NYPD Blue

Background:

“There have been times I almost got a persecution complex. I felt like people wouldn't let me grow up. They always saw me as a smiling kid or goofy teenager, no matter how much I'd changed.” Rick Schroeder

Actor and director Rick Schroeder was launched to fame as a child performer thanks largely to his Golden Globe winning performance on the hit film “The Champ” (1979). He also starred as Ricky Stratton on the popular sitcom “Silver Spoon” (1982-1987), from which he took home two Young Artist Awards. As an adult, the Staten Island native is perhaps best known for his performance as Newt Dobbs on the successful TV miniseries “Lonesome Dove” (1989), a role he reprised on the 1993 miniseries “Return to Lonesome Dove,” and as Detective Danny Sorenson on “NYPD Blue” (1998 to 2001), where he nabbed a TV Guide nomination and two Screen Actors Guilds for his work. Schroeder also appeared in “Scrubs” (4 episodes, 2003), “Strong Medicine” (22 episodes, 2005-2006) and “24” (12 episodes, 2007) as well as the TV miniseries “The Andromeda Strain” (2008). He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his acting in the TV film “The Stranger Within” (1990). Behind the camera as a director, Schroeder directed the award winning music video “Whiskey Lullaby” (2004), which won the Collaborative Video of the Year Award and Director of the Year Award at the 2005 CMT Music Awards. He picked up a Nashville Film Festival Award, a Phoenix Film Festival Award and a San Diego Film Festival Award for his feature directing debut, “Black Cloud” (2004), which was about a Navajo Native American boxer.

The Ricker

Childhood and Family:

“I've been very blessed. My parents always told me I could be anything I wanted. When you grow up in a household like that, you learn to believe in yourself. Consequently, my ego and self-esteem have never been locked up just in acting. So, when I'm succeeding or failing, I'm still the same person.” Rick Schroeder

Richard Bartlett Schroder was born on April 13, 1970, in Staten Island, New York. His father, Richard, was a telephone company district manager and his mother, Diane, was a telephone company employee. Diane would also manage her son's career until 1992. Rick has an older sister named Dawn (born 1967), who has done some acting and modeling. Rick made his debut in television commercials as a toddler. After graduating from Calabasas High School in Calabasas, California, in 1988, he majored in ranch management at Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colorado. As a youth, Rick had the nickname The Ricker. He is also sometimes called Ricky.

On January 8, 1992, Rick and his then-companion, Andrea Bernard, had a son they named Holden Richard Schroder, who was named after the actor William Holden. The couple eventually married on September 26, 1992. Their second child, Luke William Schroder, was born in August 1993. Rick and his wife have since added two more children to the family, daughters Cambrie Schroder (born 1996) and Faith Anne Schroder (born August 8, 2001).

Rick and his interior designer wife built and designed their Colorado ranch home in the summer of 1998. He enjoys playing video games in his spare time and has converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Silver Spoons

Career:

“I was very outgoing and a good looking kid. I started doing all the catalogs. I made 60 commercials by the time I was 6. I must have been a natural because I never took an acting lesson.” Rick Schroeder

Rick Schroder had his first taste of performing as a tot when he began appearing in television commercials. As Ricky Schroeder, he made his feature film debut in “The Champ” (1979), a remake of the 1931 Academy Award winning film of the same name. Under the direction of Franco Zeffirelli, the then 9 year old actor won a Golden Globe for New Star of the Year in a Motion Picture - Male and was nominated for a Young Artist in the category of Best Juvenile Actor in a Motion Picture for his portrayal of T.J. Flynn. Jon Voight and Faye Dunaway played his parents in the film.

