John Ratzenberger

Ratzenberger played 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 were not 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.[11] Ratzenberger also came up with the idea for Cliff's trademark white socks, which he wore as a tribute to French comedian Jacques Tati.[12] 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 sixth-season episode "Fear of Flying". Ratzenberger was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 1985 and again in 1986.[13][14]

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.[15] The case languished in court for eight years before all sides settled in 2001.[16]

Ratzenberger has had a voice role in Pixar’s first 22 films, ranging from main characters to characters who appear in only one scene.[17] His roles include:

• Hamm in the Toy Story series (1995, 1999, 2010, 2019) and Kingdom Hearts III (2019)
• P.T. Flea, the Circus Ring Leader in A Bug's Life (1998)
• The Abominable Snowman in the Monsters, Inc. series (2001, 2013)
• The school of Moonfish in Finding Nemo (2003)
• The Underminer in The Incredibles series (2004, 2018)
• Mack the truck in the Cars series (2006, 2011, 2017)
• Mustafa the waiter in Ratatouille (2007)
• John in WALL-E (2008)
• Tom the construction worker in Up (2009)
• Gordon the guard in Brave (2012)
• Fritz in Inside Out (2015)
• Earl the Velociraptor in The Good Dinosaur (2015)
• Bill the crab in Finding Dory (2016)
• Juan Ortodoncia in Coco (2017)
• Fennwick the cyclops construction worker in Onward (2020)

Ratzenberger's tenure at Pixar was parodied during the end credits of Cars, where his character, Mack, watches car-themed versions of Pixar films (Toy Car Story, Monster Trucks, Inc., and A Bug's Life, the latter of which references the Volkswagen Beetle). Mack notes that all the characters Ratzenberger has played had excellent voice actors until he realizes that they are performed by the same actor, at which point he remarks, "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."[8] Although technically not Pixar films, Ratzenberger voiced Harland the jet tug in Disneytoon Studios' Planes (2013)[18][19] and a mustached plane named Brodi in its sequel, Planes: Fire & Rescue (2014),[20] both of which are set in Pixar's Cars franchise.[21] Additionally, Ratzenberger will reprise his role as the Abominable Snowman in the Disney+-exclusive series Monsters at Work, which is set after the events of Monsters, Inc.[22]

Soul, Pixar's 23rd feature film, is officially the first Pixar film to not include Ratzenberger's voice. The film's director, Pete Docter, hinted to audiences that Ratzenberger makes a "cameo" in the film,[23] despite him not being credited in the main cast or additional voices. However, it was later confirmed by co-director Kemp Powers that Ratzenberger's appearance was not a voice role, but instead a tribute as a non-speaking background character in the film that was animated in his likeness, meaning Ratzenberger himself technically did not participate in the film.[24]

During season six of Last Comic Standing, Ratzenberger was a talent scout with his former Cheers co-star George Wendt.

On March 2, 2007, he replaced Vincent Pastore (who had quit after one week of training) on the fourth season of the American version of Dancing with the Stars.[25] 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 26, 2011, Ratzenberger was asked by NASCAR to give the shouting command for the 2011 Toyota Save-Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. Ratzenberger accepted and gave the "Gentlemen, start your engines" command.

On April 23, 2015, Ratzenberger appeared as a guest judge on the 14th season of Hell's Kitchen for an alcohol challenge, in nod to his role on Cheers.

• Appeared in the sitcom Sister, Sister, in season 3, episodes 9 and 10
• Guest-starred as Walter Brewster in an episode of Magnum, P.I. in 1984
• Appeared in the sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch as Bob or Santa Claus (1997)
• Hosted the Travel Channel TV series John Ratzenberger's Made in America, about things made in the USA (2003–2008)
• 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
• As Shelly Cole star in The Village Barbershop (2008), written and directed by Chris Ford[26]
• 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 for the Pitney Bowes personal post office, ended every commercial saying "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[27]
• Reprised his role of Cliff Clavin in an episode of Frasier[28] and - along with his Cheers partner, George Wendt - an episode of Wings called "The Story of Joe"
• 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 where he is incarcerated
• 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
• Made a cameo in the DisneyToon Studios animation Planes (2013) playing Harland the pushback vehicle
• Made commercials for Ontario's The Beer Store with his Cheers partner, George Wendt
• Appeared in Drop Dead Diva as Kim Kaswell's estranged father
• Will reprise the role of the Abominable Snowman in the TV series Monsters at Work.[29]