Charles Fleischer (born August 27, 1950) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, musician, and writer, best known for appearing in films such as ''

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American Live-action animated film, live-action/animated comedy film, comedy mystery film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Frank Marshall (filmmaker), Frank Marshall and Robert Watts, and loosely ad ...

'', ''

A Nightmare on Elm Street ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' is a 1984 American supernatural slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven and produced by Robert Shaye. It is the first installment in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' franchise and stars Heather Langenka ...

'', '' The Polar Express'', '' Rango'', '' Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers'', and '' We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story''. He made a cameo in '' Back to the Future Part II'' and also reprised the role of

Roger Rabbit Roger Rabbit is an animated anthropomorphic rabbit. The character first appeared in author Gary K. Wolf's 1981 novel, ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' In the book, Roger is second banana in a popular comic strip, "Baby Herman". Roger hires pri ...

in the ''Roger Rabbit'' theatrical shorts. After beginning his career on the comedy club circuit, Charles Fleischer's first big break in comedy television came when he made an appearance on ''

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (often simply referred to as ''Laugh-In'') is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968, to March 12, 1973, on the NBC television network, hosted by comedians Da ...

''.

Early life

Fleischer was born in Washington, D.C., on August 27, 1950. He studied medicine at

Southampton College Stony Brook Southampton is a campus location of Stony Brook University, located in Southampton, New York between the Shinnecock Indian Reservation and Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on the eastern end of Long Island. History Southampton College, L ...

, then part of

Long Island University Long Island University (LIU) is a private university with two main campuses, LIU Post and LIU Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It offers more than 500 academic programs at its main campuses, online, and at multiple non-residential. LIU ...

, before transferring to study acting at Goodman School of Drama at the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

(now at

DePaul University DePaul University is a private, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul. In 1998, it became the largest Ca ...

Career

Fleischer is best known as the voices of

, Benny the Cab, Greasy, and Psycho in ''

''. After the film's success, he continued to perform the voice of Roger in several

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

television and theme park appearances at several of the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, and in three follow-up shorts. Other voice roles for Fleischer include '' The Polar Express'' and '' We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story''. Notable on-screen roles include '' Back to the Future Part II'' and '' Gridlock'd''. Fleischer had a recurring role on the 1970s TV series ''

Welcome Back, Kotter ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' is an American sitcom starring Gabe Kaplan as a high-school teacher in charge of a racially and ethnically diverse remedial education class called the "Sweathogs." Recorded in front of a live studio audience, the seri ...

'' as Carvelli, as Chuck on the ABC series ''

Laverne & Shirley ''Laverne & Shirley'' (originally ''Laverne DeFazio & Shirley Feeney'') is an American sitcom television series that played for eight seasons on ABC from January 27, 1976, to May 10, 1983. A spin-off of '' Happy Days'', ''Laverne & Shirley'' st ...

'', and on the Disney cartoon series '' House of Mouse'' as the voice of Benny the Cab. Fleischer appeared for the first time on "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" on January 15, 1973, where he played his homemade musical instruments made from lead pipe and shower wands. He then landed a spot on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...

'' on May 15, 1974. He was also a regular on '' Keep on Truckin'''. He guest-starred in ''

The Weird Al Show ''The Weird Al Show'' is an American television show hosted by "Weird Al" Yankovic. Produced in association with Dick Clark Productions and taped at NBC Studios, it aired on Saturday mornings on the CBS TV network. The show ran for one season, ...

'' as a guy in a band. He also appeared on the short-lived Saturday morning show, ''

Wacko ''Wacko'' is a 1983 arcade game by Bally Midway. It featured a unique angled cabinet design and a combination of trackball and joystick controls. The player assumes the role of Kapt'n Krooz'r, a small, green alien within a bubble-topped spaceshi ...

''. Fleischer is the originator of the quote "If you remember the '60s, you really weren't there" which has been widely mis-attributed to various other celebrities. He performed the role of a

televangelist Televangelism ( tele- "distance" and "evangelism," meaning " ministry," sometimes called teleministry) is the use of media, specifically radio and television, to communicate Christianity. Televangelists are ministers, whether official or self-pr ...

on "What God Wants, Part II", on

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-s ...

