Biography
Date of Birth
13 December 1970, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Birth Name
Jr. Richard Bartlett Schroder
Nickname
The Ricker
Ricky
Height
5' 10" (1.78 m)
Trivia
In 1987 he was cast to play Todd Bowden in Apt Pupil (1998). This first attempt to film this story ran over budget and stopped production. It was to co-star Nicol Williamson, and it was to be directed by Alan Bridges.
Listed (as Ricky Schroder) as one of twelve Promising New Actors of 1979 in "John Willis' Screen World," Vol. 31.
Spoke at the Republican National Convention in honor of George W. Bush, 2000.
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.
Son Holden is named after actor William Holden with whom Rick co-starred in The Earthling (1980).
Children with Andrea Schroder: Holden Schroder (aka Holden Richard Schroder) (born on January 8, 1992), Luke Schroder (aka Luke William Schroder) (born on August 1, 1993), Cambrie Schroder (born on September 14, 1997) and Faith Schroder (aka Faith Anne Schroder) (born on August 8, 2001).
He and his then-wife (Andrea Schroder) built and designed their Colorado ranch in the summer of 1998.
Older sister, Dawn Gregg, has done some modeling and acting. She is married to Bradley Gregg who appeared on Silver Spoons (1982).
Played Jon Voight's son twice: the first time in The Champ (1979) and the second time in Return to Lonesome Dove (1993).
Ranked #20 in TV Guide's list of TV's 25 Greatest Teen Idols (23 January 2005 issue).
Award: Won Director of the Year at the 2005 CMT Video awards for "Whisky Lullaby".
Shares birthday with Ron Perlman (they co-starred in I Woke Up Early the Day I Died (1998)).
Ranked #18 in VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Kid Stars.
Award: Won the Best Music Video award at the Nashville Film Festival in 2005 for "Whiskey Lullaby".
Is of Norwegian and German descent. His great grandmother (whose name was Larsen) came to America from Oslo, Norway. His father's parents (named Schröder) emigrated in the 1940s from Hamburg, Germany, to the United States.
He and his wife at the time ([Andrea Schroder) put their Mesa Mood Ranch in Grand Junction, Colorado, up for sale and bought a 21-acre ranch in Topanga, California. [June 2005]
Living with his wife Andrea Schroder and four kids in Grand Junction, Colorado on their 15,000-acre ranch. [2004]
Friends with Alfonso Ribeiro.
First acting role was supposed to have been in Jaws 2 (1978), but halfway through production, the director was fired and all of the characters were re-cast.
Initially didn't want the role of Newt Dobbs in Lonesome Dove (1989) as he had a horse allergy and had also wanted to take a break from acting after Silver Spoons (1982).
When he began his acting career at the age of 5 he was living on Leverett Avenue in Great Kills, Staten Island, New York.
Quotes
[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.
