He’s a KU alum: Meet the actor who plays life coach Dr. Rick in the Progressive ads
Students at the University of Kansas in the early 1990s couldn’t have known it at the time, but they had access to one of the great self-help gurus of their generation.
A fictional one, sure, but Dr. Rick has become an iconic figure some 30 years after Bill Glass attended KU.
Glass is the actor who portrays Dr. Rick, the “Parenta-Life” coach in the series of Progressive commercials that help young homeowners avoid becoming their parents. In a sea of insurance advertisements, Dr. Rick manages to have a fan base that laughs at the accuracy of the things he’s advising others to overcome in his seminars.
Although Glass said all his professors at KU were great, his inspiration for Dr. Rick comes from the university world.
“I approach the role more like the professor in college … teaching 15th century architecture who thinks he is changing the world with every lecture he gives,” said Glass, who was a journalism major.
“All my professors were cool, but I guess you could blanket it to every professor. Every professor thinks their lecture is super important. But if it’s outside of your interests, that professor, he or she may seem a little over enthusiastic or over serious about that subject like it’s going to change the world.”
There is a sense of self-importance to Dr. Rick, but that’s not his defining trait. That would his mustache. Glass said he dons the fake mustache, which he dubbed “The Beast,” for each commercial.
Glass said it takes about 30 minutes to apply. Without it, Glass is fairly anonymous. Despite the wide appeal of the commercials, he’s only been recognized as Dr. Rick by his optometrist.
“I’m just happy to have a job. I’m older, man,” Glass said. “I’m not trying to get famous at this point. I’m really just grateful and thankful that I have this gig, this fun gig and I get to have fun. I do get a kick out of that people are enjoying it. It’s really cool. But whether I get recognized or not?
“I’m more hopeful that I’m making people laugh or the campaign’s making people laugh. I know that sounds cheesy, but whether I’m on an improv stage or doing a commercial or a sitcom or whatever work I’m lucky enough to do, I just want to make people laugh.”
Mission accomplished with the Progressive commercials, which debuted in April 2020.
Multiple Dr. Rick commercials on YouTube have more than a million views and the comments are overwhelmingly positive.
The timing of the spots, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, helped with their popularity. At least that’s how Glass sees it.
“I have a theory as to why it resonated,” Glass said. “Because of the pandemic and all the advertising going very heavy, I think Progressive chose to put out this lighter fare, and I think maybe that’s why people paid attention to it at first. It was something different. And then people could relate to it. “
Improv background
Glass, 49, is thrilled with how things have turned out since he was living at Oliver Hall and working at the Yacht Club in Lawrence.
After KU, he found his calling in improvisational comedy in Illinois. A native of the suburb Arlington Heights, Glass started working with an improv company in Chicago. It was there that he met Kansas City, Kansas, native Eric Stonestreet, who went on to star in “Modern Family.”
It’s been a successful career for Glass. Starting with an episode of the Ted Danson sitcom “Becker” in 1999, Glass has found a steady stream of jobs on television. He also appeared in many TV shows, including “Justified,” “Dharma & Greg” and “The Middle.”
His work as Dr. Rick also earned him a spot on the Ed Helms sitcom “Rutherford Falls.” While talking with The Star, Glass was preparing to get a COVID-19 test ahead of work on a project he couldn’t divulge.
His work in improv continued in Los Angeles and helped Glass land the Dr. Rick role. He and others will sometimes write lines that find their way into the commercials.
“Great job, great scripts,” Glass said. “But they also hire a bunch of us improv people, so generally we cover the scripts and we get to take a run at it, like ‘what do you got’ and we’ll all throw stuff out there. We’re shooting so much so I don’t keep score as to what’s mine. And I’m not worried about it.
“It’s just that they trust us to play around, so that’s cool. We all get to play a little bit.”
He still has fond memories of his time in Lawrence.
While Dr. Rick might caution against talking too much about favorite memories, Glass vividly remembers where he was on Feb. 13, 1990. On that day, the KU basketball team played rival Missouri.
“Allen Fieldhouse, it’s like the church of basketball, and when I was there, Missouri and KU would rotate one and two (in the national rankings),” Glass recalled.
“Saying ‘Rock Chalk’ in Allen Fieldhouse. You get to do that, and you can just feel that in that arena, and to get to watch a game one versus two. I’ve gotten to see (Michael) Jordan play in Chicago Stadium. I’ve gotten to go to Wrigley Field. I’m going to say it. I think Allen Fieldhouse could be No. 1 on my list — and I’ve gotten to go to a Super Bowl — and Allen Fieldhouse might be No. 1 on my sports experience list.”
This story was originally published June 22, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
