Biography

Ricky Schroder

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He was born Richard Bartlett Schroder, Jr., in Staten Island, New York on April 13th, 1970. His mother, Diane Schroder was an employee at AT&T, which is also the same company that employed his father, Richard Bartlett Schroder, Sr.

Eventually working his way up to management from being a telephone repairmen, Rick's father had known his mother since they attended junior high together. After his older sister and he were born, Rick's mother quit her job to raise the children. A good-looking child, Rick's mother began taking him to photo shoots when he was only three months old. In his own words, he must have been a natural, because he started working right away, never having taken an acting lesson in his life.

Played Jon Voight's son twice: the first time in The Champ (1979) and the second time in Return to Lonesome Dove (1993).
Son Holden is named after actor William Holden with whom Rick co-starred in The Earthling (1980).
He was absent from NYPD Blue (1993)'s May 2001 season finale and later announced he would not return to the show because he wanted to devote time to his growing family. His fourth child was due that August.
Living with his wife Andrea Schroder and four kids in Grand Junction, Colorado on their 15,000-acre ranch.
Award: Won Director of the Year at the 2005 CMT Video awards for "Whisky Lullaby".

[on his '80s sitcom Silver Spoons (1982)]: I was never really comfortable doing comedy. Though it was good the first couple of years, there were problems, and it became a stifling experience. I was happy it ended.
[on changing his credited name] When I turned 18, my agent was like, 'You should change from Ricky to Rick.' So I thought it was a good idea. Rick never really fit. I tried for 18 years to make it work, and no one wanted to call me Rick. It should always have been Ricky. That's what it always should have been, so I'm going back to it.
[on working with Jason Bateman] Jason was so talented, and he was part of the show from the very beginning. He was in the pilot, and they liked him so much that he went on to get his own spinoff. Jason was my only friend in L.A. because I was from New York and didn't know anybody. So Jason and I were buddies, and unfortunately our friendship never kept up over the years, but I'm really happy when I see Jason's success.

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