Born William Charles Schneider on February 8, 1943 in Los Angeles, California, Creed Bratton was raised in Coarsegold, California by a family of musicians, thus influencing him to develop a love for music at a young age. At 13, he received his first guitar and later became a professional musician during his high school and college years. When his mother remarried, his name was changed to Chuck Ertmoed.
Following a life of a traveling musician, Bratton toured the world and subsequently changed his name to what it is now, Creed Bratton. He traveled to destinations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East and even performed with his group, the Young Californians, in Israel.
In talking about his experiences as a traveling musician, Bratton said, "We hitchhiked all through Europe playing in the streets, sometimes in clubs, sometimes in restaurants. A lot of times sleeping on the road. We ended up in Gibraltar, went over to Morocco, all the way over to Egypt, Beirut, through Jordan and into Israel. We worked in Israel for awhile. They liked me and let me plant a tree. They treated us real well. We sang all the time for them and we were singing at a Folk Festival representing America, there was an English group there, there was a French group and so on."
By then, Bratton was discovered by American guitarist Warren Entner, with whom Bratton formed the band 13th Floor. Their demo tapes were heard by producers and songwriters P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri, who later joined the group after they lost their bass player to the draft. The band was renamed to the Grass Roots, and later experienced massive popularity all over the United States after releasing hit albums.
In 1969, Bratton left the group to pursue an acting career. He then worked on films such as Mask and Heart Like a Wheel. In 2001 and 2002, he returned to his music career and released three solo albums. He is also known for playing a fictional version of himself on the popular NBC sitcom, The Office. His other appearances include those in The Bernie Mac Show, the series The War of the Gene and a short film with Kyle Grass titled Just One of the Gynos.
-My goal is to hang in with the show, they are really writing me funny stuff. They know I can knock off these little bits here and there.
-They (fans on blogs) say, 'Creed can't act. He comes in stoned.' And that I ad-lib. It's all scripted, kids. It's insulting to the writers if they thought it was all ad-libbed.