Charlie Schlatter

Schlatter grew up in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, where he got his start in acting at the borough's Memorial Junior High School. He reportedly only auditioned for the school play Oliver! to impress a girl. He received the lead part of Oliver Twist.

Schlatter attended Ithaca College. He later earned a B.F.A. in musical theater. He starred in numerous school plays and became a skilled musician, playing guitar, drums and piano. He also began writing songs.Schlatter was spotted by a casting director during a performance in 1987 and was asked to audition for Bright Lights, Big City. This led to his first film appearance, as the younger brother of Michael J. Fox.

He starred in 1988's Heartbreak Hotel (directed by Chris Columbus) where his character kidnaps Elvis Presley in an effort to make his mother (Tuesday Weld) happy. His most highly acclaimed role was in the 1988 comedy 18 Again!. His 18-year-old character swaps body and mind with his 81-year-old grandfather, played by George Burns. His work in this film was described as "displaying enormous range and extraordinary skill as an actor in his comedic starring role,"

He also starred in Australian romance film The Delinquents (1989) opposite Kylie Minogue. In 1990, he was cast in the role of Ferris Bueller for NBC's sitcom Ferris Bueller alongside Jennifer Aniston, based on the John Hughes film Ferris Bueller's Day Off. In 1992, he co-starred in Sunset Heat with Michael Paré, Dennis Hopper and Adam Ant. In 1994, he appeared in Police Academy: Mission to Moscow as Cadet Kyle Connors.

In late 1995, Schlatter began his role as Dr. Jesse Travis on the television series Diagnosis: Murder, opposite Dick Van Dyke, who was impressed with his performance. His character was introduced as a comic relief character in the third season after Scott Baio's character moved to Colorado and never returned. He remained on the show for the next six seasons until the series was cancelled in 2001. During the series, he also wrote the episode "A Resting Place." After the series' ending, he and Van Dyke remain close friends, who continues to visit him, Schlatter's wife Colleen and their three children. He was also one of the participants at his acting mentor's 90th Birthday Party on December 13, 2015 at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. He said in a 2017 interview on Acast.com, if he is still friends with the then 91-year-old Van Dyke: "Yeah, I know! I probably owe him a call or he probably owes me a call ... I don't know! It's been a little while. No, he's the best!"

In early 2007, he appeared in the films Out at the Wedding and Resurrection Mary.

In 2014, he appeared as a guest star on the NCIS season 11 episode "Shooter," playing Lorne Davis. In 2015, he became the narrator for truTV's video clip series Top Funniest starting in the third season.