Bill Chott (born July 23, 1969) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Mr. Laritate on the

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...

series ''

Wizards of Waverly Place ''Wizards of Waverly Place'' is an American fantasy teen sitcom created by Todd J. Greenwald that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between October 2007 and January 2012. The series centers on Alex Russo (Selena Gomez), a teenage wiza ...

''.

Early life

During his school years, Chott appeared in numerous plays and musicals. He graduated from

Ritenour High School Ritenour High School is a public high school in Breckenridge Hills, St. Louis County, Missouri that is part of the Ritenour School District. Activities For the 2013–2014 school year, the school offered 25 activities approved by the Missou ...

, and in 2010 was inducted into their Alumni Hall of Fame."Entering Ritenour's Hall of Fame"
''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' (October 19, 2010) He continued pursuing theater in

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

Central Methodist University Central Methodist University (formerly known as Central Methodist College and also known as Central College or CMU) is a private university in Fayette, Missouri. CMU is accredited to offer masters, bachelors, and associate degrees. The school is ...

in Fayette, Missouri, acting in a wide variety of plays. He was also in Chi Delta fraternity while at Central Methodist as well as Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia's Beta Mu chapter. He left Missouri in 1992, and headed to

Chicago, IL (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

where he quickly became involved with

improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

al theater at

ComedySportz ComedySportz (CSz) is an improvisational comedy organization started in 1984 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, by a group of local comedians including Dick Chudnow, Bob Orvis, Brian Green, and others. Match format The traditional format of a ComedySportz ...

IO Theater iO, or iO Chicago, (formerly known as "ImprovOlympic") is an improv theater and training center in central Chicago, with a former branch in Los Angeles, called iO West and in Raleigh, North Carolina called iO South. The theater taught and hosted p ...

, and the Second City comedy troupe. His contemporaries in the Chicago improv scene included

Steve Carell Steven John Carell (; born August 16, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He played Michael Scott (The Office), Michael Scott in ''The Office (American TV series), The Office'' (2005–2011; 2013), NBC’s adaptation of the The Office (B ...

Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program ''The Colbert Report'' from 2005 to ...

Tina Fey Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (; born May 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and playwright. She is best known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (1997–2006) and for creating the ...

and

Amy Poehler Amy Poehler (; born September 16, 1971) is an American comedian, actress, writer, producer, and director. After studying improv at Chicago's Second City and ImprovOlympic in the early 1990s, Poehler co-founded the improvisational-comedy trou ...

br>

Career

Writing

Chott toured the country and in 1995 he made his television debut on ''

The Dana Carvey Show ''The Dana Carvey Show'' is an American surreal sketch comedy television show that aired on ABC during the spring of 1996. Dana Carvey was the host and principal player on the show while Louis C.K. served as head writer. The show's cast consists ...

'', among a repertory cast that included Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, and

Robert Smigel Robert Smigel (born February 7, 1960) is an American actor, comedian, writer, director, producer, and puppeteer, known for his ''Saturday Night Live'' " TV Funhouse" cartoon shorts and as the puppeteer and voice behind Triumph the Insult Comic D ...

. His most lasting contribution to the program was as the announcer for ''

The Ambiguously Gay Duo ''The Ambiguously Gay Duo'' is an American animated comedy sketch that debuted on ''The Dana Carvey Show'' before moving to its permanent home on ''Saturday Night Live''. It is created and produced by Robert Smigel and J. J. Sedelmaier as part ...

,'' a series of animated shorts created by Smigel and J.J. Sedelmaier, which continued to be produced by J.J. Sedelmaier Productions for ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' after the quick cancellation of "The Dana Carvey Show."

Film

His film roles include performances in ''

Galaxy Quest ''Galaxy Quest'' is a 1999 American science fiction comedy film directed by Dean Parisot and written by David Howard and Robert Gordon. A parody of and homage to science-fiction films and series, especially ''Star Trek'' and its fandom, the fi ...

'', ''

Dude Where's My Car ''Dude, Where's My Car?'' is a 2000 American stoner comedy film directed by Danny Leiner. The film stars Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott as two best friends who find themselves unable to remember where they parked their vehicle after a nig ...

'', '' Brainwarp'', ''

Dante's Inferno ''Inferno'' (; Italian for "Hell") is the first part of Italian writer Dante Alighieri's 14th-century epic poem ''Divine Comedy''. It is followed by ''Purgatorio'' and '' Paradiso''. The ''Inferno'' describes Dante's journey through Hell, guid ...

'', ''

Wild Girls Gone Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to: Common meanings * Wild animal * Wilderness, a wild natural environment * Wildness, the quality of being wild or untamed Art, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Wild'' (2014 film), a 2014 A ...

'', ''

Dancing at the Blue Iguana ''Dancing at the Blue Iguana'' is a 2000 American erotic drama film, released September 14, 2000, directed by Michael Radford about the lives of strippers at a gentlemen's club. The film was based on an improvisational workshop involving the lea ...

'' and '' The Ringer''.

Television

His television appearances include ''

Third Rock from the Sun ''Third Rock from the Sun'' is the fourth studio album by American country music artist Joe Diffie. Diffie's breakthrough album, the first five tracks were all released as singles, and all charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks ...

'', ''

Freaks and Geeks ''Freaks and Geeks'' is an American teen comedy-drama television series created by Paul Feig and executive-produced by Judd Apatow that aired on NBC during the 1999–2000 television season. The show is set in a suburban high school near Detr ...

'', ''

Popular Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...

'', '' ER'', ''

Crossballs ''Crossballs: The Debate Show'' is a Comedy Central television show which poked fun at cable news networks' political debate shows, especially CNN's ''Crossfire'' and MSNBC's ''Hardball with Chris Matthews''. In each episode, comedians posing as ...

'', '' Weekends at the DL'', '' CSI'', ''

'', ''

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' is an American sitcom created by Rob McElhenney and developed by McElhenney and Glenn Howerton that premiered on August 4, 2005 on FX and later FXX beginning with the ninth season in 2013. It stars Charlie ...

'', ''

She Spies ''She Spies'' is an action-adventure television show that ran from July 20, 2002 until May 17, 2004 in two seasons. The show was sold into syndication but the first four episodes were premiered on the NBC network, whose syndication arm was one of t ...

'', ''

Young Sheldon ''Young Sheldon'' is an American List of coming-of-age stories, coming-of-age sitcom television series created by Chuck Lorre and Steven Molaro for CBS. The series, set in the late 1980s and early 1990s, is a Spin-off (media), spin-off prequel ...

'', ''

This Is Us ''This Is Us'' is an American family drama television series that aired on NBC from September 20, 2016, to May 24, 2022. The series follows the lives and families of two parents, and their three children, in several different time frames. It s ...

'', and ''

Monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

''.

Theater

Lucy fans will recognize him for his award-winning portrayal of Fred Mertz in I Love Lucy Live on Stage. Chott continues to teach and coach improvisational comedy in both Los Angeles and St. Louis, through his school The Improv Trick.

Filmography

References

* *

External links

*
theimprovtrick.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chott, Bill 1969 births Living people 20th-century American comedians 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American male actors American male comedians American male film actors American male television actors American sketch comedians Central Methodist University alumni Comedians from Missouri Male actors from St. Louis