Ricky Schroder is an American actor whose career started long before other people of his generation could even begin attending classes. Being born as Richard Bartlett Schroder in Brooklyn, New York, on April 13, 1970, he turned out to become an exceptionally successful child actor of the 1980s, but managed to prove in the future that he could perform in dramatic roles, adult Westerns, cop series, and behind the camera. Thus, there is hardly anybody among modern viewers who will not connect Schroder with his extraordinary versatile career path.

Early fame

The very start of Schroder's career path predetermined the further development. Indeed, having gained great success with his 1979 film The Champ as a young actor able to convey a number of emotions and feelings in his acting style, the actor laid a good basis for becoming recognized by a wide audience. This is exactly why Ricky Schroder is considered to be one of the few child stars who did not limit their activities to childhood projects, but managed to develop their work over time.

The next role for Ricky Schroder, which became a landmark, was in Silver Spoons. This popular television series, which made him a real hit, starred the talented young actor and presented him as Ricky Stratton – a kid of a rich dad. This role became a breakthrough in the actor's career as it appeared right when kids usually fade away. Thus, having achieved success in television, the actor proved that he could play leading parts.

Among the best-known works by Ricky Schroder:

  • the film The Champ (1979)
  • the sitcom Silver Spoons (1982)
  • the miniseries Lonesome Dove (1989)
  • NYPD Blue (the police drama)
  • Black Cloud (film written and directed by Ricky Schroder)

This early attention predetermined many things as for Schroder's further activity in the acting profession. Having achieved success when most kids are just playing in movies, the talented young actor got much practice from work in many important projects and could act with the participation of experienced adult actors. For any young artist this was the best basis for making his further career successful, not only from the viewpoint of recognition but also as regards skills.

Adult roles

For any child actor, the transition to adult roles is the biggest difficulty in their career. However, the way Schroder managed this problem predetermined the future development of his career path. The example when the actor showed that he could act not only in children's comedies, but also in dramatic movies, is his performance in the 1989 miniseries Lonesome Dove based on the novel by the writer Larry McMurtry. In this project, Schroder played the role of Newt Dobbs in the large group where each character had his or her longing, loyalty, and complicated emotions. The importance of this role was evident in that it showed that this boy could act successfully even in a project that demands great acting qualities.

Afterwards, the actor got a second very important role in the drama series NYPD Blue as detective Danny Sorenson whose intelligence, nervousness, and psychological complexity of character fit completely the atmosphere of the cop drama full of moral complications. Such series was quite successful from the point of view of acting, which allowed the actor to reposition himself as adult television performer. This role showed perfectly for all those who knew the actor as a child-star that the boy grew older and became able to play complicated roles under a lot of pressure.

Between the mentioned roles and after them, Schroder kept being occupied with television films and dramas where the elements of family conflicts, suspense, and complicated plot development were dominant. Such versatility in projects allowed Ricky Schroder to overcome successfully the problematic period when a large number of child stars faced difficulties to get appropriate parts for adult performances.

Behind the camera

One more feature distinguishing Ricky Schroder is the fact that unlike many similar actors he did not limit his creativity with work in front of the camera. Thus, the movie which is the most evident manifestation of the interest of Schroder in directing and screenplay writing is the 2004 film Black Cloud. The story of the boxer who comes from a Native American community is the evident confirmation of the willingness of the artist to accept the project which is set in some specific culture and has quite complex emotions as its core.

The choice to become the scriptwriter and director is not surprising considering all the aspects of Schroder's professional life. Indeed, in all the projects chosen by the actor, some elements of dramaticity, pressure, and tension were typical. Such choice of materials determined completely the picture of the actor created by him.

Considering all this information about the career of the artist, the main conclusion which may be made is the following one: Ricky Schroder turned out to be one of the exceptional representatives of the genre of child actors, because the initial bright attention of his childhood became only the beginning of his great versatile professional career which developed in spite of his successful early fame.