Clint Ritchie

Last updated
Clint Ritchie
ClintRitchie.png
Born
Clinton Charles Augustus Richie

(1938-08-09)August 9, 1938
DiedJanuary 31, 2009(2009-01-31) (aged 70)
OccupationActor
Years active1950s–2004

Clinton Charles Augustus Ritchie (August 9, 1938 January 31, 2009) was an American actor.

Contents

Early life

Ritchie was born on a farm near Grafton, North Dakota, to J. C. and Charlotte Ritchie, and his family moved to Washington state when he was seven. Voted "Handsome Harry" by his classmates at Sunnyside High School, he moved to California at the age of 16 where he had a variety of jobs: truck driver, service station attendant, furniture factory worker, bartender (before his age of 19 was found out) and health club manager, before becoming an actor. [1]

Career

Ritchie is best known for his acting role as Clint Buchanan, husband of heroine Victoria Lord (played by Erika Slezak) on the ABC soap opera, One Life to Live . He originated the character in 1979 and portrayed the role through 1998, with recurring stints in 1999, 2003, and 2004.

He was under contract at 20th Century Fox with Tom Selleck and is credited with teaching Selleck how to ride a horse. [2]

He co-starred and guest starred in numerous television Westerns during the 1950s and 1960s, including the 1965 pilot for the long-running Wild, Wild West . He also appeared in the TV series Batman as well as in many films, including First to Fight (1967), The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967), Bandolero! (1968), Patton (1970), Joe Kidd (1972), Against a Crooked Sky (1975), Midway (1976), Poco... Little Dog Lost (1977) and A Force of One (1979). In Patton, he portrayed a wounded tank commander who briefs Patton on a fierce night battle. His television movie roles included The Bastard , Centennial and Desperate Women. Later, he appeared on Roseanne as Clint Buchanan, with his One Life to Live costars Robert S. Woods and John Loprieno.

Ritchie was critically injured at his California ranch on May 10, 1993, when his John Deere tractor upended, knocked him to the ground, and rolled over him. Quoted as saying that he could hear his own ribs cracking, he survived and returned to the One Life to Live set after recuperating. In the interim, his costar Slezak fought not to have his role recast with another actor. Clint was written off temporarily as having been in an airplane crash while Ritchie recuperated.[ citation needed ]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1966 Alvarez Kelly Union Lieutenant
1967 First to Fight Sgt. Slater
1967 The Reluctant Astronaut OfficerUncredited
1967 The St. Valentine's Day Massacre Jack McGurn
1968 Bandolero! Babe Jenkins
1970 Patton Tank Captain
1971The Peace KillersRebel
1972 Joe Kidd Calvin
1975 Against a Crooked Sky John Sutter
1976 Midway Lt. Cmdr. Charles FentonUncredited
1976 Treasure of Matecumbe Flatboat Leader
1977 Poco... Little Dog Lost Mr. McKinna
1979 A Force of One Melrose

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1965-1966 The Wild Wild West The LieutenantEpisode: "The Night of the Inferno" (1965)
First BanditEpisode: "The Night of the Two-Legged Buffalo" (1966)
1966-1967 The Felony Squad HagenEpisode: "Between Two Fires" (1966)
EddieEpisode: "The Deadly Junkman" (1967)
1967 Batman BoffEpisode: "The Joker's Last Laugh"
Episode: "The Joker's Epitaph"
1969 Daniel Boone Two FeathersEpisode: "Three Score and Ten"
Land of the Giants AndrosEpisode: "Land of the Lost"
Bracken's World Sam BordenEpisode: "The Chase Sequence"
1970 The High Chaparral KansasEpisode: "Spokes"
The CliffUnknown roleTelevision movie (ABC)
1971 The New Dick Van Dyke Show Cyclist #1Episode: "Queasy Rider"
1971-1972 Marcus Welby, M.D. First wranglerEpisode: "Another Buckle for Wesley Hill" (1971)
Tom DavisEpisode: "Jason Be Nimble, Jason Be Quick" (1972)
1972 The Bravos Corporal LoveTelevision movie (ABC)
Circle of Fear a/k/a Ghost StorySecond CowboyEpisode: "Cry of the Cat"
1973 Chase MitchEpisode: "One for You, Two for Me"
1974-1975 Police Story Detective FranklinEpisode: "Fingerprint" (1974)
StevensEpisode: "To Steal a Million" (1975)
1975 Lucas Tanner Clifford HaileyEpisode: "Collision"
Ellery Queen Cop walking dog (uncredited role)Episode: "Too Many Suspects"
The Family Holvak DekeEpisode: "First Love: Part 2"
Three for the Road Unknown roleEpisode: "The Cave"
1977 Thunder Bill PrescottSeries regular (12 episodes)
Switch StinchEpisode: "Lady of the Deep"
1978 The Bastard Mister DawesTelevision 2-part miniseries (shown on Operation Prime Time network )
Fantasy Island CrewmanEpisode: "The Big Dipper/The Pirate"
Desperate WomenUnknown roleTelevision movie (NBC)
1978-1979 Centennial Messmore Garrett (4 episodes)Television 12-part miniseries (NBC)

Episode: "The Shepherds" (1978)
Episode: "The Storm" (1979)
Episode: "The Crime" (1979)
Episode: "The Winds of Fortune" (1979)
1979 Dallas Bud MorganEpisode: "The Outsiders"
1979–1999; 2003-2004 One Life to Live Clinton James "Clint" Buchanan #1 Daytime serial (contract role @ 562 episodes)
1994 Roseanne Clinton James "Clint" Buchanan #1 Episode: "Isn't It Romantic?"

Later life

Ritchie retired in December 1998, and said that he believed the character of Clint had been damaged during the 1992 Viki-Clint-Sloan Carpenter love triangle story. [3] He lived at his 60-acre (240,000 m2) California ranch, with his numerous dogs and cats, and 43 horses. [4] He purchased the ranch, named the Happy Horse Ranch, in 1980 largely due to its location near Grass Valley, which is located near the site of the annual Tevis Cup 100-mile endurance horse race. His character on One Life to Live had a ranch in Arizona with the same name, and several of Ritchie's horses had been used on the show.[ citation needed ]

Death

In late January 2009, Ritchie had surgery to implant a pacemaker. Although the surgery was a success, a blood clot traveled to his brain, resulting in a massive stroke. He died a few days later about 4:00 a.m. on January 31, 2009, aged 70. His friend and costar Phil Carey, who played his father Asa Buchanan on One Life to Live, died of lung cancer six days after Ritchie's death. [1] Ritchie was cremated. [5]


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References

  1. 1 2 "Clint's Biography". ClintRitchie.com. 2 July 2007. Retrieved January 22, 2010.
  2. "Clint's Biography". clintritchie.com. May 2022.
  3. "Ask Clint: Winter 1998-99". The Official Clint Ritchie Page. February 8, 2009.
  4. Clint Ritchie Official Website
  5. Wilson, Scott (2016-08-19). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. ISBN   9781476625997.