John Ritter

Jonathan Southworth Ritter[1] (September 17, 1948 – September 11, 2003) was an American actor. He was the son of the singing cowboy star Tex Ritter and the father of actors Jason and Tyler Ritter. Ritter was 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 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".[2] 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, and as Paul Hennessy on the ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules (2002–2003). Ritter experienced discomfort during a rehearsal for the latter on the afternoon of September 11, 2003 and died later that evening of an aortic dissection at the age of 54.
== Early life ==
Ritter was born at the Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California, on September 17, 1948.[3] Ritter had a birth defect known as a coloboma in his right eye. His father, Tex Ritter, was a singing cowboy/matinee star, and his mother, Dorothy Fay (née Southworth), was an actress.[4] He had an older brother, Thomas Matthews "Tom" (b. January 8, 1947).[5] Ritter attended Hollywood High School, where he was student body president. He attended the University of Southern California and majored in psychology with plans to have a career in politics. He later changed his major to theater arts and attended the USC School of Dramatic Arts (formerly School of Theatre). Ritter was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity at USC. While still in college, Ritter traveled to the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and West Germany to perform in plays. Ritter graduated in 1971.[6]
== Career ==
=== Film and television ===
Ritter headlined several stage performances. After his graduation from USC in 1970, his first TV acting experience was a campus revolutionary in the TV series Dan August starring Burt Reynolds and future Three's Company co-star Norman Fell. Ritter made his film debut in the 1971 Disney film The Barefoot Executive. He made guest appearances on the television series Hawaii Five-O, M*A*S*H, and many others. He had a recurring role as the Reverend Matthew Fordwick on the drama series The Waltons from October 1972 to December 1976. Since he was not a weekly cast member, he had time to pursue other roles, which he did until December 1976, when he left for a starring role in the hit ABC sitcom Three's Company (the Americanized version of the 1970s British Thames Television series Man About the House) in 1977. In 1978, Ritter played Ringo Starr's manager on the TV special Ringo. In 1982, Ritter provided the voice of Peter Dickinson in The Flight of Dragons.
Ritter became a household name playing struggling culinary student Jack Tripper with two female roommates. Ritter co-starred opposite Joyce DeWittand Suzanne Somers; however, Somers left due to a contractual dispute in 1981. Jenilee Harrison and then Priscilla Barnes filled Somers's role. Much of the comedy centered around Jack's pretending to be gay to keep the old-fashioned landlords appeased over the seemingly sordid living arrangements. The series spent several seasons near the top of the TV ratings in the U.S. before ending in 1984. A year-long spin-off Three's a Crowd ensued, as the Jack Tripper character has a live-in girlfriend and runs his own bistro. The original series has been seen continuously in reruns and is also available on DVD. During the run of Three's Company, Ritter also appeared in the films Hero at Large, Americathon, and They All Laughed. In 1986, he played the role of "Dad" in the music video for Graham Nash's song "Innocent Eyes" from the album of the same name.
Hooperman was Ritter's first regular television role after Three's Company. Detective Harry Hooperman inherits a run-down apartment building and hires Susan Smith (Debrah Farentino) to run it. A relationship follows and Hooperman must juggle work, love, and the antics of Bijoux the dog. In 1988, John was nominated for both an Emmy Award[7] and a Golden Globe Award for his work on Hooperman. Ritter won a People's Choice Award for this role. In 1992–95, Ritter returned to television for three seasons as John Hartman, aide to a U.S. Senator in Hearts Afire. This series starred Markie Post as Georgie Anne Lahti and Billy Bob Thornton as Billy Bob Davis. He also played Garry Lejeune / Roger Tramplemain in the production Noises Off in 1992.
After his time on television, he appeared in a number of movies, most notably Problem Child and its first sequel. He played the lead role in Blake Edwards' 1989 film Skin Deep, appeared in the film version of Noises Off, rejoined Billy Bob Thornton in the Oscar-winning Sling Blade (playing a kindhearted, gay, discount-store manager), and co-starred with Olivier Gruner in the 1996 action film Mercenary. Ritter starred in many made-for-TV movies, including Gramps (1995), co-starring with Andy Griffith, Rob Hedden's The Colony (1995) with Hal Linden, Stephen King's It, Danielle Steel's Heartbeat with Polly Draper, and It Came From the Sky in 1999 with Yasmine Bleeth.
