Biography for
John Ritter More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

17 September 1948, Burbank, California, USA

Date of Death

11 September 2003, Burbank, California, USA (aortic dissection)

Birth Name

Jonathan Southworth Ritter

Height

5' 11" (1.80 m)

Mini Biography

The son of a legendary country singer/actor Tex Ritter and his wife Dorothy Fay, who was also an actress, John Ritter started out his life as Jonathan Southworth Ritter, born in Burbank, California, on September 17, 1948. After his father married Dorothy Fay Southworth in 1941, the couple had their first child, Tom Ritter, who had been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, and became a lawyer, but John was destined to follow in his parents footsteps. He was enrolled at Hollywood High School, where he was a student body president, and became the most popular student ever.

After graduation from high school, he later attended the University of Southern California, where he majored in Psychology and minored in Architecture. Also in 1966, before attending college, his first appearance on TV was as a contestant on "The Dating Game" (1965), on which he won a vacation to Lake Havasu, Arizona. After making his very first cameo appearance and a couple of years of attending school, he was induced to join an acting class taught by Nina Foch. He changed his major to Theater Arts, graduating in 1971 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Drama. He also studied acting with Stella Adler at the Harvey Lembeck Comedy Workshop. Between 1968 and 1969, he appeared in a series of stage plays in England, Scotland, Holland and in Germany. His father was entertaining troops in Germany at the same time that his son was performing at an air base there.

His acting debut was on an episode of "Hawaii Five-O" (1968), playing various roles. On "Dan August" (1970), he played a campus revolutionary, in a film which also starred Burt Reynolds and Norman Fell, who later starred with him on "Three's Company" (1976). Then, he appeared as "Reverend Matthew Fordwick" on "The Waltons" (1971). His guest-starring spot was so popular, that he was interested in having a recurring role on the show. But, he continued making more guest appearances on "Medical Center" (1969), "M*A*S*H" (1972), "The Bob Newhart Show" (1972), "The Streets of San Francisco" (1972), "Kojak" (1973), and, once again, as a preacher on "Rhoda" (1974), "Mary Tyler Moore" (1970), among many others. While working on "The Waltons" (1971), he received word that his legendary father had passed away, just a day after New Year's Day in 1974. The following year, in late 1975, ABC picked up the rights for a new series based on a British sitcom, "Man About the House" (1973) and Ritter beat out 50 people, including a young Billy Crystal, to get a major role. The first pilot was trashed, and in order for it to be improved, Joyce DeWitt, an unknown actress, played the role of "Janet Wood", along with Suze Lanier-Bramlett as the dumb blonde, "Chrissy Snow". Unlike the first pilot, it did better but the producers still needed a change and Suzanne Somers came to the show, at the very last minute to play "Chrissy". The series, "Three's Company" (1976), was born. When it debuted as a mid-season replacement, it became a ratings hit, like many other sitcoms of the 70s, and it focused mainly on his character, "Jack Tripper", an admirable chef who lived in an apartment with two attractive ladies, while pretending to be gay.

Before playing "Jack Tripper" on the small screen, he also made his box office debut in the movie Nickelodeon (1976). Two years later, he worked with his close friend, Jenny Sullivan, in Breakfast in Bed (1977), and the following year, played "Pres. Chet Roosevelt" in the movie Americathon (1979). Also in 1977, he and his brother emceed the Annual United Cerebral Palsy Telethon (a neurological condition particularly close to their hearts because of Tom's triumph over it) and racked up millions of dollars for the cause in the 15+ years he ran the telethon. He also became more popular with movies such as Hero at Large (1980) and They All Laughed (1981). In 1980, when "Three's Company" (1976) was sold into syndication, the show became a ratings phenomenon, during its last 2 years. At the height of Ritter's popularity, he won a Golden Globe in 1983 for Best Performance by an Actor, after being nominated twice for Best TV Actor in a Musical-Comedy Series and, one year later, he won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor In a Comedy Series, after being nominated twice. By its eighth season, the show began to drop in the ratings and was canceled in 1984. After the cancellation, he starred in its spin-off, called "Three's a Crowd" (1984), starring Mary Cadorette, but it lasted for only one season.

