Connor Ratliff

Last updated
Connor Ratliff
Connor Ratliff.jpg
Ratliff in 2012 photographed by Benjamin Ragheb
Born (1975-08-27) August 27, 1975 (age 49)
EducationLiverpool Institute of Performing Arts
OccupationActor - comedian - podcaster - television host - writer
Years active1998 - present

Connor Ratliff (born August 27, 1975) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his podcast Dead 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]

Contents

Early life

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 [5] [6] in London before an audition for Band of Brothers, the details of which led to the eventual creation of his podcast Dead Eyes. [7]

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. [8] He also wrote and performed on The Chris Gethard Show throughout its run [9] 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, [10] contributed short films with award-winning artist Maelle Doliveux as The Lone Cornmeal Machine, [11] and served as a warm up comedian and panelist. [12]

The George Lucas Talk Show

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. [13] He is joined by sidekick Star 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: the Connor Ratliff Story" premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival. [15]

Dead Eyes

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 Marvellous 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]

Filmography

Films

YearTitleRoleNotes
2001Living in MissouriRyan Johnson
2009Mortimer Hayden Smyth Talks About Gay MarriageMortimer Hayden SmythShort film
2012The Sale Was YesterdayShort film
2013The Joy of BasketballingBasketballerShort film
2015 HBO's Project Greenlight Finalist: Winning Entry RickyShort film
Survival JobTalent AgentShort film
Chasing Banksy
Dan MillerDan MillerShort film
Amy PorterDr. MarcShort film
2016 Don't Think Twice Connor
Omni: Verse
Standards & Practices: A Short Film About Modern RomanceRickShort film
2017 Coin Heist Mr. Garcia
The Discovery Coroner
The Third PartyLuke Gravy
2019 Standing Up, Falling Down Tommy
2024 Mean Girls Mr Rapp

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2008–2014Stone Cold FoxVarious
2009UCB TourCo
2011The George Kareman Variety Hour(voice)
2011–2018 The Chris Gethard Show Himself / various
2011–2015CollegeHumor OriginalsVarious
2012–2016UCB Comedy OriginalsVarious
2012UCB Live!
2014 Broad City SHP Call Center OperatorEpisode: "Working Girls"
2015 Veep Episode: "Testimony"
2016–2022 Search Party Ted7 episodes
2016Cop ShowBad Guy
The Characters Pathetic ManEpisode: "Lauren Lapkus"
Animal AgentDarren
2017 The UCB Show George Lucas Episode: "The Phantom in Us"
Adam Ruins Everything StrangerEpisode: "Adam Ruins Halloween"
2017–2021 Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Various3 episodes
2018 Orange Is the New Black Reuben Siegel2 episodes
2018–2019Dollar Store TherapistDollar Store Therapist
2018–2022 The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Chester5 episodes
2019 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Schlubby GuyEpisode: "Hank Azaria/Henry Louis Gates Jr./Emilia Clarke/Jeff Goldblum"
Chris Gethard PresentsEpisode: "Talk-A-Doodle-Doo with Connor Ratliff"
2020 Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Crew GuySpecial: "Kimmy vs the Reverend"
2020–present The George Lucas Talk Show Retired Filmmaker George Lucas
2021 The Blacklist Max FreyEpisode: "The Protean (No. 36)"

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Dead Eyes is a serialized personal nonfiction investigational podcast series created by actor and comedian Connor Ratliff. In 2000, Ratliff was cast in the role of Private John Zielinski on 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 set out to "solve the very stupid mystery" of why he was fired, and to more generally explore the concept of rejection in the entertainment industry. The podcast gained significant media attention in March 2022 when, for its season 3 finale, Ratliff finally interviewed Hanks.

References

  1. ↑ Quah, Nicholas (May 5, 2020). "Rejected by Tom Hanks? Start a Podcast About It". Vulture. Archived from the original on 2020-05-06.
  2. ↑ Miller, Liz Shannon (September 19, 2020). "Watching 'The George Lucas Talk Show' Watch Weird TV Live Is a 2020 Highlight — Here's Why". Collider. Archived from the original on 2020-10-08.
  3. ↑ "The Stepfathers Are Gods of Improv Comedy". BlackBook. May 25, 2012. Archived from the original on 2021-01-19.
  4. ↑ Moreno, Mike (Sep 2, 2020). "The Connor Ratliff Conspiracies: The Mishaps and Misfortunes That Lead To His Success". Archived from the original on 2020-09-22.
  5. ↑ Shinn, Christopher (2002). Four. ISBN   9780822218500.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ↑ "Stewart Talent Profile- Connor Ratliff" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-07-22.
  7. ↑ McCarter, Reid (January 14, 2020). "Actor starts podcast to figure out why, exactly, Tom Hanks fired him from Band Of Brothers". AVClub. Archived from the original on 2020-01-14.
  8. ↑ O’Meara, Brendan. "Connor Ratliff on Falling Backward into Show Biz and How Improv Made Him a Better Listener". Archived from the original on 2019-12-08.
  9. ↑ Sepinwall, Alan (27 October 2021). "Tom Hanks Nearly Destroyed Connor Ratliff's Life. So He Made a Podcast About It". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 13 March 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  10. ↑ Gethard, Chris (Aug 30, 2013). "THE GREAT AMERICAN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE". Youtube. Archived from the original on 2014-06-22.
  11. ↑ Doliveux, Maelle. "The Lone Cornmeal Machine". Archived from the original on 2015-02-20.
  12. ↑ "Why Did Tom Hanks Fire This Man?". Vanity Fair. 2022-03-03. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
  13. ↑ Sepinwall, Alan (2021-10-27). "Tom Hanks Nearly Destroyed Connor Ratliff's Life. So He Made a Podcast About It". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
  14. ↑ Squires, Bethy (2022-05-05). "The George Lucas Talk Show Moves to Paul Scheer's Twitch Network". Vulture. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
  15. ↑ Mecca, Dan (2024-03-20). "I'm 'George Lucas': A Connor Ratliff Story Review: A Loving Portrait of a Unique Comedian" . Retrieved 2024-11-28.
  16. ↑ Dockterman, Eliana (May 29, 2020). "The Best Podcasts of 2020 So Far". Time.com. Archived from the original on 2020-05-29.
  17. ↑ Connor Ratliff Confronted Tom Hanks About Firing Him for His "Dead Eyes" , retrieved 2022-03-04; 00:01:50.
  18. ↑ "Why Did Tom Hanks Fire This Man?". Vanity Fair. 2022-03-03. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
  19. ↑ "Dead Eyes Should Interview Tom Hanks Every Week". Vulture. 2022-03-11. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  20. ↑ "Tom Hanks Apologizes to Conor Ratliff for Band of Brothers Firing Due His 'Dead Eyes'". People. 2022-03-11. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  21. ↑ Grobar, Matt (2023-03-22). "'Mean Girls' Movie Musical From Paramount Finds Its Kevin G. In Mahi Alam; Connor Ratliff Also Set". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
  22. ↑ Harrison, Ellie (12 March 2022). "Tom Hanks apologises to Connor Ratliff for firing him from Band of Brothers because of his 'dead eyes'". Independent. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
  23. ↑ Quinn, WJ (2023-07-17). "Podcast Star Connor Ratliff - Long Read interview!". theqr.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
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