Ritter also made guest appearances on TV shows, such as Felicity, Ally McBeal, Scrubs, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, mash (TV series)and an episode of Law & Order: SVU (2002). John also provided the voice of the title character in the PBS animated children's show Clifford the Big Red Dog, a role for which he received four Emmy nominations. His final film was Stanley's Dinosaur Round-Up (2006), an animated direct-to-DVD film based on the television series, which was released posthumously.
At the time of his death he was starring in 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter.
=== Theater ===
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 364 performances. Ritter won the Theatre World Award in 2001 for his performance in that work.[8] In 2003, Ritter made his final stage appearance in All About Eve, a star-studded benefit for the Actors' Fund of America held at the Ahmanson Theatre.
== Personal life ==
In 1977, Ritter married actress Nancy Morgan, with whom he had three children: Jason (who first appeared in the opening credits of Three's Company),[9][10] Carly, and Tyler.[6] They divorced in 1996.[11]
He married actress Amy Yasbeck on September 18, 1999, at the Murphy Theatre in Wilmington, Ohio.[12] Their daughter was born on September 11, 1998, one year before they married.[13]
Yasbeck played his love interest in the first two Problem Child movies. Yasbeck also played Ritter's wife in two sitcom appearances. In 1991, both were guest stars on The Cosby Show, in which Yasbeck played the in-labor wife of Ritter's basketball coach character. In 1996, Ritter guest-starred on Yasbeck's sitcom, Wings, as the estranged husband of Yasbeck's character, Casey.
=== Death ===
On September 11, 2003, Ritter suffered from heart problems while rehearsing for 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter. He began sweating profusely and vomiting, and complained of having chest pains. He was taken across the street to the Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, by coincidence the same hospital where he was born.[3] Physicians diagnosed Ritter, and treated him, with a heart attack; however, his condition worsened.[14] Physicians then diagnosed Ritter with an aortic dissection, a tear in the aorta that grows. Ritter died during surgery to repair the dissection, six days before his 55th birthday.[15][16]
A private funeral was held on September 15, 2003, in Los Angeles, after which Ritter was interred at Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles.[17][18]
In 2008, Yasbeck filed a $67 million wrongful-death lawsuit against radiologist Matthew Lotysch and cardiologist Joseph Lee. Yasbeck accused Lee, who treated Ritter on the day of his death, of misdiagnosing his condition as a heart attack,[19] and Lotysch, who had given him a full-body scan two years earlier, of failing at that time to detect an enlargement of Ritter's aorta.[19] In 2008, at the Los Angeles County Superior Court, the jury concluded that the doctors who treated Ritter the day he died were not negligent and were not responsible for his death.[20][21] According to court records, Ritter's family received more than $14 million in settlements, including $9.4 million from Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, where he died.[22]
==== Response and legacy ====
Many of Ritter's co-workers expressed deep sorrow and heartbreak following the news of his death. Ritter's Three's Company co-star Suzanne Somers said: "I'm so sad for the family. We lost a good one, it was so unfinished". Zach Braff, who worked with Ritter on Scrubs, called Ritter a "comic hero" of his, and said he had approached series creator Bill Lawrence to get Ritter to play his TV father.[23] Katey Sagal testified in the wrongful death lawsuit, calling Ritter a "funny man who was funny like nobody's business".[24] His Three's Company co-star Joyce DeWitt remarked he was "impossible to forget. [And] Impossible not to love".[25]
8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter was later retitled 8 Simple Rules following Ritter's death and continued for one and a half more seasons until its cancellation in 2005. Ritter's character, Paul Hennessy, was said to have died after collapsing in a grocery store while buying milk. ABC aired the first three episodes of the show's second season that had been taped before his death, each of which was introduced by Katey Sagal. The remainder of the show dealt with the family trying to grapple with Paul's death. New male characters, played by James Garner and David Spade, were later added to the main cast as Ritter's replacements. Shortly before his death, Ritter had done a week-long taping with Hollywood Squares, which was aired as a tribute to him, introduced by Henry Winkler, the executive producer of the show and very close friend of Ritter's. Four days after Ritter's death, Nick at Nite ran an all-night Three's Company marathon dedicated to his memory.[26]
In 2004, Ritter was posthumously given an Emmy nomination for playing Paul Hennessy in 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, but lost to Kelsey Grammer for playing the title character of Frasier. Upon accepting his trophy, Grammer's remarks included comments made in tribute and remembrance of Ritter.[27] Ritter's final films, Bad Santa and Clifford's Really Big Movie, along with an episode of Scrubs (his character in this series died, as well) and King of the Hill, were dedicated to his memory.[28]
On June 6, 2008, a mural of Ritter painted by Eloy Torrez was dedicated at Hollywood High School.[29]
In March 2010, the Thoracic Aortic Disease (TAD) Coalition, in partnership with Yasbeck and the John Ritter Foundation (JRF), announced the creation of the "Ritter Rules" which are life-saving reminders to recognize, treat, and prevent thoracic aortic dissection. The purpose of the JRF is to provide accurate information to the general public about the disease and its risk factors, provide support to individuals who have thoracic aortic disease or have lost a loved one to the disease, and improve the identification of individuals at risk for aortic dissections and the treatment of thoracic aortic disease through medical research. Yasbeck worked with the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) to establish the John Ritter Research Program in Aortic and Vascular Diseases with the goal of preventing premature deaths due to aortic dissection by identifying genetic mutations that predispose individuals to thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections.
== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
Year	Title 	Role 	Note
1971	The Barefoot Executive 	Roger 	Debut
1971	Scandalous John 	Wandell 	
1972	The Other 	Rider 	
1973	The Stone Killer 	Officer Mort 	
1976	Nickelodeon 	Franklin Frank 	
1977	Breakfast in Bed 	Paul 	
1979	Americathon 	President Chet Roosevelt 	
1980	Hero at Large 	Steve Nichols 	
1980	Wholly Moses! 	Satan (The Devil) 	
1981	They All Laughed 	Charles Rutledge 	
1982	The Flight of Dragons 	Peter Dickenson (voice) 	Direct-to-video
1983	Sunset Limousine 	Alan O'Black 	
1986	A Smoky Mountain Christmas 	Judge Harold Benton 	Uncredited[citation needed]
1987	Real Men 	Bob Wilson/Agent Pillbox, CIA 	
1989	Skin Deep 	Zachary 'Zach' Hutton 	
1990	Problem Child 	Benjamin 'Ben' Healy, Jr. 	
1991	The Real Story of O Christmas Tree	Piney (voice) 	Direct-to-video release
1991	Problem Child 2 	Benjamin 'Ben' Healy, Jr. 	
1991	Noises Off 	Garry Lejeune/Roger Tramplemain 	
1992	Stay Tuned 	Roy Knable 	
1993	Heartbeat 	Bill Grant 	
1994	North 	Ward Nelson 	
1995	The Colony 	Rick Knowlton 	
1996	Sling Blade 	Vaughan Cunningham 	
1996	Mercenary 	Jonas Ambler 	
1997	Nowhere 	Moses Helper 	
1997	A Gun, a Car, a Blonde 	Duncan/The Bartender 	
1997	Hacks 	Hank 	
1998	Montana 	Dr. Wexler 	
1998	Shadow of Doubt 	Steven Mayer 	
1998	I Woke Up Early The Day I Died 	Robert Forrest 	
1998	Bride of Chucky 	Police Chief Warren Kincaid 	
1999	Lethal Vows 	Dr. David Farris 	
2000	Panic 	Dr. Josh Parks 	
2000	Lost in the Perishing Point Hotel 	Christian Therapist 	
2000	Tripfall 	Tom Williams 	
2000	Terror Tract 	Bob Carter 	Segment: "Make Me an Offer"
2001	Nuncrackers 	Narrator 	Direct-to-video
2002	Tadpole 	Stanley Grubman 	
2002	Man of the Year 	Bill 	
2003	Manhood 	Eli 	
2003	Bad Santa 	Bob Chipeska 	Posthumously released; final live action film
2004	Clifford's Really Big Movie 	Clifford the Big Red Dog (voice)	Posthumously released
2006	Stanley's Dinosaur Round-Up 	Great Uncle Stew (voice) 	Posthumously released; final film
=== Television ===
Year 	Title 	Role 	Note
1968 	Crazy World, Crazy People 	Various characters 	Special
1970 	Dan August 	Coley Smith 	Episode: "Quadrangle for Death"
1971 	Hawaii Five-O 	Ryan Moore / Mike Welles 	2 episodes
1972–76 	The Waltons 	Rev. Matthew Fordwick 	Recurring role (18 episodes)
1973 	Medical Center 	Ronnie 	Episode: "End of the Line"
1973 	Bachelor-at-Law 	Ben Sykes 	Unsold pilot
1973 	M*A*S*H 	Pvt. Carter 	Episode: "Deal Me Out"
1974 	Kojak 	Kenny Soames 	Episode: "Deliver Us Some Evil"
1974 	Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law 	Greg 	Episode: "To Keep and Bear Arms"
1974 	The Bob Newhart Show 	Dave 	Episode: "Sorry, Wrong Mother"
1975 	Movin' On 	Casey 	Episode: "Landslide"
1975 	Mannix 	Cliff Elgin 	Episode: "Hardball"
1975 	The Bob Crane Show 	Hornbeck 	Episode: "Son of the Campus Capers"
1975 	Petrocelli 	John Oleson 	Episode: "Chain of Command"
1975 	Barnaby Jones 	Joe Rockwell 	Episode: "The Price of Terror"
1975 	The Streets of San Francisco 	John 'Johnny' Steiner 	Episode: "Murder by Proxy"
1975 	The Night That Panicked America 	Walter Wingate 	ABC film
1975 	The Mary Tyler Moore Show 	Reverend Chatfield 	Episode: "Ted's Wedding"
1975 	The Rookies 	Hap Dawson 	Episode: "Reluctant Hero"
1975 	Rhoda 	Vince Mazuma / Jerry Blocker 	2 episodes
1976 	Starsky & Hutch 	Tom Cole 	Episode: "The Hostages"
1976 	Phyllis 	Paul Jameson 	Episode: "The New Job"
1977–84 	Three's Company 	Jack Tripper 	Lead role (174 episodes)
