John Ratzenberger

John Ratzenberger
Ratzenberger at the 2011 Time 100 gala
Born	John Deszo Ratzenberger (1947-04-06) April 6, 1947 Bridgeport, Connecticut, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Actor, voice actor, entrepreneur, leading advocate for skilled worker shortage crisis
Years active	1976–present
Spouse	Georgia Stiny (1985-2004) divorced
Website	http://www.ratzenberger.com/

John Deszo Ratzenberger (born April 6, 1947) is an American actor, voice actor, and entrepreneur. He is best known for his role as Cliff Clavin in Cheers.

Early life

Ratzenberger was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the son of Bertha (née Grohowski) and Deszo Alexander Ratzenberger. He attended St. Ann's School in Bridgeport and Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut. In 1969 Ratzenberger was a tractor operator at the Woodstock Festival. He moved to London in 1971, living there for ten years.

Career

Ratzenberger was a house framer living in London when he began his career in the performing arts. 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 punk rocker; 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.

Cheers

Ratzenberger at the 1992 Primetime Emmy Awards

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. Cliff became known for his outlandish stories of plausible half-truths, irrelevant trivia, and ignorant misinformation, and was known for being an overall 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. The case languished in court for eight years before all sides settled in 2001.

Pixar

Ratzenberger has had a voice part in all of Pixar's feature films made to date. His roles include:

• Hamm the Piggy Bank in the Toy Story series (1995, 1999, 2010, 2011)
• 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 Cars (2006) and Cars 2 (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 John Lasseter. It is unsure if he will reprise his role of the Abominable Snowman in the Monsters, Inc. sequel or play a new character.

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 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."

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, Ratzenberger was announced as a replacement for Vincent Pastore on the fourth season of the American version of Dancing with the Stars. 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

Ratzenberger appeared on CBS sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch as Bob or Santa Claus.

Ratzenberger hosted the Travel Channel TV series about things made in the USA called John Ratzenberger's Made in America (2003–2008).

Ratzenberger guest-starred in four episodes of the first season of John Ritter's sitcom 8 Simple Rules; he played the neighbor of Ritter's character.

Ratzenberger hosts the Wildcard section in the PC version of the board game, Trivial Pursuit.

Ratzenberger 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.

Ratzenberger played Thomas Foy in the TV movie The Pennsylvania Miners' Story.

Ratzenberger and Shelly Cole star in The Village Barbershop (2008), written and directed by Chris Ford.

Ratzenberger made an appearance in "Bill Nye, The Science Guy."

Ratzenberger also provided the voice of Rigger in the animated series Captain Planet and the Planeteers.

On February 17, 2010, Ratzenberger made an appearance on British show Live from Studio Five.

Ratzenberger appeared on television commercials promoting the Pitney Bowes personal post office. His sign off tag line is "Hey, I look good in red!"

In 2010, Ratzenberger appeared in commercials for Quality Hotels and Zaxby's restaurant chain.

Ratzenberger plays Mike the Angel in What If, a Pure Flix Entertainment and Jenkins Entertainment movie release in 2010, also starring Kevin Sorbo, Kristy Swanson, and Debby Ryan.

Ratzenberger guest starred in Frasier as an old frend who is jolly but leaving, he changes his mind. He starred with David-Hyde Pierce (Niles Crane)as a voice over in A Bugs Life too.

Ratzenberger is currently in pre-production with a new documentary, “Industrial Tsunami,” whose purpose is to wake up Americans to the shortage of skilled workers that threatens the existence of companies and entire industries.

Trivia

Ratzenberger at the 2008 Rhode Island International Film Festival

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.

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, dedicated to raising awareness of skilled trades and engineering disciplines among young people.

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. He joined the Foundation for Fair Civil Justice, as a Board Member in 2010. www.foundationforfairciviljustice.org. ] "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." FFCJ creates multi-media educational programs, publications and website features that reach millions of Americans through radio, television and the internet. "

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.

During the 2008 presidential race, Ratzenberger campaigned for John McCain, appearing with former Cheers co-star Kelsey Grammer at several Republican party events. He also has been outspoken in opposition of the 2009 health care reform bill, referring to it as socialism.

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.

External links

• John Ratzenberger at IMDb