Ex-child star Cedric from "The Little Lord": What is Ricky Schroder doing today?
He was "The Little Lord": Every year, Ricky Schroder enchants television audiences in BBC novel adaptations during the Christmas season. But what happened to the former child star?
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- No Christmas without "The Little Lord": the BBC novel adaptation has been on TV during the festive season since 1982.
- What makes the movie so popular? Firstly, of course, the heart-warming story about "love thy neighbor".
- The actor playing Cedric, the American Richard "Ricky" Schroder, was ten years old when the film made him a child star.
- Schroder has remained loyal to the film business to this day. However, he was never able to repeat the success of his role as the aristocratic scion.
He made his film debut in Franco Zeffirelli's boxing drama alongside Jon Voight and Faye Dunaway, having previously appeared in numerous commercials.
In the same year, he then played the leading role for which he is still best known - at least in Switzerland - today: as Cedric, who wins the love of his hard-hearted grandfather in "The Little Lord", he is a regular guest on the television Christmas program every year.
Schroder also later managed to build a career beyond being a cute, blonde child star, but for some years now there have been no offers of roles. Probably also because the 55-year-old has recently only made headlines as an opponent of masks and a conspiracy theorist.
Respectable successes as an actor and director
Admittedly: The young high-flyer did not have a great Hollywood career. However, after "The Little Lord", Ricky Schroder played one of the leading roles in the sitcom "Silver Spoons" (1982 to 1986) and went on to appear in numerous TV films as a young adult.
In 1995, he even landed a small role in the star-studded submarine action film "Crimson Tide".
However, the police series "NYPD Blue", in which he starred from 1998 to 2001, and a guest role in the sixth season of the real-time action series "24" are the most notable entries in his filmography to date.
Like many of his colleagues, Schroeder also tried his hand behind the camera - and was able to celebrate some respectable successes: his debut "Black Cloud", for which he also wrote the screenplay, received favorable reviews.
For the country music video "Whiskey Lullaby", he even won Best Director at the prestigious CMT Music Awards in 2005. Since 2013, he has also made a name for himself with his own production company with various war documentaries.
Arriving on the far right fringe
His last role in front of the camera was in the TV film "Dolly Parton's Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love" (2016), and most recently the father of four made rather negative headlines: in 2019 he was arrested twice on suspicion of domestic violence.
His generous donation to the two-million-dollar bail of Kyle Rittenhouse, who shot two people during the protests in Kenosha - allegedly in self-defense - and was recently acquitted, attracted a great deal of attention.
Schroder welcomed the verdict accordingly: "May justice prevail," he posted on Facebook.
Schroder has never made a secret of the fact that he is an avowed Republican. During the coronavirus pandemic, however, he obviously moved further to the right:
In 2021, he uploaded a video to social media in which he attacked a supermarket employee when the employee reminded him of the mask requirement. On social media, he is also spreading popular conspiracy theories that see the pandemic as just a 'trial run' for 'population reduction'.
New love for the "little lord"
In 2016, after almost 25 years of marriage, Ricky Schroder separated from his wife Andrea, with whom he has four children.
He is now spoken for again: Schroder has been married to his fellow actress Julie Trammel since August 2025, and the two tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in Mexico.
They met through a mutual friend, the couple told the US magazine "People". They were simply "grateful" to have found each other: "You never know what the future holds ... For us, it was love."
