John Ritter
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John Ritter (September 17, 1948-September 11, 2003) was an American actor.
Born Jonathan Southworth Ritter in Burbank, California, he was 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 was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) fraternity, majored in psychology and minored in architecture.
After two years in college, 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-). Yasbeck had played his wife or love interest in the two Problem Child movies, (interestingly, as two distinct characters).
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 later that day at the age of 54 at the nearby hospital in Burbank, California. The cause of death was listed as an aortic dissection, the result of a previously undiagnosed congenital heart defect. He was interred at 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
- The Waltons (1973-1976)
- Three's Company (1977-[[1984 in t2005'Ringo (1978)
- Flight of Dragons (1982) voice
- Three's a Crowd (1984-1985)
- Hooperman (1987-1989)
- The Cosby Show (1991) Guest Appearance
- Hearts Afire (1992-1995)
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997) Guest Appearance
- Ally McBeal (1998) Guest Appearance
- Clifford the Big Red Dog (2000-2003) voice
- Scrubs (2002) Guest Appearance
- 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter (2002-2003)
Filmography
- The Other (1972)
- Americathon 1998 (1979)
- Hero at Large (1980)
- The Comeback Kid (1980)
- They All Laughed (1981)
- Pray TV (1982)
- In Love With An Older Woman (1982)
- Sunset Limousine (1983)
- Letting Go (1985)
- A Smoky Mountain Christmas (1986)
- Unnatural Causes (1987)
- Real Men (1987)
- Tricks of the Trade (1988)
- Skin Deep (1989)
- The Last Fling (1989)
- Problem Child (1990)
- It (1990)
- Everybody Wins (1990)
- The Dreamer of Oz: The L. Frank Baum Story (1990)
- Problem Child 2 (1991)
- Stay Tuned (1992)
- Noises Off (1992)
- Prison for Children (1993)
- My Brother's Wife (1993)
- The Colony (1995)
- Mercenary (movie) (1996)
- Sling Blade (1997)
- Sink Or Swim (1997)
- A Gun, a Car, a Blonde (1997)
- Bride of Chucky (1998)
- The Million Dollar Kid (1999)
- It Came From the Sky (1999)
- Dead Husbands (1999)
- Tripfall (2000)
- Terror Tract (2000)
- Panic (2000)
- Tadpole (2002)
- Bad Santa (2003)
- Problem Child 3 (2006)
External links
- Template:Imdb name
- 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)
- John Ritter Online - A Living Tribute (http://johnritteronline.com/)de:John Ritter