' 1992 album '' Amused to Death''. He is also a musician and songwriter. He performed as a guest on

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica in ...

with the group

Blues Traveler Blues Traveler (formerly known as "The Establishment" or "The Black Cat Jam" or "The Establishment Blues Band") is an American rock band that formed in Princeton, New Jersey in 1987. They are known for extensive use of segues in live performan ...

at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles on November 22, 1995 and from December 10 to 15, 2002 at the Improvisational theatre of Connecticut Avenue. From December 2010 to September 2011, he hosted his own weekly web show ''Fleischer's Universe'' on

Ustream.tv IBM Watson Media (formerly Ustream and IBM Cloud Video) is an American virtual events platform company which is a division of IBM. Prior to IBM acquisition, it had more than 180 employees across San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Budapest offices. ...

, produced by

Brad Wyman Brad Hibbs Wyman (born May 13, 1963) is an American film producer, best known for producing '' Monster'' (2003). His first film was ''White of the Eye'', and later worked on '' Freeway'', ''Trees Lounge'', ''The Dark Backward'', '' The Chase'', ...

. Charles Fleischer was inside Tropicana Las Vegas, giving an improvised comedy along with Bob Golub and Nick Aragon at the Laugh Factory from January 17 to 20 of 2019.

Personal life

Fleischer married Sheryl Strassman in 1977. Together they have two daughters, Rachel (b. 1980) and Jessica (b. 1982).

Filmography

*''The Death Of Richie'' (1977) as Brick (credited) *'' One on One'' (1977) as High School Student (uncredited) *''Crisis in Sun Valley'' (1978) as Shuyler *''

Sugar Time! ''Sugar Time!'' was a television comedy series produced by James Komack James Komack (August 3, 1924 – December 24, 1997) was an American television producer, director, screenwriter, and actor. He is best known for producing several hit tel ...

'' (1978) as Lightning Jack Rappaport *'' Die Laughing'' (1980) as Charlie *''

Hill Street Blues ''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the staff of a single police station loca ...

'' (1981) as Malibu *'' The Hand'' (1981) as David Maddow *'' Night Shift'' (1982) as Prisoner *''

'' (1984) as Dr. King *''

The House of God ''The House of God'' is a satirical novel by Samuel Shem (a pseudonym used by psychiatrist Stephen Bergman), published in 1978. The novel follows a group of medical interns at a fictionalized version of Beth Israel Hospital over the course of ...

'' (1984) as Hyper Hooper *''

Deadly Friend ''Deadly Friend'' is a 1986 American science fiction horror film directed by Wes Craven, and starring Matthew Laborteaux, Kristy Swanson, Michael Sharrett, Anne Twomey, Richard Marcus, and Anne Ramsey. Its plot follows a teenage computer pr ...

'' (1986) as BB (voice) *''

The Great Mouse Detective ''The Great Mouse Detective'' (also known as ''The Adventures of the Great Mouse Detective'' for its 1992 theatrical re-release and ''Basil the Great Mouse Detective'' in some countries) is a 1986 American animated mystery adventure film produc ...

'' (1986) (voice, uncredited) *'' Bad Dreams'' (1988) as Ron the Pharmacist *''

'' (1988) as

/ Benny the Cab / Greasy / Psycho (voice) *''

Mickey's 60th Birthday ''Mickey's 60th Birthday'' is a 1988 American live-action/animated television special broadcast on ''The Magical World of Disney'' on November 13, 1988 on NBC. As the title suggests, it was produced for the 60th anniversary of the Mickey Mouse c ...

'' (1988) (live-action & voice) as Stagehand Charlie / Roger Rabbit (voice) *'' Tummy Trouble'' (1989) as Roger Rabbit (voice) *''

Gross Anatomy Gross anatomy is the study of anatomy at the visible or macroscopic level. The counterpart to gross anatomy is the field of histology, which studies microscopic anatomy. Gross anatomy of the human body or other animals seeks to understand the rela ...

'' (1989) *'' Back to the Future Part II'' (1989) as Terry *''

Dick Tracy ''Dick Tracy'' is an American comic strip featuring Dick Tracy (character), Dick Tracy (originally Plainclothes Tracy), a tough and intelligent police detective created by Chester Gould. It made its debut on Sunday, October 4, 1931, in the ''De ...