1977 	The Love Boat 	Ben Cummins / Dale Riley/Reinhardt	2 episodes
1978 	Ringo 	Marty 	Movie
1978 	Leave Yesterday Behind 	Paul Stallings 	ABC film
1979 	The Ropers 	Jack Tripper 	Episode: "The Party"
1980 	The Associates 	Chick 	Episode: "The Censors"
1980 	The Comeback Kid 	Bubba Newman 	ABC film
1981 	Insight 	Frankie 	Episode: "Little Miseries"
1982 	Pray TV 	Tom McPherson 	ABC film
1982 	In Love with an Older Woman 	Robert 	CBS film
1982 	The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show 	Himself 	Special
1983 	Sunset Limousine 	Alan O'Black 	CBS film
1984 	Love Thy Neighbor 	Danny Loeb 	ABC film
1984 	Pryor's Place 	Himself 	Episode: "The Showoff"
1984–85 	Three's a Crowd 	Jack Tripper 	Lead role (22 episodes)
1985 	Letting Go 	Alex 	ABC film
1986 	Living Seas 	Host 	NBC film
1986 	Unnatural Causes 	Frank Coleman 	NBC film
1986 	A Smoky Mountain Christmas 	Judge Harold Benton 	ABC film
1986 	Life with Lucy 	Himself 	Episode: "Lucy Makes a Hit with John Ritter"
1987 	The Last Fling 	Phillip Reed 	ABC film
1987 	Prison for Children 	David Royce 	CBS film
1987–89 	Hooperman 	Det. Harry Hooperman 	Lead role (42 episodes)
1988 	Mickey's 60th Birthday 	Dudley Goode 	Special
1988 	Tricks of the Trade 	Donald Todsen 	Cameo; CBS film
1989 	My Brother's Wife 	Barney 	ABC film
1990 	It 	Adult Ben "Haystack" Hanscom 	ABC film
1990 	The Dreamer of Oz: The L. Frank Baum Story 	L. Frank Baum 	NBC film
1991 	The Cosby Show 	Ray Evans 	Episode: "Total Control"
1991 	The Summer My Father Grew Up 	Paul 	NBC film
1991 	Anything but Love 	Patrick Serreau 	Recurring role (5 episodes)
1992 	Fish Police 	Inspector Gill (voice) 	5 episodes
1992–95 	Hearts Afire 	John Hartman 	Lead role (54 episodes)
1993 	Heartbeat 	Bill Grant 	NBC film
1993 	The Only Way Out 	Jeremy Carlisle 	ABC film
1993 	The Larry Sanders Show 	Himself 	Episode: "Off Camera"
1994 	Dave's World 	John Hartman 	Episode: "Please Won't You Be My Neighbor"
1995 	Gramps 	Clarke MacGruder 	NBC film
1995 	The Colony 	Rick Knowlton 	USA Network film
1995 	NewsRadio 	Dr. Frank Westford 	Episode: "The Shrink"
1995 	The Larry Sanders Show 	Himself 	Episode: "The Fourteenth Floor"
1996 	Unforgivable 	Paul Hegstrom 	CBS film
1996 	Wings 	Stuart Davenport 	Episode: "Love Overboard"
1996 	For Hope 	Date #5 	ABC film (uncredited)[citation needed]
1996 	Touched by an Angel 	Mike O'Connor / Tom McKinsley 	2 episodes
1997 	Loss of Faith 	Bruce Simon Barker 	Movie
1997 	Mercenary 	Jonas Ambler 	HBO film
1997 	A Child's Wish 	Ed Chandler 	CBS film
1997 	Dead Man's Gun 	Harry McDonacle 	Segment: "The Great McDonacle"
1997 	Over the Top 	Justin Talbot 	Episode: "The Nemesis"
1997 	Buffy the Vampire Slayer 	Ted Buchanan 	Episode: "Ted"
1997–2004	King of the Hill 	Eugene Grandy (voice) 	4 episodes
1998 	Chance of a Lifetime 	Tom Maguire 	CBS film
1998 	Ally McBeal 	George Madison 	2 episodes
1998 	Dead Husbands 	Dr. Carter Elston 	USA Network film
1999 	Veronica's Closet 	Tim 	Episode: "Veronica's Favorite Year"
1999 	Holy Joe 	Joe Cass 	CBS film
1999 	It Came from the Sky 	Donald Bridges 	Romance Classics film
1999 	Lethal Vows 	Dr. David Farris 	CBS film
2000–03 	Clifford the Big Red Dog 	Clifford (voice) 	64 episodes
2000 	Chicago Hope 	Joe Dysmerski 	Episode: "Simon Sez"
2000 	Batman Beyond 	Dr. David Wheeler (voice) 	Episode: "The Last Resort"
2000 	Family Law 	Father Andrews 	Episode: "Possession is Nine Tenths of the Law"
2000–02 	Felicity 	Mr. Andrew Covington 	Recurring role (7 episodes)
