Richard Bartlett Schroder is an American actor and film director. As a child actor, billed as Ricky Schroder, Schroder debuted in the film The Champ, going on to become a child star on the sitcom Silver Spoons. He has continued acting as an adult, usually billed as Rick Schroder, notably as "Newt" on the western miniseries Lonesome Dove and in the crime-drama series NYPD Blue.
Early life and career
Schroder was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, and raised on Staten Island, New York City. He is the son of Diane Katherine Bartlett and Richard John Schroder, both former employees of AT&T. Schroder's mother quit her job to raise him and his sister Dawn, taking him to photo shoots when he was only three months old. As a child, Schroder appeared in many catalogs, and by age six, he had appeared in 60 advertisements. Schroder made his film debut as the son of Jon Voight's character in The Champ, a 1979 remake of the 1931 film of the same title. He was nominated for, and subsequently won, a Golden Globe award in 1980 for Best New Male Star of the Year in a Motion Picture. Following his role in The Champ, Schroder was removed from school by his parents in the third grade to focus on his career. He moved to Los Angeles with his mother, but his father remained in New York City and kept his job with AT&T. The following year, Schroder appeared in the Disney feature filmThe Last Flight of Noah's Ark with Elliott Gould. He also starred as the title character in Little Lord Fauntleroy, alongside Alec Guinness. Schroder then became well known as the star of the television series Silver Spoons. He played a starring role as Ricky Stratton, the son of a wealthy and eccentric millionaire, Eddie Stratton. His performance earned him two Young Artist Awards. He struggled with his identity as an actor when Silver Spoons ended. Prospective roles were rare, and he was mainly designated to play boyish-looking teenagers or blond-haired heartthrobs. Schroder avoided the vices of other child actors and attempted to establish himself as a more mature actor, dropping the "y" from his first name. His mother enrolled him in Calabasas High School, but Schroder had trouble adjusting to the new environment. In 1988, the year after Silver Spoons ended, Schroder starred in a primetime CBS TV movie based on a true story, the drama Too Young the Hero, as 12-year-old Calvin Graham who passes for 17 to enlist in World War II. He also appeared as the guest timekeeper in Wrestlemania 2 for a match between Hulk Hogan and King Kong Bundy.
Adult career
After graduating from high school, Schroder enrolled himself in Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colorado. Still accepting jobs in various TV movies during this time, Schroder still struggled to establish himself as a serious adult actor, modifying his childhood nickname to Rick Schroder. He eventually bought a large piece of land in Colorado. His co-starring role in the Western miniseries Lonesome Dove and its sequel, Return to Lonesome Dove, helped in his attempt to be recognized in more mature roles. His roles as Danny Sorenson on three seasons of NYPD Blue, nurse Paul Flowers in Scrubs, Dr. Dylan West on Strong Medicine, and Mike Doyle on the 2007 season of 24 worked to cement that perception with the viewing audience. In 2004, Schroder wrote and directed the feature film Black Cloud, a drama about a Navajo boxer. The same year he directed and starred in the music video for "Whiskey Lullaby", a song by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss. Schroder's son Luke and daughter Cambrie also appeared in the video. The same directorial experience garnered Schroder another award for Best Music Video at the 2005 Nashville Film Festival. At the 2005 CMT Music Awards, the video won an award for Collaborative Video of the Year, while Schroder won for Director of the Year. In 2007, Schroder announced that he was changing his credit back to "Ricky" beginning with his role on 24. In an interview, he admitted that changing his name from "Ricky" to "Rick" at 18, upon prompting by his agent, was a mistake. Rick' never really fit," he said. "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." In 2009, he directed the adventure horror filmHellhounds. In June 2009, at Andrea's strong urging, Schroder packed up the family and moved to Spain. They rented a home in Barcelona for a year, and celebrated Schroder's 40th birthday in Marrakesh, Morocco. After returning in June 2010, Schroder went back to the entertainment industry. He guest-starred in a January 2011 episode of ABC's No Ordinary Family. His production company, Ricky Schroder Productions, has produced Starting Strong, a TV show for the U.S. Army, since 2013, as well as other projects including The Fighting Season. In 2013, the production company produced the movie Our Wild Hearts for the Hallmark Channel, in which Schroder starred with his daughter Cambrie. Schroder has produced three war documentaries, The Fighting Season, My Fighting Season, and The Volunteers. He spent five months in Afghanistan with the US Army to capture the footage.
Personal life
In high school, Schroder dated Natasha Gregson Wagner, daughter of Hollywood icon Natalie Wood. Schroder married Andrea Bernard in 1992, and they have four children. She filed for divorce in 2016. In April 2019, Schroder was arrested twice for suspicion of domestic violence, and was held in lieu of $50,000 bail. The woman involved in these incidents was not identified in the news reports. Schroder was not prosecuted for either allegation of domestic violence.