'' (1990) as Reporter *'' Roller Coaster Rabbit'' (1990) as Roger Rabbit (voice) *''

Straight Talk ''Straight Talk'' is a 1992 American romantic comedy film directed by Barnet Kellman and starring Dolly Parton, Jerry Orbach, Griffin Dunne and James Woods. Plot Shirlee Kenyon is a dance instructor living in Arkansas. Fired for giving advi ...

'' (1992) as Tony *'' Carry On Columbus'' (1992) as Pontiac *'' Trail Mix-Up'' (1993) as Roger Rabbit (voice) *'' We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story'' (1993) as Dweeb (voice) *'' My Girl 2'' (1994) as Cab Driver *'' Demon Knight'' (1995) as Wally Enfield *''

Bone Chillers ''Bone Chillers'' is a series of children's horror fiction novels and a TV show created and authored by Betsy Haynes. Synopsis Four freshmen at Edgar Allan Poe High School not only have to deal with the normal pressures of competing with the c ...

'' (1996) as Arnie *'' Gridlock'd'' (1997) as Mr. Woodson *'' Ground Control'' (1998) as Randy *'' Permanent Midnight'' (1998) as Allen from Mr. Chompers *'' Rusty: A Dog's Tale'' (1998) as Bart Bimini *''

Genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabili ...

'' (1999) as Dr. Krickstein *''Big Monster on Campus'' (2000) as Mr. Stockton *''Bel Air'' (2000) as Gus *''

G-Men from Hell ''G-Men from Hell'' (released on DVD as ''Michael Allred's G-Men from Hell'') is a 2000 American comedy film directed by Christopher Coppola and written by Robert Cooper, Richard L. Albert, and Nicholas Johnson. It is based on Michael Allred's ...

'' (2000) as Martin / Pete *''

Buzz Lightyear of Star Command ''Buzz Lightyear of Star Command'' is an American animated science fiction action-adventure comedy television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation and co-produced by Pixar Animation Studios. It serves as a spin-off of the ''Toy Sto ...

'' (2000) as Monumentus (voice) *''

Disney's House of Mouse ''Disney's House of Mouse'' (or simply ''House of Mouse'') is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation that originally aired for three seasons on ABC and Toon Disney from January 13, 2001, to its finale ...

'' (2001) as Benny the Cab (voice) *'' Balto II: Wolf Quest'' (2002) as Boris (voice) *'' The Backlot Murders'' (2002) as Henry *''

The 4th Tenor ''The 4th Tenor'' is a 2002 American comedy film directed by Harry Basil and written by and starring Rodney Dangerfield. It was Dangerfield's final film role during his lifetime before his death in October 2004. Premise Lupo falls in love with ...

'' (2002) as Alphonse *'' Pauly Shore Is Dead'' (2003) as Himself (uncredited) *'' Balto III: Wings of Change'' (2004) as Boris / White Mountain Postmaster (voice) *'' The Polar Express'' (2004) as Elf General (voice) *''Big Kiss'' (2004) as Berezovich *''

Zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. The pa ...

'' (2007) as Bob Vaughn *'' Funny People'' (2009) as Himself *''

Chain Letter A chain letter is a message that attempts to convince the recipient to make a number of copies and pass them on to a certain number of recipients. The "chain" is an exponentially growing pyramid (a tree graph) that cannot be sustained indefinite ...

'' (2009) as Frank Wiggins *'' Rango'' (2011) as Elbows (voice) *''Negative Space'' (2011) as Harry *''Reality Queen!'' (2016) as Talk Show Host *''Prop Culture'' (2020) as Himself, Episode: "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" *'' Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers'' (2022) as Roger Rabbit/Chipmunks TV Announcer (voice)

References

External links

* *
"All things are Moleeds" (TED2005)
(18 minutes)
Charles Fleischer's Webshow ''Fleischer's Universe''
Charles Fleischer's science paper. https://arxiv.org/abs/1205.0518 {{DEFAULTSORT:Fleischer, Charles 1950 births Living people American stand-up comedians American male film actors American male television actors American male video game actors American male voice actors American male songwriters Male actors from Washington, D.C. Songwriters from Washington, D.C. 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians Southampton College alumni