2001 	Tucker 	Marty 	Episode: "Homewrecker for the Holidays"
2002 	The Ellen Show 	Percy Moss 	Episode: "Gathering Moss"
2002 	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit 	Dr. Richard Manning 	Episode: "Monogamy"
2002 	Breaking News 	Lloyd Fuchs 	Episode: "Pilot"
2002 	Scrubs 	Sam Dorian 	2 episodes
2002–03 	8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter	Paul Hennessy 	Lead role (31 episodes)
== Awards and honors ==
Association 	Year 	Category 	Work 	Result 	Daytime Emmy Awards	2001	Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program	Clifford the Big Red Dog	Nominated
2002 	Nominated	 	 	 	Daytime Emmy Awards	 	Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program	Clifford the Big Red Dog	
2003 	Nominated	 	 	 	Daytime Emmy Awards	 	Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program	Clifford the Big Red Dog	
2004 	Nominated	 	 	 	Daytime Emmy Awards	 	Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program	Clifford the Big Red Dog	
Emmy Awards 	1978 	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series 	Three's Company 	Nominated	 	 	 	 	
Emmy Awards 	1981 	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series 	Three's Company 	Nominated	 	 	 	 	
Emmy Awards 	1984 	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series 	Three's Company 	Won 	 	 	 	 	
Emmy Awards 	1988 	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series 	Hooperman 	Nominated	 	 	 	 	
Emmy Awards 	1999 	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series 	Ally McBeal 	Nominated	 	 	 	 	
Emmy Awards 	2004 	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series 	8 Simple Rules 	Nominated	 	 	 	 	
Golden Globe Awards 	1979 	Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy 	Three's Company 	Nominated	 	 	 	 	
Golden Globe Awards 	1980 	Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy 	Three's Company 	Nominated	 	 	 	 	
Golden Globe Awards 	1984 	Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy 	Three's Company 	Won 	 	 	 	 	
Golden Globe Awards 	1987 	Best Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television	Unnatural Causes 	Nominated	 	 	 	 	
Golden Globe Awards 	1988 	Best TV Actor in a Musical/Comedy 	Hooperman 	Nominated	 	 	 	 	
People's Choice Awards	1988 	Favorite Male Performer in a New TV Program[citation needed] 	Hooperman 	Won 	 	 	 	 	
Screen Actors Guild 	1997 	Outstanding Performance by a Cast 	Sling Blade (shared w/co-stars)	Nominated	 	 	 	 	
Category:1948 births
Category:2003 deaths
Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:21st-century American male actors
Category:American male comedians
Category:American male film actors
Category:American male stage actors
Category:American male television actors
Category:American male voice actors
Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (television) winners
Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Category:Contestants on American game shows
Category:Deaths from aortic dissection
Category:Male actors from Burbank, California
Category:Male actors from Los Angeles, California
Category:Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Primetime Emmy Award winners
Category:University of Southern California alumni
Category:American people of Dutch descent
Category:American people of English descent
Category:American people of French descent
Category:American people of German descent
Category:American people of Scottish descent
Category:Clifford the Big Red Dog