Charles Fleischer

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**Charles Fleischer** (born August 27, 1950) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer and musician, best known for appearing in films such as *Who Framed Roger Rabbit*, *A Nightmare on Elm Street*, *The Polar Express*, *Rango*, 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 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*.

## Early life

Fleischer was born in Washington, D.C. on August 27, 1950. He studied medicine at Southampton College, then part of Long Island University, before transferring to study acting at Goodman School of Drama at the Art Institute of Chicago (now at DePaul University).

## Career

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Fleischer is best known as the voices of Roger Rabbit, Benny the Cab, Greasy, and Psycho in *Who Framed Roger Rabbit*. After the film's success, he continued to perform the voice of Roger in several Disney 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* as Carvelli, as Chuck on the ABC series *Laverne & Shirley*, 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 with Johnny Carson Show* on the evening of May 15, 1974. He was also a regular on *Keep on Truckin'*. He guest-starred in *The Weird Al Show* as a guy in a band. He also appeared on the short-lived Saturday morning show, *Wacko*.

He performed the role of a televangelist on "What God Wants, Part II", on Roger Waters' 1992 album *Amused to Death*.

He is also a musician and songwriter. He performed as a guest on harmonica with the group Blues Traveler at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles on November 22, 1995 Template:Citation needed 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, produced by Brad Wyman.

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.

Fleischer is now the part-owner of a multi-media company in Southern California and a writer for television and movies.Template:Citation needed He still does stand-up gigs occasionally.

## Personal life

Fleischer has been married to Sheryl Stressman since 1977. Together they have two daughters, Rachel and Jessica.

## 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!* (1978) as Lightning Jack Rappaport
* *Die Laughing* (1980) as Charlie
* *Hill Street Blues* (1981) as Malibu
* *The Hand* (1981) as David Maddow
* *Night Shift* (1982) as Prisoner
* *A Nightmare on Elm Street* (1984) as Dr. King
* *The House of God* (1984) as Hyper Hooper
* *Deadly Friend* (1986) as BB (voice)
* *The Great Mouse Detective* (1986) (voice, uncredited)
* *Bad Dreams* (1988) as Ron the Pharmacist
* *Who Framed Roger Rabbit* (1988) as Roger Rabbit / Benny the Cab / Greasy / Psycho (voice)
* *Mickey's 60th Birthday* (1988) (live-action & voice) as Stagehand Charlie / Roger Rabbit (voice)
* *Tummy Trouble* (1989) as Roger Rabbit (voice)
* *Gross Anatomy* (1989)
* *Back to the Future Part II* (1989) as Terry
* *Dick Tracy* (1990) as Reporter
* *Roller Coaster Rabbit* (1990) as Roger Rabbit (voice)
* *Straight Talk* (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* (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* (1999) as Dr. Krickstein
* *Big Monster on Campus* (2000) as Mr. Stockton
* *Bel Air* (2000) as Gus
* *G-Men from Hell* (2000) as Martin / Pete
* *Buzz Lightyear of Star Command* (2000) as Monumentus (voice)
* *Disney's House of Mouse* (2001) as Benny the Cab (voice)
* *Balto II: Wolf Quest* (2002) as Boris (voice)
* *The Backlot Murders* (2002) as Henry
* *The 4th Tenor* (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* (2007) as Bob Vaughn
* *Funny People* (2009) as Himself
* *Chain Letter* (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"

## References

1. ↑ Dave Kehr (2011). "In a Corrupt World Where the Violent Bear It Away", *The New York Times*. Retrieved on February 10, 2019.
2. ↑ Janusonis, Michael (July 7, 1989). "It's Charles Fleischer, Alias Roger Rabbit", *Chicago Tribune*. Retrieved on February 10, 2019.
3. ↑ It's Charles Fleischer, Alias Roger Rabbit – *Chicago Tribune*
4. ↑ Janet Maslin (June 22, 1988). "New Laws of Gravity Twist Humor, Too, in 'Roger Rabbit'". *The New York Times*. https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/22/movies/review-film-new-laws-of-gravity-twist-humor-too-in-roger-rabbit.html.
5. ↑ Dave Nuttycombe (December 6, 2002). "Charles Fleischer", *Washington City Paper*. Retrieved on February 10, 2019.
6. ↑ "Charles Fleischer at the Laugh Factory Plus This & That". The Norm. January 13, 2019. https://vegas-to-you.com/TheNorm/charles-fleischer-at-the-laugh-factory-plus-this-that/. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
7. ↑ "As the Voice of Roger Rabbit, Stand-Up Comic Charlie Fleischer is Finally Whistling a Happy Toon". https://www.people.com/archive/as-the-voice-of-roger-rabbit-stand-up-comic-charlie-fleischer-is-finally-whistling-a-happy-toon-vol-30-no-4/amp/.
8. ↑ "As the Voice of Roger Rabbit, Stand-Up Comic Charlie Fleischer is Finally Whistling a Happy Toon". https://www.people.com/archive/as-the-voice-of-roger-rabbit-stand-up-comic-charlie-fleischer-is-finally-whistling-a-happy-toon-vol-30-no-4/amp/.

## External links

* Template:IMDb name
* Template:TED speaker
	+ "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

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