Millie. Off-Broadway, She Starred in a Coupla' White Chicks Sittin Around
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‘OUR FIRST CHRISTMAS’ CAST BIOS DIXIE CARTER (Evie Baer) – Emmy ®-nominated actress Dixie Carter is one of America’s most beloved entertainers. A proud daughter of Tennessee, Carter has arguably created some of the most memorable strong Southern female characters in television history. Her celebrated portrayal of the daring design darling Julia Sugarbaker on the long-running hit series “Designing Women” made her instantly recognizable. The series also allowed the producers to showcase her formidable vocal talents, a gift she continues to share with her fans through sold-out concerts across the country. Carter has starred in no less than six television series, most recently as attorney Randi King on CBS’s “Family Law.” She is also a frequent guest-star on television’s most popular shows. In 2007, Carter received an Emmy ® Award nomination for her guest-starring role as Gloria Hodge on ABC’s “Desperate Housewives.” Carter is no stranger to the Great White Way, first gracing the Broadway stage in Sextet in 1974, followed by Pal Joey in 1976. More recent Broadway turns include her triumphant Maria Callas in Terrence McNally’s Master Class , for which she earned stellar reviews and consistently garnered standing ovations. Carter returned to Broadway to smashing success in 2004 as corrupt, funny landlady Mrs. Meers in the Tony Award-winning musical Thoroughly Modern Millie . Off-Broadway, she starred in A Coupla’ White Chicks Sittin Around Talkin’ and at the New York Public Theatre in Taken in Marriage, Fathers and Sons (Drama Desk Award) and Jesse and the Bandit Queen , for which she won a Theatre World Award. Carter is the producer of two fitness videos for MCA/Universal, “Dixie Carter's Unworkout,” a platinum release, and “Yoga for You.” She is also the author of Trying to Get to Heaven, which was published by Simon Schuster. Carter lives in Los Angeles with her husband, actor Hal Holbrook. ### JOHN RATZENBERGER (Joe Neil) – Born in Bridgeport, CT, master improvisational actor John Ratzenberger gained international fame as the character Cliff in the NBC phenomenon “Cheers.” During more than three decades of movie making and theater, Ratzenberger has enjoyed success as a screenwriter, director, producer and multi Emmy ®-nominated actor. He is also an accomplished entrepreneur and philanthropist. Ratzenberger’s career began in earnest in the early 1970s, when he formed the improvisational theater duo “Sal’s Meat Market.” In between his theater touring in Europe, Ratzenberger was a producer and screenwriter for several European TV and theater organizations. (more) HALLMARK CHANNEL/ ‘OUR FIRST CHRISTMAS’ – Cast Bios – Page 2 Ratzenberger’s first motion picture role was in the Golden Globe-nominated film “The Ritz,” and he went on to appear in more than 22 movies over the next few years, including “Gandhi” and Star Wars’ “The Empire Strikes Back .” In all, Ratzenberger has acted in close to 40 movies, including “Superman 1” and “Superman 2,” “One Night Stand,” “Tick Tock,” “That Darn Cat,” “She’s Having a Baby,” “Outland,” “Yanks” and “A Bridge Too Far.” In 1982 Ratzenberger accepted a writing assignment for CBS in Los Angeles. On the day he was scheduled to return to London, he auditioned for a role on the upcoming “Cheers.” Thus was born the lovable postman and trivia king, Cliff Clavin—American icon. He has portrayed Cliff in eight NBC TV specials (1986-2002), as well as in shows such as “Fraiser,” “The Simpsons,” “Blossom,” “Wings,” “The Tortellis” and “St. Elsewhere.” As a vocal talent, Ratzenberger is the only actor to voice a role in all of the Pixar films. Pixar artists always find a way to include Ratzenberger’s recognizable eyebrows and mustache. As Pixar’s creative head John Lasseter once said, “John is our good luck charm.” Ratzenberger has acted in many TV movies, including “The Pennsylvania Miners’ Story,” AMC’s “Remember Wenn,” NBC's “How I Spent My Summer,” “Going to the Chapel” and “Combat Academy,” Largo Entertainment’s “Under Pressure” and CBS’s “Timestalkers.” Ratzenberger continues to direct, produce and write. He currently heads his own production company, Fiddlers Bay Productions, located in Los Angeles. He has directed more than 50 TV episodes, including several on “Cheers,” “Down Home,” “Madman of the People,” “Pearl,” and “Sister, Sister.” He also directed single episodes of MTM’s “Evening Shade” and Warner Brother’s “Sydney.” He has recently started the Nuts, Bolts and Thingamajigs Foundation. Ratzenberger is committed to inspiring the next generation to the pleasures of ‘tinkering’ – getting away from their video games and TV sets and into the backyard building things. His tag line has become “Little hands build big dreams. Give children tools and watch them build America.” Ratzenberger