An eminent American actor and a great film director Ricky Bartlett Schroder, Jr. is started his Hollywood career at a very tender age.

Personal life

Born on April 13th 1970, in Brooklyn, New York, Ricky spent his childhood on Staten Island. Schroder was born to the former employees of AT&T Richard Bartlett Schroder and Diane. He was nurtured along with his sister, Dawn. He was very good looking and highly adored by her mother. His mother took him to various photo shoots as a child. He acted in around 60 advertisements by the time he was 6. He never took any acting lessons in his entire life.

Career

THE CHAMP (1979) was his first film as a child actor. Ricky won a Golden Globe award for the best male debut star in 1980. He dropped out from school in the third grade and moved to Los Angeles to focus on his career. His parents supported him wholeheartedly. He continued his hard work and earned a lot of praise among his fans and critics alike.

He worked in THE LAST FLIGHT of NOAH’S ARK and LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY alongside great actresses of his times. Schroeder earned two Young Artist Awards for his role as Ricky Stratton in the television series SILVER SPOONS and was highly appreciated. He then starred in a drama TOO YOUNG THE HERO which was based on a true story. VH1’s Greatest Kid Stars list and Greatest Teen Stars list ranked him 18 and 33 respectively.

Schroder was a well-established actor by then. He met Andrea Bernard during his shooting in Canada in 1991. He fell head over heels in love with her. They married on September 26th 1992. They have 4 children Holden, Cambridge, Luke and Faith. Andrea is an independent and a professional lady. She works as an interior designer and contested for Top Design on Bravo. Andrea is a real estate developer. She is in good terms with the Hallmark Channel’s Home and family. She also owns a candle company through Hallmark distribution. The couple lived together for 24 years before they got divorced before their 24th anniversary on September 13th 2016.

 Ricky became famous for playboyish looking teenager roles but he wanted to be known as a more mature actor. He dropped ‘y’ from his name.He became recognised for his mature role in the crime drama series LONESOME DOVE and its sequel Return to Lonesome Dove. While Ricky resumed his studies at Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colorado, he worked as Danny Sorensen in the three seasons of NYPD BLUE, as Dr Dylan West on strong medicine. Schroeder also played the role of Mike Doyle in 2007 season of 24.

He was a multitalented artist. He directed THE BLACK CLOUD in 2004 which was written by him. He won the award for the Best music video for his video ‘ Whiskey Lullaby’ at the 2005 Nashville Film Festival and Collaborative Video of the year award at 2005 CMT music awards. Schroder garnered the award for Director of the year in 2005. Ricky again changed his name from Rick to Ricky.

Ricky directed a horror film HELLHOUNDS in 2009. Thereafter, he took a break from the entertainment world and moved to Spain with his family. After spending almost a year in Spain, he restarted in January 2011 episode of ABC’s No Ordinary Family. He started his production company in 2013 and produced some of the great tv series, Starting Strong, and The Fighting Season.

The director launched his daughter Cambrie in the movie Our Wild Hearts. He produced this movie for the Hallmark channel. Apart from being a great actor, producer and director, he is a very down to earth human being. He supports several charity programmes. Ricky works actively to raise money for children’s health care. He supports Racing for Kids and is an active member of National Rifle Association. A child abuse and treatment organisation Childhelp made Schroder and his wife ‘ Advocacy Ambassadors ‘. The director works in collaboration with Paul Mitchell schools and supports Cadet youth academy.