John Ratzenberger Joins ABC's Dancing With the Stars  3/3/07

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JOHN RATZENBERGER JOINS ABC'S "DANCING WITH THE STARS"

John Ratzenberger will make his ballroom dancing debut in the fourth season of "Dancing with the Stars," returning MARCH 19 (8:00-10:00 p.m. PT) to ABC. Following Vincent Pastore's withdrawal, Ratzenberger has nobly stepped in to take his place. Show producers had previously extended an invitation to him to participate this season, but a scheduling conflict prevented him from accepting until now. He takes on the added challenge of having less time to train than his fellow competitors before the series premieres - two weeks versus four.

Ratzenberger's most prominent recent work has been as host and producer of "John Ratzenberger's Made in America," and as author of the new book, We've Got It Made in America: A Common Man's Salute to An Uncommon Country. The beloved actor starred in the classic television series "Cheers" and in ABC's "8 Simple Rules." He is also the only actor to have voiced a role in all of Pixar's feature films, including "Finding Nemo," "The Incredibles," "Cars" and the upcoming "Ratatouille." Edyta Sliwinska, the only professional dancer to participate in all four seasons of "Dancing with the Stars," will be his partner.

"Dancing with the Stars" is the U.S. version of the international smash hit series, "Strictly Come Dancing." This version is produced in America by BBC Worldwide. Conrad Green and Richard Hopkins are executive producers and Izzie Pick is co-executive producer. Rob Wade and Matilda Zoltowski are supervising producers. Alex Rudzinski directs.

Source: ABC Press Release