page_title: John Ritter
hierarchical_section_title: John Ritter
caption_attribution_description: Photo taken at the 40th Emmy Awards, August 1988 - Permission granted to copy, publish or post but please credit "photo by Alan Light" if you can
context_page_description: Jonathan Southworth Ritter was an American actor and comedian. He was the son of the singing cowboy star Tex Ritter and the father of actors Jason and Tyler Ritter. Ritter is known for playing Jack Tripper on the ABC sitcom Three's Company, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award in 1984. He briefly reprised the role on the spin-off Three's a Crowd, which aired for one season.
  Ritter appeared in over 100 films and television series combined and performed on Broadway, with roles including adult Ben Hanscom in It, Problem Child, Problem Child 2, and Bad Santa in 2003. In 2002, Don Knotts called Ritter the "greatest physical comedian on the planet". His final roles include voicing the title character on the PBS children's program Clifford the Big Red Dog, for which he received four Daytime Emmy Award nominations, as Paul Hennessy on the ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules and an uncredited role for providing the normal voice as Three in Seven Little Monsters.
context_section_description: Jonathan Southworth Ritter (September 17, 1948 – September 11, 2003) was an American actor and comedian. He was the son of the singing cowboy star Tex Ritter and the father of actors Jason and Tyler Ritter. Ritter is known for playing Jack Tripper on the ABC sitcom Three's Company (1977–1984), for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award in 1984. He briefly reprised the role on the spin-off Three's a Crowd, which aired for one season.
  Ritter appeared in over 100 films and television series combined and performed on Broadway, with roles including adult Ben Hanscom in It (1990), Problem Child (1990), Problem Child 2 (1991), and Bad Santa in 2003 (his final live action film, which was dedicated to his memory). In 2002, Don Knotts called Ritter the "greatest physical comedian on the planet". His final roles include voicing the title character on the PBS children's program Clifford the Big Red Dog (2000–2003), for which he received four Daytime Emmy Award nominations, as Paul Hennessy on the ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules (2002–2003) and an uncredited role for providing the normal voice as Three in Seven Little Monsters (2000–2003).
caption: Ritter at the 1988 Emmy Awards
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