80's TV: Whatever Happened to Ricky Schroder?

Ricky Schroeder was an adorable little blonde haired kid, with gorgeous blue eyes, and a killer smile. He had all of the right looks that could land him in a prime Hollywood position, and that is exactly what happened. In 1982, the talented, and cute actor landed the role of Rick Stratton, spoiled little rich kid on the 80s TV comedy, Silver Spoons.

Since that time, Ricky Schroder has kept himself active enough in Hollywood to still remain relevant, and he now prefers to go by "Rick" Schroder. Besides a successful stint on the long running police drama, NYPD Blue, he has guest starred in more than fifty television projects - but whatever became of the rest of the cast of Silver Spoons?

Joel Higgins (Edward)

Joel Higgins played Edward Stratton, Ricky's father. By the time Joel came to Silver Spoons, he had already been a somewhat familiar face to 70s and 80s TV audiences by way of two failed TV shows, Salvage 1, and Best of the West. After Silver Spoons ended in 1987, he puttered around on a couple of TV guest spots, he had a memorable two-part episode appearance on the smash hit, ABC TV comedy, Home Improvement, alongside Tim Allen and Patricia Richardson; there, he played a doctor who removes Jill's ovaries (Patricia Richardson). After 2003, Joel Higgins vanished from acting, and he has not been on the Hollywood radar since that time.

Erin Gray (Kate)

The role of Kate, Edward's girlfriend was played by Erin Gray. Gray was already a familiar face among 80s TV viewers, because we knew her well as Captain Wilma Deering from both Buck Rogers in the 25^th Century television and film adaptations during the late 1970s. After Silver Spoons ended, she continued to stay in front of cameras with guest starring roles in many popular television shows of the day. She had a relatively extensive run on Baywatch in the late 1990s, and today (early 2011), Erin Gray currently has three pre-production television projects in the works.

Franklyn Seales (Dexter Stuffins)

Dexter was Edward's business manager, and he was as stiff and stuffy as his last name suggested. In real life, Franklin Seals was a handsome black actor who was talented enough to win a scholarship to Julliard (drama). Seals would go on to complete just two more TV projects. Sadly enough, Franklyn Seals gained much of his Hollywood attention due to his untimely death - he succumbed to AIDS on May 14^th, 1990.

Alfonso Ribeiro (Alfonso)

Alfonso Ribeiro won the role of Ricky's best friend Alfonso in 1984, that same year, he got to dance with Michael Jackson on the famous Pepsi Commercial. Since that time, most people will easily recognize Ribeiro as Carlton Banks, the Tom Jones loving, snobbish cousin of Will Smith's character in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Even after the Fresh Prince ended, Ribeiro had another long and successful stint on yet another black comedy, In the House. Today in early 2011, Alfonso Ribeiro is keeping himself busy on the Ice Cube produced TV comedy series, Are We There Yet? Clearly, Alfonso's Hollywood career is the most successful of the Silver Spoons bunch.