John Ritter

This article is about the American actor. For other people with the same name, see John Ritter (disambiguation).

John Ritter
Ritter in 1977
Born	Johnathan Southworth Ritter (1948-09-17)September 17, 1948 Burbank, California, U.S.
Died	September 11, 2003(2003-09-11) (aged 54) Burbank, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Aortic dissection
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills, California, U.S.
Education	Hollywood High School
Alma mater	University of Southern California
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1968–2003
Known for	Three's Company Three's a Crowd
Spouses	Nancy Morgan ​ ​ (m. 1977;div. 1996)​ Amy Yasbeck ​ (m. 1999)​
Children	4, including Jason and Tyler
Parents	Tex Ritter (father) Dorothy Fay (mother)

Johnathan Southworth Ritter ^{[1] [2]} (September 17, 1948 – September 11, 2003) was an American actor. Ritter was a son of the singing cowboy star Tex Ritter and the father of actors Jason and Tyler Ritter. He is known for playing Jack Tripper on the ABC sitcom Three's Company (1977–1984), and received a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for the role in 1984. Ritter briefly reprised the role on the spin-off Three's a Crowd , which aired for one season, producing 22 episodes before its cancellation in 1985.

He 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), a dramatic turn in Sling Blade (1996), 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, and as Paul Hennessy on the ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules (2002–2003).

Early life

Johnathan Southworth Ritter was born on September 17, 1948, at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California. ^[3] Ritter had a birth defect known as a coloboma in his right eye. His father, Tex Ritter, was a singing cowboy and matinee star, and his mother, Dorothy Fay (née Southworth), was an actress. ^[4] He had an older brother, Thomas "Tom" Ritter. ^[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. ^[6] 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 1970. ^[7]

Career

Film and television

Ritter headlined several stage performances. After his graduation from USC in 1970, his first television acting experience was as a campus revolutionary in the television 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. Because 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 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 television special Ringo . In 1982, Ritter provided the voice of Peter Dickinson in the animated film The Flight of Dragons .

Ritter in 1988

Ritter became a household name on Three's Company, portraying struggling culinary student Jack Tripper with two female roommates. Ritter co-starred opposite Joyce DeWitt and Suzanne Somers, and then later Jenilee Harrison and Priscilla Barnes. Much of the comedy centered around Jack's pretending to be gay to keep the old-fashioned landlords appeased over the co-ed living arrangements. The series spent several seasons near the top of the ratings in the United States 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 available on DVD. During the run of Three's Company, Ritter 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 ^[8] and a Golden Globe Award for his work on Hooperman. Ritter won a People's Choice Award for this role. From 1992 to 1995, 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 co-starred with Jim Belushi in 1987's Real Men and played the lead role in Blake Edwards' 1989 film Skin Deep. He 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 television shows, such as Felicity , Ally McBeal, Scrubs, Buffy the Vampire Slayer , and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit . He also provided the voice of the title character in the animated children's show Clifford the Big Red Dog and its animated film adaptation Clifford's Really Big Movie (2004), 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 dedicated to his memory. At the time of his death, he was starring in 8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter. ^{[9] [10]}

Theater

In 2000, Ritter co-starred with Henry Winkler in Neil Simon's The Dinner Party at the Music Box Theatre on Broadway, portraying Claude Pichon. ^[11] It ran for 364 performances. Ritter won the Theatre World Award in 2001 for his performance in that work. ^[12] In 2003, Ritter made his final stage appearance in All About Eve at the Ahmanson Theatre.

J For J at LA's Court Theatre March 14-April 21, 2002. Starring John Ritter, Jeff Kober and Jenny Sullivan. Directed by Joseph Fuqua. Written by Jenny Sullivan. ^[13]

Personal life

On October 16, 1977, Ritter married actress Nancy Morgan, with whom he had three children: Jason ^{[14] [15]} Carly, and Tyler. ^[7] They divorced on September 1, 1996. ^[16] He married actress Amy Yasbeck on September 18, 1999, at the Murphy Theatre in Wilmington, Ohio. ^[17] They had a child born in 1998. ^[5] Yasbeck played his love interest in the first two Problem Child movies, though as two different characters. 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

