Connor Ratliff (born August 27, 1975) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his podcastDead Eyes,[1] is the star and creator of the long running stage and streaming show The George Lucas Talk Show,[2] and is associated with Upright Citizens Brigade in New York where he is a member of the long form improv comedy troupe The Stepfathers.[3]
Ratliff grew up in Missouri, the son of Bill and Gretta Ratliff, and after high school attended the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts in Liverpool, England. He stayed in London after graduation and worked as a reader while looking for work as an actor.[4]
Career
He began acting at The Royal Court Theatre in London, where in 1998 he appeared as one of the four lead roles in Christopher Shinn's debut play Four.[5] In 2000, Ratliff was cast in a small role in Band of Brothers, but the role was recast before Ratliff's scene was filmed.[6][7] This experience later prompted Ratliff to create the podcast Dead Eyes.[8]
UCB Theatre and The Chris Gethard Show
After moving to New York, Connor began working at the UCB Theatre East, where he performed weekly Friday nights with the improv troupe The Stepfathers, and performed Sunday nights in the theatre's longest running show, ASSSSCAT 3000.[9] He also wrote and performed on The Chris Gethard Show throughout its run[10] as both a stage show and its many iterations on Manhattan Neighborhood Network, Fusion, and TruTV. During its run, he launched a 2012 Presidential campaign and debated Jimmy McMillan,[11] contributed short films with award-winning artist Maelle Doliveux as The Lone Cornmeal Machine,[12] and served as a warm up comedian and panelist.[13]
In 2014, Connor Ratliff began hosting a live talk show where he appears as George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, and he interviews real guests as themselves in a panel format.[10] He is joined by sidekickStar Wars characters: initially Jar Jar Binks, played by comedian Shaun Diston, and in current shows, Watto, played by Griffin Newman. The show was performed monthly live on stage at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre before the COVID 19 pandemic, and since May 4, 2020 has been performing live on Twitch, first on Planet Scum and currently on Paul Scheer's channel Friendzone,[14] as well as resuming live performances at theaters across the United States.
In 2024 the documentary I'm "George Lucas": A Connor Ratliff Story premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival.[15]
In 2000, Ratliff was cast in the role of Private John Zielinski in the HBO television series Band of Brothers and was set to begin filming when he was subsequently fired, allegedly because series co-creator Tom Hanks believed Ratliff had "dead eyes". In 2020, Ratliff began a podcast, Dead Eyes, that set out to "solve a very stupid mystery" of why he was fired, and to more generally explore the concept of rejection in the entertainment industry, drawing on many fellow actors to share their own experiences.[16] The podcast gained significant media attention in March 2022 when, for its season 3 finale, Ratliff finally got Hanks to appear on the program.[17][18][19][20]
Film, television, and other work
Ratliff played Mr. Rapp in Mean Girls (2024), Chester in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2018–2022), and Ted in Search Party (2016–2022).[21][22] He was one of the narrators for the audiobook version of Hanks' novel The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece.[23] Ratliff starred as Gil in the podcast In The Cards (2023) by Next Chapter Podcasts.[24][25]
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