In Josh Flitter’s home, everyday is like a 1950’s sitcom. He spends his days hanging out with his two best pals, Ricky and Lucy. While the duo is not the same as TV’s incomparable I Love Lucy, Ricardo family, Flitter’s real-life Ricky and Lucy can certainly execute physical comedy with similar impeccable comedic timing. The truth is that the pair has learned everything they know from their young, funnyman father and best friend, who will soon star as the equally hilarious offspring of animal-loving Ace Ventura: Pet Detective in the new installment of the series, Ace Ventura 3.
Similar to his on screen role, Flitter is an avid animal lover. The first addition to his animal family was Richter (“Ricky” for short), a lethargic Beagle who was named after the legendary former New York Rangers goalie, Mike Richter. When the Flitters decided to add a new dog to the crowd, Flitter’s father, who was apprehensive about getting a second pet, had a suggestion for the name. Lucy was ?originally named “Lulu,” but he thought changing her name to Lucy seemed fit – to have Ricky and Lucy. Lucy is a Bichon-Poodle mix and even has some striking characteristics similar to Lucille Ball. “Lucy reminds me of Lucille Ball because she’s got all the curly hair and she’s always energetic,” Flitter told Animal Fair. Expect Lucy to get into just as much trouble as Ms. Ball did herself. When the family first got the young pup they had no idea she had an affinity for water. “We let her outside and all of the sudden my mom said ‘I think Lucy’s in the pool’ and we all got really scared. We thought she was going to drown or something. It was during the summer and it was really hot out and we ran outside and she was just swimming laps in the pool!”
As an actor, Flitter has worked with animals in the past but nothing compared to the creatures in Ace Ventura 3. Aside from his Dachshund co-star, Tyler, Flitter worked with a menagerie of other animals. “I worked with a toad, a hedgehog, this big giant Galapagos turtle, I got to ride a horse. I got to go in a cage with a ten foot, 300 pound alligator that growled at me, I didn’t really need to act scared at all!” While that may have frightened the daring actor, there was nothing worse than his giant tarantula co-star. “I do not like bugs… or whatever a tarantula is, a spider, a mutant spider, whatever … I don’t like them.”
When Flitter isn’t filming movies like Nancy Drew, Air Buddies, License to Wed and the upcoming Ace Ventura 3 and Horton Hears a Who (which ironically enough stars Jim Carrey as the voice of Horton), Flitter takes time to give back to the animal community by lending support to the North Shore Animal League. It is clear that helping animals will be a lifelong goal for this rising star.
– David Alex Andrejko