2012 flashback: John Ratzenberger (’Cheers’) comes to town to guest in ‘Drop Dead Diva’

But that hasn’t stopped Ratzbenberger from imagining Clavin’s life the past two decades.

“I bet in the early days of the Internet, Cliff would have started a website askcliff,” Ratzenberger said during a phone interview last month. “You ask him any question, he’ll answer it. A one-man Google!” he imagines. “He made hundreds of millions of dollars. Then he blew it on some stupid investment. Designer toasters maybe.”

Ratzenberger still gets requests for acting gigs and pops up on TV screens on occasion. Earlier this year, he visited Peachtree City to play a guest role on Lifetime’s ‘Drop Dead Diva” as Kim Kaswell’s father. The episode airs Sunday at 9 p.m. He plays a janitor laid off by a corporate titan who had ripped off the company and forced them to kill the company pensions. When Ratzenberger’s character was hired to clean said titan’s home, he decided to squat. His rationale? He was ripped off so this is payback, people!

Kim, an attorney, has to help get her dad out of this pickle.

When not acting, Ratzenberger, with Mobile Outreach Skills Training, is working to train returning veterans and get them jobs. ("The only reason we have our freedoms is the armed forces. It's that simple.") He is also focusing on building vocational training. "If we don't reverse it, we can become a Third World country. The average age of someone who can make things, fix things is about 57 years old. We're heading for a crisis."

Ratzenberger, 65, can fix things. “I can build a house and everything in it,” he said. “I was a carpenter before I became an actor.”

He got into acting as a fluke while doing carpentry work at a theater in London. “I was watching a rehearsal. They were horrible. The fellow who ran the theater, I told him, ‘These people get paid for this?’ He said, yes, they tour all over Europe. I was young, probably 21-22, single guy. That sounds great! That’s how I got into it!”

Acting, he said, is hardly a job compared to hands-on work. “When I was framing a house outdoors, I faced blizzards, searing heat. That’s work. What I do now is not work. You can’t have more fun legally. Imagine sitting at a bar for 11 years and crack jokes. What’s better than that? I get to travel. I work with great people, make new friends, have new adventures.”

Ratzenberger has Grant Tinker to thank for his fortunes. Tinker was the NBC executive who kept "Cheers" on air even after it finished at the bottom of the heap season one in 1982-83. "Everyone told him to cancel it," he said. "He said it made him laugh so he kept it on another season. We went on to win Emmys and that kept us going."

I asked if he gets decent residuals from repeat airings of "Cheers." (The show can still be seen on Hallmark, USA and Reelz.) He deflected with a joke. "Do you need a couple of bucks? Let me get your address!"

He is also doing just fine financially thanks to Pixar. He has provided a voice in every single Pixar film. His most famous is Hammy from the “Toy Story” films. His next Pixar film is “Brave,” out June 22.

Sadly, Ratzenberger has not heard about a 30th anniversary celebration of the launch of “Cheers.” “It’s a headscratcher to me,” he said.

TV preview

“Drop Dead Diva”

9 p.m. Sundays, Lifetime

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