Charlie Frattini
Charlie Frattini knows construction. In fact, he will tell you he knows construction better than all of reality-TV’s "pretty boy" Hosts and project managers combined, and he’s willing to challenge anyone who disagrees. He’s all in your face, tough as nails, and, as TV viewers know, he wears his heart on his sleeve. Charlie’s the one who puts "extreme" in Sell This House Extreme.
A native of the tough Canarsie section of Brooklyn, New York, Charlie graduated from Brooklyn Tech and was enrolled in the prestigious Polytechnic Institute in his home borough when, overnight in 1979, 52 U.S. citizens were taken hostage at the American Embassy in Iran. Charlie immediately enrolled in the Marine Corps at Parris Island, South Carolina, where he says the training "cemented" the changes that were evolving in his personality – learning to protect himself, and to control fear.
Trained as a jungle expert in Panama and the Philippines, he served in Cuba, Panama, Philippines, Okinawa, mainland Japan, and various bases throughout the United States. Meritorious rank promotions saw him move from Infantryman to Intelligence Specialist to STANO Platoon Sergeant, and Drug and Alcohol Officer, receiving the prestigious title of Honor Man in Boot Camp and earning the meritorious ranks of PFC and Sgt.
Charlie's Host Reel
Charlie’s drive, intelligence – and loud Brooklyn mouth (partly due to hearing loss brought on by Marine training as well as construction work) – moved him along quickly. Though he had to learn a new set of guidelines, nomenclature and procedures, he watched, listened, studied his college texts, asked questions, and, above all, followed his Dad’s Marine Corps advice – eventually becoming a Project Executive on major building projects in New York City, including the Sky View Parc Project, a 3.3 million square foot project budgeted at $1.1 billion. Charlie had to inspire, upbraid and control hundreds of workers, facing down guidelines with talented, hand-picked supervisors and team leaders.
When a friend of Charlie’s learned that Discovery Channel was searching for a character for its Construction Intervention series, a video made on-site at the Sky View Parc project sealed the deal. Though the series was eventually cancelled, Charlie caught the reality TV bug and was eventually signed by A&E for Sell This House Extreme.
For Charlie Frattini, who lived through the horrors of 9/11 in New York (and was cited for his contributions but is not comfortable talking about them), there is a joy in being Mr. Extreme – one who can bellow, show off, clown around, laugh, tear down walls, and "help fellow Americans sell their homes and move on to the next phase in their lives."
2014 proves to be another exciting year for Charlie Frattini as he starts the year in a new HLN series called Home Owners Justice. This series will test Charlie's patience as he brings contractors, who have disappointed home owners with shoddy work, to task. Also airing in Dec. 2014 is Charlie’s episode of Discovery’s highest rated show Naked and Afraid where Charlie shows the home viewer how to stay alive in the jungle for 21 days with nothing but the companionship of another survivalist, not even their clothes!!
