American actor John Ratzenberger was born on April 6, 1947 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The son of German and Polish immigrants, he was brought up a Roman Catholic and studied at St. Ann’s School, followed by Sacred Heart University. He is also a keen musician, often playing the drums on his own show, John Ratzenberger’s Made in America. While he’s most famous for his role as mailman Cliff in the classic sitcom Cheers, he’s also well-known for lending his voice to various characters in Pixar computer-animated films. Among these are Toy Story and Toy Story 2, A Bug’s Life, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles. Ratzenberger also appeared in the classic sci-fi movie Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
Cliff Clavin is played by John Ratzenberger in the Emmy Award-winning comedy series Cheers. He is a United States postal worker as well as Norm’s best friend. Cliff lives with his mother Esther in his childhood home, which eventually gets bulldozed, and afterwards he moves into his own small apartment. Well-known for being talkative, he is a veritable fount of worthless trivia, which often sounds doubtful and has little to do with what the other customers talk about. He also gets insulted by Carla for his oddball opinions.
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