His first animated movie was that of a man turning into a dragon, whose job was to defeat "Ommendon" in The Flight of Dragons (1982), on which he played "Peter Dickinson". The following year, he came back to series television as "Detective Harry Hooperman" in the comedy/drama, "Hooperman" (1987), for which he was nominated for both an Emmy and a Golden Globe in 1988, for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, and won a People's Choice Award for his role. During and after his role on "Hooperman" (1987), he continued doing more box-office films, from 1987-1992, such as Skin Deep (1989), in which he played a womanizing, alcoholic writer whose life seemed to be falling apart at the seams. Also, in this movie, he was pleased to see his mentor, acting coach Nina Foch, and the two worked closely together. In the movies, Problem Child (1990), and Problem Child 2 (1991), he played the surrogate father of a rebellious little boy who wrought havoc on the family. He also worked on Noises Off... (1992), and Stay Tuned (1992), before returning to another TV series called "Hearts Afire" (1992). On this sitcom, he played "John Hartman", who was an aide to a senator whose life was also complicated by his girlfriend's father, and Billy Bob Thornton played "Billy Bob Davis". Like his first series, "Three's Company" (1976), the show had well-written scripts, but failed to reach a massive audience, which led to its cancellation in 1995. While he was working on "Hearts Afire" (1992), he played "Ward Nelson" on North (1994). Then, he had the opportunity to work with former "Hearts Afire" (1992) actor Billy Bob Thornton, in the movie, Sling Blade (1996), in which Ritter played the gay manager of a department store and Thornton was "Karl Childers", a institutionalized man who was hospitalized since the childhood murder of his mother and her lover. Thornton had written and directed the movie. He provided the voice of "Clifford" in the PBS animated series "Clifford the Big Red Dog" (2000). He was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award, 3 times in a row, making it seven Emmy nominations in his 35-year career. In 1999, he was also nominated for an Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, playing the role of "George Madison" on an episode of "Ally McBeal" (1997). Soon after wards, he landed his last television role in "8 Simple Rules" (2002), based on the popular book. On this sitcom, he played "Paul Hennessey", a loving, yet rational dad, who laid down the ground rules for his three children, and dealt with such topics as curfews, sex, drugs, getting arrested, etc. The show was a ratings winner in its first season and won a People's Choice Award for Best New Comedy and also won for Favorite Comedy Series by the Family Awards! While working on "8 Simple Rules", he also starred in his second-to-last film, Manhood (2003). That same year, he felt ill while rehearsing on set, and was taken across the street to Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California, where he was mistakenly treated for a heart attack. He died from an undiagnosed aortic dissection which means, in layman's terms, a tear in the wall of the aorta which is the artery that takes blood from the heart to the rest of the body. He underwent surgery and died on September 11, 2003, just six days shy of his 55th birthday. In the years that he worked, John Ritter was a brilliant comedian and a passionate actor, who wanted to make everybody laugh. Shortly before his death, his eldest son, Jason Ritter, was cast in the role of "Kevin", a young man who was a high school sport star but is now paralyzed for life in the highly-rated drama "Joan of Arcadia" (2003).

IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Richard Collins II (hugsarealwaysinorder@yahoo.com)

Spouse

Amy Yasbeck	(18 September 1999 - 11 September 2003) (his death) 1 child
Nancy Morgan	(16 October 1977 - September 1996) (divorced) 3 children

Trivia

Married Amy Yasbeck in Wilmington, Ohio. The two had lived together for a couple of years. [18 September 1999]

During an interview on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" (1993), Ritter claimed that he chose the name "Vaughan Cunningham" for his character in Sling Blade (1996) based on an in-joke with the cast of "Happy Days" (1974).

He was a scout (but not an Eagle).

Starred with his wife, Amy Yasbeck, in an episode of "The Cosby Show" (1984) eight years prior to their marriage. Coincidently, they played a husband and wife expecting their first child.

Member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.

His talent for physical schtick was heralded by TV's top comedy icon Lucille Ball, who hosted a tribute to John's talent on "Three's Company" (1976). John later appeared in an episode of Lucille's last comedy series "Life with Lucy" (1986) In that episode, Lucy claims that during the shooting of a scene, it was the third time in her entire career that she had to yell "cut" because he broke her up laughing.

His father, cowboy star Tex Ritter, tried to steer him away from an acting career but lived long enough to rejoice in seeing him in a recurring role on "The Waltons" (1971), which was Tex's favorite television series.