is an outspoken advocate for American-made products and the companies that keep Americans working, and hosted the series “Made in America” from 2004-2005. In the fall of 2007, John embarked on a yearlong commitment with the Association for American Manufacturing and U.S. Steelworkers to create a Presidential Town Hall Tour. During his free time, Ratzenberger is an avid sailor, fisherman, and billiard player. He enjoys international travel, fencing and collecting antiques. He plays the drums and belongs to a bagpipe band as part of the Emerald Society. Sports such as karate, yoga and skeet shooting keep him active. He has one son and one daughter and lives outside of Los Angeles, but he spends as much time as possible on his boat, cruising up and down the East coast. ### (more) HALLMARK CHANNEL/ ‘OUR FIRST CHRISTMAS’ – Cast Bios – Page 3 JULIE WARNER (Cindy Baer-Neil) – Born and raised in New York City, Julie Warner began acting during her high school and college summers—completing The Circle in the Square acting program, The Juilliard Program in Chautaqua, NY, as well as studying with Nancy Donohue at HB Studios and Bill Esper. While attending Brown University, where she graduated with a B.A. in Theater Arts, Warner performed and directed more than 30 plays. Rather than return to New York to live with her parents or attend graduate school, Warner made the move to Hollywood. Upon finding brilliant acting teacher Roy London, she began to work steadily in television, landing guest star roles and movies of the week. Warner produced her first film in 2005—the documentary “Special Thanks to Roy London,” an homage to London, directed by Christopher Monger. Warner’s big break came with her first feature film “Doc Hollywood,” directed by Michael Caton- Jones, in which she starred opposite Michael J. Fox. Additional film credits include Billy Crystal’s “Mr. Saturday Night,” Mike Binder’s “Indian Summer,” “The Puppet Masters,” with Donald Sutherland, Pete Segal’s “Tommy Boy” and “Stick It” with Jeff Bridges. She will next appear in the independent film, “Forever Strong” with Sean Astin and Neal McDonough. Warner has worked steadily in television with lead roles in Marc Lawrence’s "Pride and Joy” for NBC and Paul Haggis’ "Family Law" for CBS. She made her directorial debut with an episode of “Family Law” in the third and final season of the show. More recently, Warner starred on Bravo’s comedy “Hidden Howie” opposite Howie Mandel, as well as Ryan Murphy’s “Nip/Tuck” for FX as “Megan O’Hara,” Dylan Walsh’s breast cancer patient-turned-love interest. Warner resides in Los Angeles. ### STEVEN ECKHOLDT (Tom Baer-Neil) – Born and raised in Southern California, Steven Eckholdt has only begun to make his mark in the entertainment industry. At the suggestion of a friend, he started in commercials. From there, he took classes, was signed by an agent, and decided to pursue acting rather than return to college. Eckholdt started his Hollywood career in the mid-1980s. Before long, he was acting for all the major TV networks. In 1988, he played Forndexter in ABC’s made-for-TV film “14 Going on 30.” That same year, he appeared in the five-time Emmy ®-nominated TV movie “The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story.” His other TV movie credits include CBS’s “Go Toward the Light,” “The Bakery,” “Family Blessings” and “And Never Let Her Go.” Eckholdt is a seasoned small-screen actor, having appeared in such award-winning TV series as ABC’s “Life Goes On,” Fox’s “Melrose Place” and NBC’s “L.A. Law.” He played Robbie Graham in ABC’s series “It’s Like, You Know…,” which was nominated by the Television Critics (more) HALLMARK CHANNEL/ ‘OUR FIRST CHRISTMAS’ – Cast Bios – Page 4 Association for the New Program of the Year award in 1999, and Thomas Miller in CBS’s Emmy ® nominated series “My Big Fat Greek Life.” Fans of the famous NBC comedy “Friends” will also recognize Eckholdt as Mark Robinson, who Ross ends up hating. More recently, Eckholdt has appeared in TV series such as NBC’s Emmy ® and Golden Globe-winning series “The West Wing” and Showtime’s “The L Word.” Eckholdt made his film debut with “About Last Night…” (1986), starring Demi Moore and Jim Belushi. That same year, he appeared with Charlie Sheen in “The Wraith.” By 2000, Eckholdt had added six films to his résumé, including supporting roles in “The Runnin’ Kind” (1989) and a lead role in “Just in Time” (1997). He also appeared in the 1999 romantic film “Message in a Bottle,” starring Kevin Costner and Paul Newman. He acted in the 1998 short “Making Sandwiches,” starring with Sandra Bullock and Matthew McConaughey, as well as the 2000 short “Leaving Drew,” which Eckholdt also produced. When he’s able to take a break from the whirl of life as an actor, Eckholdt is an outdoorsman at heart. Whether it’s skiing, mountain biking, surfing or backpacking, he has done it all.