Charlie Schlatter Biography

Charles Thomas "Charlie" Schlatter (born May 1, 1966) is an American actor. He has starred in numerous TV series and films, and is well known for his role in the series Diagnosis: Murder as Dr. Jesse Travis with Dick Van Dyke, and for his role in the film 18 Again! with George Burns. Since the early 1990s, he has been primarily a voice actor.

Early life

Schlatter was born in Englewood, New Jersey. Growing up in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, Schlatter got his start in acting at the borough's Memorial Junior High School. He reportedly only auditioned for the school play Oliver! to impress a girl. He said, "The girl didn't only happen to be cute, she was also the only girl at school that was shorter than me." He received the lead part of Oliver Twist.

He attended Ithaca College. He later earned a B.F.A. in musical theater. He starred in numerous school plays and became a skilled musician, who played the guitar, drums, and piano. He also began writing songs.

Film and television career

During one performance in 1988, he was spotted by a casting director, and was asked to audition for the Michael J. Fox film Bright Lights, Big City. This led to his first film appearance, as the younger brother of Fox's character.

Charlie starred in 1988's Heartbreak Hotel (directed by Chris Columbus) where he kidnaps Elvis Presley to make his mother (Tuesday Weld) happy. His most highly acclaimed role in an American film was in the 1988 film, 18 Again!, in which his 18-year-old character swapped body and mind with his 81-year-old grandfather, played by George Burns. His work in this film was described as "displaying enormous range and extraordinary skill as an actor in his comedic starring role".

Schlatter also starred in the successful 1989 Australian film, The Delinquents with co-star Kylie Minogue. In 1990, he was cast in the role of Ferris Bueller for NBC's sitcom Ferris Bueller, which was based on the John Hughes film Ferris Bueller's Day Off. In 1992, he co-starred in Sunset Heat with Michael Paré, Dennis Hopper and Adam Ant. In 1994, he starred in Police Academy: Mission to Moscow as Cadet Kyle Connors.

In 1996, Schlatter began his role as Dr. Travis on the television series Diagnosis: Murder. His character was introduced as a comic relief character in the third season after Scott Baio's character moved to Colorado, and never returned. Schlatter remained with the show for the next five seasons, until the end of the series in 2001. During the series, he began writing episodes, such as "A Resting Place".

Schlatter was initially cast as Philip J. Fry, one of the main characters in the animated series Futurama, which premiered in 1999. Due to a casting change, Billy West landed the role after auditioning for the part again. In early 2007, Schlatter appeared in the films Out at the Wedding and Resurrection Mary.

Animation

In the early 1990s, as a voice actor, Charlie began playing character roles for many cartoon characters. Among his roles were Griff in Sonic the Hedgehog; The Flash in Superman: The Animated Series and The Batman; Jimmy Two-Shoes in the pilot of Jimmy Two-Shoes; Kevin Levin in Ben 10; Ace Bunny in Loonatics Unleashed; Hawk, Stingfly, and the Cannonball Brothers in A.T.O.M. (Alpha Teens on Machines); Tommy in Pet Alien; Sugarfoot, Boy, Chris, Willy/Gnome, Martin/Dwarf in Random! Cartoons; Cameron in Bratz, the title character in Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil and Doctor Mindbender and Wild Bill in the new TV series G.I. Joe: Renegades. Charlie also voiced Duman and currently Timmy in the Nickelodeon version of the Winx Club.

Video games

Schlatter was the voice actor for Major Raikov in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, and the voice of Raiden in the short film Metal Gear Raiden: Snake Eraser, included on the second disk of the Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence game. "Snake Eraser" is found on the second disc, which is called "Persistence". He also played the role of Specter in the game Ape Escape 3. In 2012, Schlatter played the role of Finn in the video game Sorcery.

For the EverQuest II video game in 2004, he voiced all of the following characters: Aatius Vedrix, Lucius Vulso, Tarakh, Steward Daedakovoon, Znink Flatzazzle, Dunn Coldbrow, generic male Froglok merchant, generic male Troll merchant, generic male Halfling merchant, generic male High Elf, generic Evil Eye enemy, and generic Barbarian enemy. Schlatter recently voiced Robin and reprised his role as The Flash in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, roles he reprised in Lego Batman: The Movie - DC Super Heroes Unite. He most recently voiced Wonder Red in The Wonderful 101.