Charlie Schlatter

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, playing guitar, drums, and piano. He also began writing songs.

Film and television 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.

Charlie 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".

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. 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 young unfamiliar 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. Schlatter remained with the show for the next five seasons, until the series was finally cancelled in 2001. During the series, he began writing episodes, such as "A Resting Place". After the series' ending, he and Dick Van Dyke are still very good friends, more particularly with Van Dyke, who continues to visit Schlatter's wife, Colleen, and their 3 children. 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 was initially considered for the role 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.

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.

Animation

In the early 1990s, as a voice actor, Schlatter began playing character roles for many series. Among his roles were Griff in Sonic the Hedgehog; The Flash in Superman: The Animated Series, The Batman, and Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts; Jimmy Two-Shoes in the pilot of Jimmy Two-Shoes; Kevin Levin in Ben 10 (Not to be confused with Greg Cipes's portrayal in future series of the show.); 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 Timmy in the Nickelodeon version of the Winx Club. He guest-starred as Dr. Feinstein on The Loud House episode "A Novel Idea" and as the DJ on the episode "Dance, Dance Resolution".

Video games

Schlatter was the voice actor for Major Raikov in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, and the voice of Raiden in 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 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 and Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham. He also voiced Wonder Red in The Wonderful 101. Schlatter also lent his voice in Lego Dimensions.

Personal life

He dated Jennifer Aniston in 1990, during the shooting of Ferris Bueller. He married Colleen Gunderson in 1994 and has 3 children.