a character on the
American Television show ''
Cheers '', portrayed by
John Ratzenberger . Cliff was a
Postal worker and
Norm Peterson 's best friend. He lived with his mother, Esther Clavin (
Frances Sternhagen ) in a two-story house, where Cliff spent his childhood. It was bulldozed after Esther sold her property and moved with her newfound nestegg to Florida. Cliff then moved into a small apartment of his own, in which the
Couch doubled as a bed.
A chatter-box by nature, Cliff was well known as a storehouse of useless
Trivia , often of dubious veracity and bearing little relation to the conversation being had around the
Bar .
Carla did not like Cliff and often insulted him or his opinions (Carla's hatred ran so deep that in the
Frasier epsiode ''Cheerful Goodbyes'' Carla has to be dragged out of Cliff's retirement party after she finds out he isn't leaving, and has to have a diver's
Spear Gun wrestled from her hands). Cliff took great pride in his job as a postal worker and often became agitated when people insulted his job or the
U.S. Postal Service . Cliff's father made a brief appearance on ''Cheers'' before fleeing the country to Australia to avoid prison for fraud.
Socially awkward and generally ignored by women, Cliff didn't have any real relationship (or, for that matter, any sexual experience) until meeting fellow oddball postal worker Margaret O'Keefe (
Annie Golden ) in the seventh season. When she was reprimanded for using a postal vehicle to drive to a secret tryst, Margaret decided she shamed the postal service so much that she resigned her post and went to work in
Canada . She returned in the eighth season and wanted Cliff to commit to her, which he did, although he had a fit of "hysterical blindness" before feeling fully comfortable with the arrangement.
The character was created for Ratzenberger, who had earlier auditioned for the Norm Peterson role. The producers let him know that he had impressed them, but that he didn't really click as Norm. Ratzenberger responded by pointing out that what the ensemble didn't have was a "bar ,'' when he decided to leave
Boston for
Florida only to change his mind, much to the annoyance of Carla. Ratzenberger also appeared as Cliff in a series of
New Zealand Post advertisements in the 1990s, each featuring a different service of the postal administration.
The Loren & Wally Show of
WROR occasionally impersonates him, calling him simply "Cliffy The Mailman."
Cliff was a contestant on ''
Jeopardy! '' in the ''Cheers'' episode
"What Is… Cliff Clavin?" , but lost after betting all his money on his Final Jeopardy question of "Who are three people who have never been in my kitchen?" Cliff was actually winning by enough that had he made a small wager he would have been guaranteed a win.
Alex Trebek has jokingly referred to this situation (making a risky Final Jeopardy bet with a dominating lead) several times in the actual show as "pull
a Cliff Clavin." This episode has been voted one of the top ten favorite episodes of TV.com members.(as of March
2006 ) [http://www.tv.com/cheers/show/66/top.html TV.com list of user voted favorite episodes
