Ronnie Schell

Born in Richmond, California on December 23, 1931, and raised there, light comedian Ronnie Schell's first choice of careers was to play professional baseball. He got as far as the semis before enlisting in the United States Air Force, where he performed as an emcee and comic in variety shows. Ronnie studied at San Francisco State University and formed a nightclub comedy duo. He then turned solo and perfected his routine at the popular nightclub The Purple Onion. During his college senior year in 1958, he received a major boost when he toured as an opening act for the highly popular The Kingston Trio. This break led to the gradual rise of a family-oriented comedy career that earned him the eventual title of "America's Slowest-Rising Comedian." Down the road Ronnie would serve to open for several stars, including Andy Griffith and Don Knotts, on the Las Vegas strip, at Lake Tahoe casinos and other notable niteries. TV finally opened its doors to him in 1964 and an acting career was born when Ronnie won the regular role of Jim Nabors' Marine bunk mate "Duke Slater" on the highly popular comedy series Gomer Pyle: USMC (1964). Betwixt and between was a recurring role on That Girl (1966) playing Marlo Thomas' acting agent. He left the Gomer Pyle show after a few years when he was handed a series lead of his own as a disc jockey on the sitcom Good Morning World (1967) which co-starred pre-Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1967) ditz Goldie Hawn. Unfortunately, the show was canceled before it could make any kind of enduring star impact. Short, compact, extremely easy-going and quite likable in nature, Ronnie moved easily into featured roles for Disney including The Strongest Man in the World (1975), The Shaggy D.A. (1976), Gus (1976), The Cat from Outer Space (1978) and The Devil and Max Devlin (1981). Ronnie reunited with Nabors when he appeared as a regular on the singer's short-lived variety show, The Jim Nabors Hour (1968). He also moved into several decades worth of comedy guest spots on such shows as "The Patty Duke Show," "The Andy Griffith Show," "Love, American Style," "The New Dick Van Dyke Show," "Adam-12," "Happy Days," "Emergency!," "Sanford and Son," "The Dukes of Hazzard," "Charlie's Angels," "One Day at a Time," "Mork & Mindy," "Alice," "The Love Boat," "Madame's Place," "She's the Sheriff," "Mr. Belvedere," "Empty Nest," "Saved by the Bell," "227," "The Golden Girls," "Coach," "The Wayans Bros." and the daytime soaper "Santa Barbara." Ronnie's well-crafted skill as a voice artist has been extensively utilized on TV, radio, films and commercials. Working notably for Hanna-Barbera, his many TV animated programs have included Goober and the Ghost Chasers (1973), Yogi's Space Race (1978), Battle of the Planets (1978), Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels (1977), Shirt Tales (1982), Snorks (1984), The Flintstone Kids (1986), The Smurfs (1981), Midnight Patrol: Adventures in the Dream Zone (1990), Yo Yogi! (1991), Recess (1997) and The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (2001). As for stage work in later years, Schell was one of the stars of a 2007 touring cabaret show entitled, "5 Star Revue" and starred off-Broadway in the 2009 musical comedy revue "Don't Leave it All to Your Children!" He also continued to perform in comedy clubs throughout his career. As an octogenarian he was, at one point, the oldest regularly appearing comedian in Las Vegas and would hold another record as having worked the strip every year for over 50 plus straight years. Into the millennium, Ronnie found sporadic film work with featured roles in both comedies and dramas -- Family Jewels (2000), The Biggest Fan (2005), Soupernatural (2010) -- as well as TV episodes of "Yes, Dear," "Easy to Assemble," "Jessie," "You'll Be Fine," "See Ya" and "Kaplan's Korner." Long married with two children, Ronnie continues to live in the Los Angeles area where, for years, he served as the honorary mayor of Encino.