John Ratzenberger

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John Ratzenberger
Ratzenberger at the 1992 Primetime Emmy Awards
Born	John Deszo Ratzenberger April 6, 1947 (1947-04-06) (age 61) Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States
Other name(s)	Ratz, J-Rat

John Deszo Ratzenberger (born April 6, 1947) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as Clifford C. 'Cliff' Clavin, Jr. in the classic sitcom Cheers (1982).

Contents 1 Personal life 2 Career 2.1 Cheers 2.2 Pixar 2.3 Other television and voice work 2.4 Dancing with the Stars 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Personal life

Ratzenberger was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the son of Bertha (née Grohowski) and Deszo Alexander Ratzenberger.^[1] His father was German-American and his mother Polish-American.^{[citation needed]} He was raised as a Roman Catholic and attended St. Ann's School in Bridgeport, Connecticut and Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut.

On the May 8, 2008 airing of The Mark Levin Show, Ratzenberger reported that he was a tractor operator for the Woodstock Festival. He related the disdain that the audience and numerous musical acts had expressed for government authority, a looming threat of logistical problems (such as shortages of medical staff, medical supplies and portable toilets) and the heroic (and ironic) efforts of the National Guard in handling various logistical emergencies and alleviating logistical problems.^[2]

Ratzenberger has a great love of music, especially the drums, which he can be seen playing in the show he hosts and produces, John Ratzenberger's Made in America. He developed packaging alternatives made from biodegradable and non-toxic recycled paper as a safe alternative to Styrofoam "peanuts" and plastic bubble wrap.^[3]

[edit] Career

His acting credits include 47 productions and an additional 22 notable television appearances. His first role was a Patron in The Ritz (1976), before appearing in minor roles in movies 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 (1980) as "Major Bren Derlin"; Gandhi (1982) as an American Lieutenant; and House II: The Second Story (1987) as Bill Towner.

[edit] Cheers

Ratzenberger is best known for playing mail carrier Clifford Clavin on the classic sitcom Cheers. Ratzenberger had read for the part of Norm Peterson, but was rejected. 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 Cliff and Norm, the primary customer characters, became iconic bar buddies. Though Ratzenberger enjoyed his time on Cheers, he was critical of the series' spin-off, Frasier, which he described as a "snob" show that lacked the working-class appeal of Cheers. While several Cheers cast members made guest appearances on Frasier, Ratzenberger did not appear until a special Cheers reunion episode of Frasier. Ratzenberger, however did reprise his role along with most of the Cheers cast (with the exception Kelsey Grammer) on The Simpsons episode "Fear of Flying".

When CBS Paramount Television licensed the look of the Cheers bar to another company for use in airports, the group also created animatronic barflies. They were called "Hank" and "Bob," but bore an obvious resemblance to Cliff and Norm. Ratzenberger and George Wendt sued Paramount and the bar owners for using their likenesses without permission, and the case languished in court for eight years before all sides settled in 2001.^[4]

[edit] Pixar

All of Pixar's feature films include Ratzenberger, who has become something of a "good luck charm" to the studio (and, according to Andrew Stanton, Pixar actually has a rule stating that Ratzenberger must be in all Pixar films). John has voiced the following roles in Pixar films:

• Hamm The Piggy Bank in Toy Story (1995), Toy Story 2 (1999) and Toy Story 3 (2010)
• P.T. Flea, the Circus Ring Leader in A Bug's Life (1998)
• The Abominable Snowman in Monsters Inc. (2001)
• Fish School in Finding Nemo (2003)
• The Underminer in The Incredibles (2004)
• Mack the tractor-trailer in Cars (2006) and Cars 2 (2012)
• Mustafa the Waiter in Ratatouille (2007)
• John in WALL-E (2008)^[5][6]

It is confirmed that he will play roles in Pixar's Up (2009), newt (2011) and The Bear and the Bow (2011) that is yet to be determined who he will play. He also voiced the bathhouse's assistant manager, Ao-gaeru, in the English dub of Spirited Away, overseen by Pixar's John Lasseter. He has become such a stable part of the company that he plays on its softball team. It seemed that luck had come to him when he worked on Irvin Kershner's The Empire Strikes Back as Bren Derlin which George Lucas supervised. Coincidentally, George Lucas would later help start Pixar four years after the release of Return of the Jedi. Ratzenberger had the chance to make fun of his tenure at Pixar during the end credits of Cars, where his character, Mack, watching car-themed versions of Pixar movies ("Toy Car Story", "Monster Trucks, Inc.", and "A Bug's Life" (as in VW Bug)), notes that all the characters Ratzenberger has played were excellent, until he realizes that they're the same actor, at which point he asks, "What kind of a cheap, cut-rate production is this? They're just using the same actor over and over again".

[edit] Other television and voice work

Ratzenberger hosts the Travel Channel TV series about things made in the USA called John Ratzenberger's Made in America (2003-present). Ratzenberger also hosts the Wildcard section in Atari's PC game based on the popular board game, Trivial Pursuit.

Additionally, Ratzenberger appeared on television commercials promoting the Pitney Bowes personal post office. His sign off tag line is "Hey, I look good in red!" Also, Ratzenberger appeared in the first season of fellow sitcom veteran John Ritter's sitcom 8 Simple Rules, Ratzenberger guest-starred in four episodes. He played Fred Doyle, Ritter's character's pesky and annoying neighbor. For the "Doyle Wedding" episode, ex-Cheers co-star Shelley Long played Fred's wife Mary Ellen. For his other two appearances Laverne and Shirley's Cindy Williams played Mary Ellen. Ratzenberger's last appearance on 8 Simple Rules was on the first segway of the "Goodbath" episode following Ritter's death from an aortic dissection in 2003.

John also appeared on That 70's Show as Glen, a sad 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 has co-authored a book, We've Got it Made in America: A Common Man's Salute to an Uncommon Country (ISBN 1-931722-84-6). Ratzenberger co-founded the Nuts, Bolts and Thingamajigs Foundation, dedicated to raising awareness of skilled trades and engineering disciplines among young people.

Ratzenberger also appeared on the covers of the The Complete Idiot's Guide to... series of how-to books for a while.

[edit] Dancing with the Stars

On March 2, 2007, Ratzenberger was announced to be a replacement for Vincent Pastore on ABC's fourth season of the American version of Dancing with the Stars.^[7] He was partnered with professional ballroom dancer Edyta Sliwinska, who was also Pastore's partner. With the debut of the season on March 19, Ratzenberger had the least training prior to the start of the season. On May 1, 2007, Ratzenberger and Sliwinska were the sixth couple to be eliminated from the show.

[edit] References

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2006)

[edit] External links

• John Ratzenberger's official site
• Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs Foundation
• John Ratzenberger's Bocce in the Orchard
• John Ratzenberger at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview with John Ratzenberger at The Book Standard
• John Ratzenberger's Made in America

Persondata
NAME	Ratzenberger, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Ratzenberger, John Deszo
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Actor
DATE OF BIRTH	1947-4-6
PLACE OF BIRTH	Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH