Charlie Schlatter

Charles Thomas Schlatter (born May 1, 1966) is an American actor and voice artist who has appeared in numerous films and television series. He is perhaps best known for playing Dr. Jesse Travis, the handsome resident student of Dr. Mark Sloan (played by Dick Van Dyke), over five seasons of the CBS series Diagnosis: Murder, and for starring in the big screen comedy 18 Again!, opposite George Burns. Since the early 1990s, he has been primarily a voice actor, most notably playing main roles in series such as Loonatics Unleased and Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil.

Early life

Schlatter was born in Englewood, New Jersey. Growing up in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, he got his start in acting at the borough's Memorial Junior High School.^[1] 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."^[2] He received the lead part of Oliver Twist.

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

Career

Schlatter was spotted by a casting director during a performance in 1987, and asked to audition for the Michael J. Fox drama Bright Lights, Big City. This led to his first film appearance, as the younger brother of Fox's character.

Schlatter starred in 1988's Heartbreak Hotel (directed by Chris Columbus) where his character kidnaps Elvis Presley in an effort to make his mother (Tuesday Weld) happy. His most highly acclaimed role in an American film was in 1988 comedy 18 Again!. His 18-year-old character swaps 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".^[3]

Schlatter also starred in Australian romance The Delinquents (1989) opposite Kylie Minogue. In 1990, he was cast in the role of Ferris Bueller for NBC's sitcom Ferris Bueller alongside Jennifer Aniston, based on the John Hughes film Ferris Bueller's Day Off.^[3] In 1992, he co-starred in Sunset Heat with Michael Paré, Dennis Hopper and Adam Ant. In 1994, he appeared in Police Academy: Mission to Moscow as Cadet Kyle Connors.

In late 1995, Schlatter began his role as Dr. Travis on the television series Diagnosis: Murder, opposite iconic singer, actor and dancer, Dick Van Dyke, who was impressed with this relatively unknown television actor, by being a lifelong fan of his. His character was introduced as a comic relief character in the third season after Scott Baio's character moved to Colorado, and never returned. He remained on the show for the next five seasons, until the series was cancelled in 2001. During the series, he also wrote the episode "A Resting Place". After the series' ending, he and Van Dyke are still very good friends, and continues to visit him, Schlatter's wife Colleen and their three children.^[4] He was also one of the participants at his acting mentor's 90th Birthday Party on December 13, 2015, at Disneyland, in Anaheim, California. Schlatter also said in a 2017 interview on Acast.com, if he is still friends with the then 91-year-old Van Dyke: "Yeah, I know! I probably owe him a call or he probably owes me a call... I don't know! It's been a little while. No, he's the best!" He also said, "Again, you know, he was never that guy, cause a lot of people would say, 'What advice do you use?' He never sat you down, and said, 'This is how is going to be; blah, blah, blah, this is; you just learn from listening. You know, everyday was a school time and you would go to school and you would learn by watching him; and the 1 thing that I learned, the most was, how to have joy, how to still love what you're doing at that age, you know, and to have the longevity and to figure out what matters and what doesn't matter, on what to complain about and what not to complain about and how is it? It's a job, in particular, those like this 9 to 5, who would 'get in' and 'get out.' I mean, he loved what he was doing, but never really worried about the thing that he couldn't change, everyday was kinda like slurs, wannabe prayers. But, yeah, I think watching him, in action, as an actor, he tried to borrow things from everybody, just has a human being, you know, 'Hey, I really like this guy, wish I could be more like that!' And so, he tried to be more like that; and in his acting takes, he tried to relax, how to breathe, how to whatever; and just how to be present and to be emotionally available, quicker. That's 1 thing I learned from him, too, I mean, listen, he's a comic genius, but the stuff that he did, was heartfelt stuff... was just really I mean, at times it was a goofy, hokey show, but, there were beautiful moments in that show, as well, and Dick is responsible for a lot of those. Again, he was just 100% present and emotionally available, at all times. 'You know, give me a moment, I need to get here, emotionally.' Just was always ready, was always ready; and me now (as an actor), 'You know, places or whatever!' That's my time to say, 'I need to be here, I need to tap into whatever it is to be emotionally available for every other actor, and whoever he asked, whoever has been a guest-star on that show has walked away, either (with a great story or great feeling); from working with Dick Van Dyke. He was so supportive and so wonderful and never disappointed; you know, that's the 1 thing to do. He's the real deal, the real article, he is the best, so selfless and here's a quick, little story: When I was auditioning for this show, there I was in the room with Dick and the producers; and goes, 'You look so familiar, Charlie, have we met before?' because he said, 'You look so familiar, are you sure we haven't met before?' And I go, 'Dude, you're Dick Van Dyke! If we met, I totally would've remember. I'm not lying to you! We did not meet!' And he said, 'I guess you're right!'"^[5]

In early 2007, he appeared in the films Out at the Wedding and Resurrection Mary.

In 2014, Schlatter appeared as a guest star in the NCIS season 11 episode "Shooter", playing Lorin Davis. In 2015, he became the narrator for truTV's video clip series Top Funniest starting in season 3.

Personal life

He dated Jennifer Aniston in 1990, during the shooting of Ferris Bueller.^[10] He married Colleen Gunderson in 1994 and has three children.

Filmography

References

External links

• Charlie Schlatter on IMDb
• Charlie Schlatter at AllMovie
• Charlie Schlatter Unplugged! (at archive.org because GeoCities shut down)