John Ratzenberger

John Deszo Ratzenberger (born April 6, 1947)About John from Ratzenberger's official website is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Cliff Clavin in the sitcom Cheers.

Clifford C. Clavin, Jr. is a character on the American television show Cheers, co-created and portrayed by John Ratzenberger.

The character was co-created by Ratzenberger, who had earlier auditioned for the Norm Peterson role. The producers let him know that he had impressed them, but that he didn't really click as Norm. Ratzenberger responded by pointing out that what the ensemble didn't have was a "bar know-it-all". They asked Ratzenberger for an example, he improvised some dialogue for the know-it-all, and he was invited to play the role for a two-show tryout; he remained a regular throughout the show's 11-year run.Newport Under the Stars (2005)(2006). [http://newportunderthestars.com/newport/johnsbio.html John Ratzenberger's Newport Under the Stars] He was also featured in an episode of Frasier, when he decided to leave Boston for Florida only to change his mind, much to the annoyance of Carla. Ratzenberger also appeared as Cliff in a series of New Zealand Post advertisements in the 1990s, each featuring a different service of the postal administration. He also appeared in a Pitney-Bowes commercial for automated postal scales for small businesses.

On the Cheers 200th Episode Special, host John McLaughlin asked Ratzenberger about Cliff Clavin. Ratzenberger said that Cliff would describe himself as the "Winged nut that holds western civilization together." However Ratzenberger said that he would describe Cliff simply as "A winged nut." When McLaughlin asked Ratzenberger if there was anything of him in Cliff, Ratzenberger said that he was also interested in fascinating facts and that the only part of Cliff in him was that he wears white socks.

Ratzenberger appeared on the cover of some of the books in the series The Complete Idiots Guide to..., presumably as Cliff, the self-styled expert on everything.

Cliff appeared in 268 episodes of Cheers between 1982-1993. He appeared as an animated character (voiced by Ratzenberger) in the Simpsons episode "Fear of Flying". He also made guest appearances in the Wings episode "Category: Wings_episodes#Season_Two - :_1990.E2.80.931991|The Story of Joe" and the Frasier'' episode "Cheerful Goodbyes" (his final appearance).