After the auspicious debut, Schroeder starred with Elliott Gould and Geneviève Bujold in the Disney movie “The Last Flight of Noah's Ark” (1980), where his performance as an orphan named Bobby brought him his next Young Artist nomination, this time for Best Young Actor - Major Motion Picture. He then played Shawn Daley, a little boy stranded in the Australian valley, in the Peter Collinson drama “The Earthling” (1980), opposite William Holden as Patrick Foley. He took home a 1982 Young Artist for Best Young Motion Picture Actor for his role in the latter film. That same year, he also played the title character in the British family movie “Little Lord Fauntleroy,” directed by Jack Gold. Costars of the film included Alec Guiness and Eric Porter. In the U.S., the film had a TV premiere on CBS on November 25, 1980, and won a 1981 Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Series or a Special. Schroeder was nominated for a 1983 Young Artist for Best Young Actor in a Movie Made for Television for his work in the film.

Schroeder's popularity on television increased significantly when he landed the starring role of Ricky Stratton on the well known sitcom “Silver Spoons,” which was broadcasted on NBC from September 25, 1982, to May 11, 1986, and in first run syndication from September 15, 1986, to March 4, 1987. He received Young Artist Awards for Best Young Actor in a New Television Series and Best Young Actor in a Comedy Series for his effort. He commented, “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.”

While on the show, Schroeder appeared in the TV films “Something So Right,” (CBS, 1982) “Two Kinds of Love” (1983) and “A Reason to Live” (1985). He also appeared in an episode of “Faerie Tale Theatre” called “Hansel and Gretel” (1983, as Hansel).

After “Silver Spoons” ended, Schroeder officially changed his name to Rick Schroeder and began his career as an adult actor. He received roles in a string of forgettable TV films, including “Too Young the Hero” (1988), where he received a Young Artist nomination for Best Young Actor in a Special, Pilot, Movie of the Week or Mini-Series, “Terror on Highway 91” (1989) and “Out on the Edge” (1989). His luck changed when he was cast as Newt Dobbs in the western TV miniseries “Lonesome Dove” (1989), which was based on Larry McMurtry's Pulitzer Prize winning novel of the same name. Airing on CBS on February 5, 1989, the miniseries, starring Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones, amassed numerous awards, including seven Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards.

In 1990, Schroeder starred as Mark, a dangerous psychopath, on the CBS television film “The Stranger Within” and was nominated for a Golden Globe in the category of Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV for his performance in the thriller. The same year, he also starred as Terry O'Kelley in the TV film “A Son's Promise,” opposite David Andrews, Veronica Cartwright and Stephen Dorff. He returned to films in 1991 when he was cast as the older brother of Brad Pitt, Billy Maloney, in “Across the Tracks.” Schroeder next appeared in the TV movies “Blood River” (1991), “My Son Johnny” (1991), “Miles from Nowhere” (1992) and “Call of the Wild” (1993) before reprising his role of Newt Dobbs for the Emmy nominated TV miniseries “Return to Lonesome Dove” (1993), opposite Jon Voight, Barbara Hershey, Oliver Reed and Reese Witherspoon.

After starring as Joey Cutter in the NBC film “To My Daughter with Love” and appearing with Benjamin Bratt, John Schneider, Stacy Keach, Patrick Duffy and David Keith in the ABC western “Texas” (both 1994), Schroeder teamed up with Dermot Mulroney, Noah Wyle, Kelli Williams, Lucy Deakins and Mark Ruffalo for the film “There Goes My Baby” (also 1994), which was written and directed by Floyd Mutrux. He then costarred in “Crimson Tide” (1995), a film directed by Tony Scott that starred Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman. “Crimson Tide” earned generally positive reviews from critics and grossed over $157 million worldwide against its budget of $53 million. It was nominated for Oscars for Best Sound, Best Film Editing, and Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing.

