John Ritter (September 17, 1948 – September 11, 2003) was an American actor.
He was born Jonathan Southworth Ritter in Burbank, California, the son of Country singer/actor Tex Ritter and former actress Dorothy Fay.
Ritter attended Hollywood High School , where he was Student Body President. He went on to the University of Southern California, where he majored in psychology and minored in architecture.
After two years, he was persuaded to join a drama class given by leading drama coach and actress, Nina Foch . Ritter soon changed his major to Theater Arts, graduating in 1971 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in drama. Under Nina Foch, he studied acting with Stella Adler and the Harvey Lembeck Comedy Workshop .
Ritter went on to star in several stage performances before he was made a star by appearing in the hit TV series Three's Company in 1977, playing a single ladies man and culinary student, Jack Tripper, who lived with two female roommates. In 1978, he played Ringo Starr's manager on the television special Ringo.
After Three's Company, he appeared in a number of movies, notably Problem Child, Academy Award winning Sling Blade and Noises Off.
He starred in many made-for-TV movies and made guest appearances on shows such as Ally McBeal and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He also provided the voice for Clifford in the animated children's show Clifford the Big Red Dog , a role for which he received two Emmy nominations.
Ritter had two wives, actress Nancy Morgan (married 1977-divorced 1996) and actress Amy Yasbeck (married 1999-his death 2003).
He and Morgan had three children, Carly Ritter, Tyler Ritter and Jason Ritter. He and Yasbeck had one daughter, Stella Ritter.
Ritter played Claude Pichon in The Dinner Party (2000) at the Music Box Theatre on Broadway, which was written by Neil Simon. It ran for three hundred and sixty-four perfomances.
John Ritter won the Theatre World Award in 2001 for his performance in The Dinner Party.
In 2002, he made a TV comeback with the ABC family sitcom 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter.
Ritter's final movie role was as the store manager in Bad Santa (2003), starring Billy Bob Thornton and Bernie Mac.
He collapsed during a taping of his TV series, 8 Simple Rules, on September 11, 2003, and died of an aortic dissection at the hospital in Burbank at the age of only 54. He passed away the same day as the death of country musician, Johnny Cash. He is interred in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.
John Ritter has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6631 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood.
Television
Filmography
External links
- IMDb entry for John Ritter http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000615/
- The John Ritter Appreciation Website http://freespace.virgin.net/avril.bowles/
- Find A Death - John Ritter http://www.findadeath.com/Deceased/r/ritter/ritter.htm
Last updated: 05-01-2005 02:28:12
