John Dezso Ratzenberger is an American actor, voice actor, and entrepreneur.
He is best known for his role as Cliff Clavin in Cheers and his recurring supporting/minor
cast roles in Pixar films.
Early life Ratzenberger was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut,
the son of Bertha Veronica, who worked for Remington Arms, and Dezso Alexander Ratzenberger,
a Texaco truck driver.
His father was of Austrian and Hungarian descent, and his mother was of Polish ancestry.
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.
Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s Ratzenberger appeared in various minor roles
in major feature 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.
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 sensed that 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.
Ratzenberger also came up with the idea for Cliff's trademark white socks, which he wore
as a tribute to French comedian Jacques Tati.
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.
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
P.T.
Flea, the Circus Ring Leader in A Bug's Life The Abominable Snowman in the Monsters, Inc.
series The School of Moonfish in Finding Nemo series
The Underminer in The Incredibles Mack the truck in the Cars series
Mustafa the waiter in Ratatouille John in WALL-E
Tom the construction worker in Up Gordon the guard in Brave
TBA in Inside Out TBA in The Good Dinosaur
Ratzenberger's tenure at Pixar was parodied during the end credits of Cars, where his
character, Mack, watches car-themed versions of Pixar films.
Mack notes that all the characters Ratzenberger has played were excellent until he realizes
that they are performed by the same actor, at which point he remarks that "They're just
using the same actor over and over."
and asks "What kind of cut-rate production is this?!"
His 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."
Although, technically not Pixar films, Ratzenberger also voiced Harland the jet tug in DisneyToon
Studios' Planes and a mustached plane named Brodi in its sequel, Planes: Fire & Rescue.
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 he would replace 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.
On June 26th 2011, Ratzenberger was asked by NASCAR to give the shouting command for
the 2011 Toyota Save-Mart 350 at Sonoma.
Ratzenberger accepted and gave the "Gentlemen start your engines" command.
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.
Guest-starred in four episodes of the first season of John Ritter's sitcom 8 Simple Rules
as Paul Hennessy's overly friendly neighbor Fred Doyle.
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, written and directed by Chris Ford.
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.
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.
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.
Guest starred in Frasier as Cliff Clavin.
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
Appeared in the final episode of Secret Army entitled "The Execution" as a Canadian officer
who is bribed by Standartenfuhrer Kessler's mistress Madeleine Duclos to spring Kessler
from the POW camp he is incarcerated in.
Starred in "A House Divided," the 28th episode of the first season of Melissa & Joey as Arnie
the neighbor.
Voiced the bathhouse's assistant manager, Aniyaku, in the English dub of Spirited Away.
He also made a cameo in the DisneyToon Studios animation "Planes" playing Harland the pushback
vehicle.
Made commercials for Ontario's The Beer Store with his Cheers partner, George Wendt
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.
This product was manufactured by his company Eco-Pak Industries, which he later sold.
Ratzenberger co-authored We've Got it Made in America: A Common Man's Salute to an Uncommon
Country, published in 2006.
He also 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 Center for America
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 as a Board Member in 2010.
CFA 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."
CFA creates multi-media educational programs, publications and website features that reach
millions of Americans through radio, television and the internet."
He 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.
After dating for nearly four years, Ratzenberger married Julie Blichfeldt on November 6, 2012.
Both, Ratzenberger and Blichfeldt, were described as "avid outdoors enthusiasts, philanthropists
and activists".
Political activity Ratzenberger, a Republican, said he considered
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 2010 health care reform bill, referring
to it as socialism.
He endorsed Mitt Romney in 2012.
On January 17, 2010, he appeared and endorsed Scott Brown for the United States Senate at
Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts.
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.
In response to the 2012 Aurora shooting, he said "Hollywood has to, at some point, admit
that what they produce does affect the minds of people....
If you just want to shock 'em... society will pay the price for that at some point."
Filmography References
External links John Ratzenberger at the Internet Movie Database