The remainder of the decade saw Schroeder appear in the TV films “Innocent Victims” (1996), “Ebenezer” (1997), “Too Close to Home” (1997), “Detention: The Siege at Johnson High” (1997), “Heart Full of Rain” (1997) and “What We Did That Night” (1999) and in an episode of “Dead Man's Gun” called “The Deserter” (1998). He also made a cameo appearance in the comedy “I Woke Up Early The Day I Died” (1998), which starred Billy Zane, Ron Perlman, Tippi Hedren, Andrew McCarthy, Will Patton and Nicollette Sheridan. It was not until he joined the cast of the ABC series “NYPD Blue” that he was put back in the television limelight. He played Detective Danny Sorenson on the series from 1998 to 2001 and was handed a 2000 Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series and a 2001 TV Guide nomination for Supporting Actor of the Year in a Drama Series for the role. He also shared a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. He quit the show to be close to his family. He recalled, “The long hours required to shoot ‘NYPD Blue’ would prevent me from being where I really want to be at this time, which is with my family.”

After leaving “NYPD Blue,” Schroeder starred in the A&E TV film “The Lost Battalion” (2001), a remake of the 1919 film of the same name, costarred with Mars Callahan, Alison Eastwood, Chazz Palminteri, Michael Rosenbaum, Rod Steiger and Christopher Walken in the movie “Poolhall Junkies” (2002), which was written and directed by Callahan, and portrayed John Wolfe in the action thriller “Consequence” (2003), opposite Armand Assante and Lola Glaudini. In 2003, he also received the recurring role of Paul Flowers in four episodes of the NBC comedy series “Scrubs.”

In 2004, Schroeder made his feature directorial debut with the boxing drama “Black Cloud,” which he also wrote. Starring Eddie Spears, the film premiered at the Phoenix Film Festival in 2004 and was seen at several small festivals before its limited release on October 1, 2004. The film won Schroeder a President's Award at the 2004 Nashville Film Festival, an Audience Award at the 2004 Phoenix Film Festival and the Festival Award for Best Director at the 2004 San Diego Film Festival. Schroeder also costarred in the film as Eddie. Still in 2004, he directed and starred in the award winning music video “Whiskey Lullaby,” by Brad Paisley & Alison Krauss. The video won a 2005 CMT Music Award for Collaborative Video of the Year, while Schroeder won the Director of the Year Award for his work. He also starred as Nick Harper in the TV film “Face of Terror” (2004).

From 2005 to 2006, Schroeder portrayed Dr. Dylan West on the sixth and final season of the Lifetime medical series “Strong Medicine,” created by Whoopi Goldberg and Tammy Ader. In 2007, he joined the sixth season of Fox's “24” in the recurring role of agent Mike Doyle. He appeared on the show in 12 episodes. In 2008, Schroeder starred with Peter Fonda and Victoria Pratt in the TV film “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” which was loosely adapted from Jules Verne's novel, and portrayed Major Bill Keane in the TV miniseries “The Andromeda Strain” (A&E), opposite Benjamin Bratt, Eric McCormack, Christa Miller, Daniel Dae Kim, Paul Perri, Viola Davis and Andre Braugher.

Schroeder returned to the director's chair when he helmed the segment “Midnight Blues” for the thriller “Locker 13” (2009), which won the 2009 Jury Award at the Atlanta Film Festival. The same year, he also directed Scott Elrod, Adam Butcher and Amanda Brooks in the Canadian TV film “Hellhounds.”

Recently, in 2010, Schroeder portrayed Vernon Tyson in the dramatic feature “Blood Done Sign My Name,” directed by Jeb Stuart. He also wrote and directed the made for TV film “Starting Strong,” which aired on May 14, 2010.

Awards:

• Temecula Valley International Film Festival: Career Achievement Award, 2005

• Nashville Film Festival: President's Award, “Black Cloud,” 2004

• Phoenix Film Festival: Audience Award, “Black Cloud,” 2004

• San Diego Film Festival: Festival Award, Best Director, “Black Cloud,” 2004

• Young Artist: Best Young Actor in a Comedy Series, “Silver Spoons,” 1984

• Young Artist: Best Young Actor in a New Television Series, “Silver Spoons,” 1983

• Young Artist: Best Young Motion Picture Actor, “The Earthling,” 1982

• Golden Globe: New Star of the Year in a Motion Picture - Male, “The Champ,” 1980