Charlie Schlatter

Charles Thomas "Charlie" Schlatter (born May 1, 1966 in Englewood, New Jersey) 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 movie 18 Again! with George Burns. Since 2004 he has been primarily a voice actor.

Early life
Schlatter got his start in acting at Fair Lawn'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, where he 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 largely 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 movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off. 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 show 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 initially won the part of Fry in Futurama, but Billy West eventually ended up with the part. In early 2007 he 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; Kevin 11 in Ben 10; Gus and Constantine in Robotboy; 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; Gwizdo in Dragon Hunters, Cameron in Bratz, and the title character in Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil.

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.

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.

Personal life
In 1992, Schlatter met his wife Colleen Gunderson, who worked as a publicist. They were married on May 7, 1994. They now live in Oak Park, California with their three children: Julia Marie (born September 15, 1997), Quinn (born November 12, 1999), and Beck Frederick (born May 12, 2002).

Quotes

 * About his short-term photographic memory: "When you're doing a show like [Diagnosis Murder], it's like cramming for an exam two minutes before the test. I can look at a page for a while and have it in my head and when we move onto the next scene I've completely forgotten what I just said."
 * About working with Dick Van Dyke: "Dick is a great guy, nothing but honesty coming out of him... He and I die laughing about the stupidest things and we're like a couple of school girls... We're so physically opposite, it's fun playing off him, he's such a straight man." (IMDB says this quote refers to Barry Van Dyke, Dick's son).