.
Ratzenberger had the chance to make fun of his tenure at Pixar during the end credits of Cars, where his character, Mack, watches car-themed versions of Pixar movies ("Toy Car Story", "Monster Trucks, Inc.", and "A Bug's Life"). Mack notes that all the characters Ratzenberger has played were excellent, until he realizes that they're performed by the same actor, at which point he remarks, "They're just using the same actor over and over. What kind of cut-rate production is this?"
Ratzenberger's favorite of his Pixar characters was P.T. Flea, because "in real life I always get a kick out of those kinds of characters, people who just go into a rage for [no] explicable reason. He was always on edge. His blood pressure was always way over the top, and everything that he did was done in a panicked state. So it was a lot of fun to play him."[4]
Reality show appearances
During season 6 of Last Comic Standing, Ratzenberger was a talent scout with his former Cheers co-star George Wendt.
On March 2, 2007, it was announced that Ratzenberger would replace Vincent Pastore on the fourth season of the American version of Dancing with the Stars.[10] He was partnered with professional ballroom dancer Edyta Sliwinska, who had been Pastore's partner; the two were the sixth couple to be eliminated from the show.
On December 3, 2009, Ratzenberger appeared on an episode of American Chopper to help promote awareness of the Iraq Star Foundation.
Additional voice, TV and film work
- appeared in the sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch as Bob or Santa Claus.
- hosted the Travel Channel TV series John Ratzenberger's Made in America, about things made in the USA (2003–2008[update]).
- guest-starred in four episodes of the first season of John Ritter's sitcom 8 Simple Rules as Paul Hennessy's neighbor.
- hosts the Wildcard section in the PC version of the board game, Trivial Pursuit.
- also appeared on That '70s Show as Glen, a man stuck in an awful marriage with his high school sweetheart whose negative example gives Eric second thoughts about marrying Donna.
- played Thomas Foy in the TV movie The Pennsylvania Miners' Story.
- and Shelly Cole star in The Village Barbershop (2008), written and directed by Chris Ford.[11]
- made an appearance in Bill Nye, The Science Guy.
- provided the voice of Rigger in the animated series Captain Planet and the Planeteers.
- made an appearance on British show Live from Studio Five (February 17, 2010).
- appeared in television commercials promoting the Pitney Bowes personal post office. His sign off tag line is "Hey, I look good in red!"
- appeared in commercials for Quality Hotels and Zaxby's restaurant chain (2010).
- plays Mike the Angel in What If..., a Pure Flix Entertainment/Jenkins Entertainment movie release in 2010, also starring Kevin Sorbo, Kristy Swanson, and Debby Ryan.[12]
- guest starred in Frasier as an old friend.
- hosted the documentary, Industrial Tsunami, intended to wake Americans up to the shortage of skilled workers threatening the existence of American companies and entire industries
Other work
Ratzenberger developed a packaging-alternatives product made from biodegradable and non-toxic recycled paper as a safe alternative to styrofoam "peanuts" and plastic bubble wrap and then sold the Eco-Pak Company.[13]
Ratzenberger co-authored We've Got it Made in America: A Common Man's Salute to an Uncommon Country (ISBN 1-931722-84-6), published in 2006.
Ratzenberger co-founded the Nuts, Bolts and Thingamajigs Foundation,[14] dedicated to raising awareness of skilled trades and engineering disciplines among young people.[15]
In 2010, Ratzenberger became affiliated with and now represents the Foundation for Fair Civil Justice to further develop his work and increase awareness about the skilled worker shortage facing the United States and the changes needed to positively impact and increase the number of skilled workers.[16] He joined the Foundation for Fair Civil Justice, as a Board Member in 2010. www.foundationforfairciviljustice.org. [17]] "The Foundation for Fair Civil Justice (FFCJ) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Their mission is to "educate, motivate and empower the American people to understand they have the greatest stake in removing obstacles to a fair civil justice system, innovation, entrepreneurism, and job creation."[18] FFCJ creates multi-media educational programs, publications and website features that reach millions of Americans through radio, television and the internet. "[18]
Ratzenberger is also on the University Board at Pepperdine University and the Board of Directors at Sacred Heart University.
Personal life
Ratzenberger has two children, James John born in 1987, and Nina Kathrine born in 1989, both from a 19-year marriage to Georgia Stiny that ended in divorce in 2004.
Political activity
Ratzenberger, a Republican, has been asked to consider running for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut in 2012.[19]
During the 2008 presidential race, Ratzenberger campaigned for John McCain, appearing with former Cheers co-star Kelsey Grammer at several Republican party events.[20][21] He also has been outspoken in opposition of the 2009 health care reform bill, referring to it as socialism.[22]
On January 17, 2010, he appeared and endorsed Scott Brown for the United States Senate at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, MA.
Ratzenberger campaigned for Republican Josh Mandel of Ohio for the State Treasurer position during the 2010 election and on January 10, 2011, served as master of ceremonies for Mandel's swearing into office.
Filmography
References
- ^ a b c d e About John from Ratzenberger's official website
- ^ John Ratzenberger Biography (1947–) from filmreference.com
- ^ The [[Mark Levin]] Show (wma) (Radio). 2008-05-08. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
{{cite AV media}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help) - ^ a b Ian Spelling (2009-05-21). "John Ratzenberger, Pixar's good luck charm, on Up, Bugs and Toys 3". Sci Fi Wire. Retrieved 2009-05-22.
- ^ "All Time Top 100 Stars at the Box Office". The Numbers accessdate=2008-12-06.
{{cite web}}: Missing pipe in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Toasting Cheers, Dennis A. Bjorklund, p.7
- ^ Norm and Cliff Fight Cheers Robots from ABC News
- ^ Bar Association Plus, Norm and Cliff settle Cheers robot lawsuit from the Entertainment Weekly website
- ^ "Pixar's secret weapon: John Ratzenberger, Slate.com slideshow
- ^ "'Dancing' adds Cliff from 'Cheers'". Associated Press. CNN.com. February 20, 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-03-04. Retrieved 2007-03-02.
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ About John: Innovator from Ratzenberger's official website
- ^ Official website of the Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs Foundation
- ^ "Early recruitment: Foundation draws youth to careers in manufacturing". Industrial Engineer. May 2009. p. 12.
- ^ [3]
- ^ [4][
- ^ a b [5]
- ^ Rachel E. Stassen-Berger (November 5, 2009). "Pawlenty draws wallets fat ... and famous". Minneapolis Star Tribune.
- ^ John Ratzenberger and Kelsey Grammer greeted McCain supporters, called voters on behalf of the Republican ticket, participated in voter-registration activities at the local campaign headquarters, and held a McCain victory rally in Henderson, Nevada. "Political emissaries descend on valley: Richardson, Grammer rally voters at events". Las Vegas Review-Journal. 2008-10-11. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
- ^ "Stars stump in Las Vegas Valley". NBC-affiliated KVBC website. 2008-10-11. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
- ^ "Tea Party activists hit the Hill, arrested outside Pelosi's office". CNN Political Ticker. 2009-11-05. Retrieved 2009-11-05.
- ^ [6]
External links
- American actors
- American film actors
- American television actors
- American voice actors
- Participants in American reality television series
- Actors from Connecticut
- People from Bridgeport, Connecticut
- Connecticut Republicans
- Sacred Heart University alumni
- American expatriates in the United Kingdom
- Living people
- 1947 births