Robert Anthony Rist (April 4, 1964, Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA) is an American film, television and voice actor. He is known for playing Cousin Oliver in The Brady Bunch and Martin in Grady. Rist is also known for voicing assorted characters in television shows, games and movies, including Stuffy, the overly-proud stuffed dragon in Doc McStuffins, Whiz in Kidd Video, Star in Balto, Maroda in Final Fantasy X, Choji Akimichi in Naruto, and Michelangelo in the 1990 film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Additionally, he and director Anthony C. Ferrante provided music for the Sharknado film and the theme song for the Sharknado franchise. He played Ted Baxter's adopted son on the Mary Tyler Moore Show.
As a child, Rist played Cousin Oliver in the final six episodes of The Brady Bunch. With the regular children all getting older, his inclusion was intended to reintroduce a cute younger child to the series. However, the plan became moot as the network had opted to not renew the series before his debut. This gave rise to the term "Cousin Oliver Syndrome", also known as "add-a-kid". Oliver uttered the final line of the final episode: "Me! Cousin Oliver! / Gosh it was only a suggestion;" but the character and Rist were subsequently omitted from later original-cast revivals of the series.
After The Brady Bunch he co-starred in the Saturday morning comedy Big John, Little John as Little John. He portrayed Glendon Farrell on the David Hartman vehicle Lucas Tanner, Tommy in the series premiere for the short-lived CBS drama series Bronk, and Martin in the short-lived Sanford and Son spin-off Grady in 1975, and in 1976 and 1977 played Ted Baxter's son David on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, along with three episodes of The Bionic Woman. In 1980, Rist played "Dr. Zee" on Galactica 1980. He made four guest appearances on CHiPs and the short-lived CBS series Whiz Kids, and also played Booger in a failed Revenge of the Nerds TV pilot. In 1986, Rist had a notable supporting role as Milo in the action film, Iron Eagle which was a box-office hit despite being critically panned.
As an adult, Rist has worked as a voice actor, such as in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film series (as the voice of Michaelangelo); from 1984 to 1986, he starred in the Saturday morning cartoon Kidd Video, playing the character Whiz both in live-action music videos and animated sequences. He was the voice of Star, a mauve-and-cream Siberian Husky, in the animated 1995 Universal Studios film Balto, and to date, this is his first and only role in a full-length animated film. He was also the voice of Aaron in the PC game Star Warped. An episode of Batman: The Animated Series titled "Baby Doll" contained a character called Cousin Spunky that was intended to boost sagging ratings of the fictional Baby Doll sitcom, a clear reference to Cousin Oliver (Rist lent his voice to the episode, but did not play Cousin Spunky; his character was an adult).
Rist also voices characters Choji Akimichi from Naruto, and Bud Bison from Mega Man Star Force.
| Year | Image | Character | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-Present | 
|
Chōji Akimichi | Boruto: Naruto Next Generations |
| 2005-2009 | 
|
Choji Akimichi | Naruto |