Clifford C. Clavin, Jr. is a character

Character

- Art and entertainment :* Character , an agent in a work of art, including literature, drama, cinema, opera, etc.* Character , a 1997 Dutch film, based on the novel by Dutch author Ferdinand Bordewijk* Character , by Dark Tranquillity...

 on the American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 show Cheers

Cheers

Cheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television for NBC, and was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles...

, co-created and portrayed by John Ratzenberger

John Ratzenberger

John Deszo Ratzenberger is an American actor, voice actor, and entrepreneur. He is best known for his role as Cliff Clavin in Cheers.-Early life:...

.
The character was co-created by Ratzenberger, who had earlier auditioned for the Norm Peterson

Norm Peterson

Hillary Norman "Norm" Peterson is a character on the American television show Cheers, portrayed by George Wendt. Norm's real first name was revealed to be Hillary, named after his grandfather....

 role

Role

A role or a social role is a set of connected behaviours, rights and obligations as conceptualised by actors in a social situation. It is an expected or free or continuously changing behaviour and may have a given individual social status or social position...

. The producers let him know that he had impressed them, but that he did not really click as Norm. Ratzenberger responded by pointing out that what the ensemble did not have was a "bar

Bar (establishment)

A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...

 know-it-all

Know-it-all

A know-it-all or know-all is a person who believes that he/she has an accurate comprehension of a topic and/or situation when in reality, his/her comprehension is inaccurate and limited. This belief may or may not be outwardly expressed. The German word Besserwisser is also used in some languages,...

". They asked Ratzenberger for an example, he improvised some dialogue

Dialogue

Dialogue is a literary and theatrical form consisting of a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people....

 for the know-it-all, and he was invited to play the role for a two-show tryout; he remained a regular throughout the show's eleven-year run.