He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6631 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California in 1983.

One of John's last public appearances was at Disney's Prime Time Weekend at Disney's California Adventure Park, 4 days before his death.

Was the first guest of "The Wayne Brady Show" (2002).

Died in the same hospital he was born in, which was the Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center.

Father of four children: Jason Ritter, (born on Sunday, February 17, 1980), Carly Ritter, (born on Monday, March 1, 1982), Tyler Ritter, (born on Thursday, January 31, 1985) and Stella Ritter, (born on Friday, September 11, 1998).

At the same time he entered Hollywood High School, he fell in love with The Beatles.

His favorite musical group was The Beatles, and he even appeared on Ringo Starr's television special Ringo (1978) (TV).

Paul Hennessy, Ritter's character on "8 Simple Rules" (2002), was ranked #48 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" [20 June 2004 issue].

Buried at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, 6300 Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles, California (actually borders Glendale and Griffith Park). Lot 1622 Court of Liberty near Stan Laurel's grave-site.

Was nominated for an Emmy Award, for best actor in a comedy, for "8 Simple Rules" (2002) one year after his death, after appearing in 31 episodes.

Died one day before the death of country music legend Johnny Cash. Incidentally, his father, Tex, had written several songs for Johnny during the 1950s and 1960s.

Ended 20 year rift with his "Three's Company" (1976) co-star Suzanne Somers shortly before his death.

On an episode of "8 Simple Rules" (2002), he and the cast did a spoof of his situation comedy "Three's Company" (1976). In the spoof, he played Mr. Roper, Katey Sagal played Helen Roper, Kaley Cuoco and Amy Davidson played Janet and Chrissy respectively, Billy Aaron Brown played Jack and Martin Spanjers played Larry. At the end of the episode, Don Knotts who played Mr. Furley in "Three's Company", reprised his role in one short scene. It was, not surprisingly, Ritter's favorite episode.

In "Three's Company" (1976) and "Three's a Crowd" (1984), he played a straight man pretending to be gay. In Dangerous Perceptions (2005), his son, Jason Ritter, played a gay man pretending to be straight.

His final film, Bad Santa (2003), was dedicated to his memory.

After his death, the Sept. 29 issue of People Magazine featured two different covers - issues distributed to the central and southwest United States (except Florida) showed Johnny Cash who had also recently passed away, the rest displayed a photo of John Ritter taken by veteran photojournalist Michael Germana. Appropriately, he was waving goodbye.

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 7, 2003-2005, pages 464-465. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2007.

Good friend of Jenny Sullivan and Paul Linke.

Died on his youngest daughter, Stella's, fifth birthday.

Was considered for the role of Dan Gallagher in Fatal Attraction (1987).

Attended Walter Reed Jr. High School in North Hollywood, California.

Best remembered by the public for his starring role as Jack Tripper on "Three's Company" (1976).

John Ritter died one week before his fourth wedding anniversary to wife Amy Yasbeck. Additionally, Ritter passed away only 6 days before his 55th birthday.

John Ritter's great-grandfather Benjamin Franklin Ritter (1834-1902) was an officer in the Confederate Cavalry (37th Texas Cavalry) during the War between the States.

Before he was a successful actor, he worked with Harry Morgan in two movies of Ritter's early career: The Barefoot Executive (1971) and Scandalous John (1971).

His acting mentor was the late Harry Morgan.

Personal Quotes

I knew when I grew up, I always wanted to be a liar, and if you're in television, you're lying because you're just pretending to be yourself much like I'm doing now.

I once had a heated argument with Don Knotts. He looked me dead in the eye and said that I wasn't fit to shine Andy Griffith's shoes. I stayed up all night thinking about that.

The Harvey Lembeck Workshop was for me a support group. A place where I had the freedom to fall on my face.

[How John wants to be remembered] "Just as a guy who was interested in the golden thread that intertwines all of us together. You know, that golden thread that goes through me and you, and the cameraman, and all the people out there and back through Nancy. That's what an artist can do, that someone - anyone - could do, if they're willing to pluck that. And either it makes you laugh or it makes you cry, it's that golden thread of humanity, and I'd like to be remembered as maybe a guy who plucked a few of those."

Salary

"Three's Company" (1976)	$50,000
"8 Simple Rules" (2002)	$75,000/ Episode