Ritter's grave marker

On September 11, 2003, Ritter was rehearsing for 8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter on the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, California when he suddenly fell ill and began to experience problems with his heart. Sweating profusely, vomiting, and complaining of chest pain, he was taken across the street to the Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center at 6:00 pm. Ritter was initially treated by emergency room physicians for a heart attack; however, his condition quickly worsened. ^[18] Ritter was then diagnosed with aortic dissection and was taken into surgery, but was pronounced dead at 10:48 p.m., at the age of 54. ^{[3] [19]}

A private funeral for Ritter was held in Los Angeles on September 15, 2003, after which he was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills. ^{[20] [21]}

In 2008, Ritter's widow Amy Yasbeck, on behalf of herself and Ritter's children, filed lawsuits against doctors involved in Ritter's treatment and Providence St. Joseph Medical Center. The lawsuit against Providence St. Joseph was settled out of court for $9.4 million. ^[22] A $67 million wrongful-death lawsuit against two of the physicians, radiologist Matthew Lotysch and cardiologist Joseph Lee, went to trial. Yasbeck accused Lee, who treated Ritter on the day of his death, of misdiagnosing his condition as a heart attack 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. ^[23] 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 thus were not responsible for his death. ^{[24] [25]}

Response and legacy

Many of Ritter's colleagues expressed sorrow following the news of his death. 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 character J.D.'s father ^[26] (which Ritter did for two episodes and was slated to return for a third the week following his death). Katey Sagal testified in the wrongful death lawsuit, calling Ritter a "funny man who was funny like nobody's business". ^[27] His Three's Company co-star Joyce DeWitt remarked he was "impossible to forget. Impossible not to love". ^[28]

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 before 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 a 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. ^[29]

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. ^[30] Ritter's final films, Bad Santa and Clifford's Really Big Movie , along with a Season 4 episode of Scrubs (his character in this series died, as well), the Season 8 King of the Hill episode "Stressed for Success" (in which he played music teacher Eugene Grandy) and Stanley's Dinosaur Round-Up (in which he played Great Uncle Stew) were all dedicated to his memory. ^[31]

On June 6, 2008, Hollywood High School dedicated a mural of Ritter painted by Eloy Torrez. ^[32] 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	Notes
1971	The Barefoot Executive	Roger	Film debut
	Scandalous John	Wendell
1972	The Other	Rider
1973	The Stone Killer	Hart
1975	The Prisoner of Second Avenue	Elevator Passenger	Uncredited
1976	Nickelodeon	Franklin Frank
1977	Breakfast in Bed	Paul	Short film
1979	Americathon	President Chet Roosevelt
1980	Hero at Large	Steve Nichols
	Wholly Moses!	Satan (The Devil)
1981	They All Laughed	Charles Rutledge
1982	The Flight of Dragons	Peter Dickinson	Voice, direct-to-video
1987	Real Men	Bob Wilson, Agent Pillbox, CIA
1989	Skin Deep	Zachary "Zach" Hutton
1990	Problem Child	Benjamin "Ben" Healy Jr.
1991	Problem Child 2
	The Real Story of O Christmas Tree	Piney	Voice, direct-to-video
1992	Noises Off	Garry Lejeune, Roger Tramplemain
	Stay Tuned	Roy Knable
1994	North	Ward Nelson
1996	Sling Blade	Vaughan Cunningham
	Mercenary	Jonas Ambler	Direct-to-video
1997	Nowhere	Moses Helper
	A Gun, a Car, a Blonde	Duncan, The Bartender
	Hacks	Hank
1998	Montana	Dr. Wexler
	The Truth About Lying	Simon Barker
	Shadow of Doubt	Steven Mayer
	I Woke Up Early the Day I Died	Robert Forrest
	Bride of Chucky	Police Chief Warren Kincaid
2000	Panic	Dr. Josh Parks
	Tripfall	Tom Williams
	Lost in the Pershing Point Hotel	Christian Therapist
	Terror Tract	Bob Carter
	Tadpole	Stanley Grubman
2001	Nuncrackers	Narrator	Voice, direct-to-video
2002	Man of the Year	Bill
2003	Manhood	Eli
	Bad Santa	Bob Chipeska	Posthumous release; final live-action film
2004	Clifford's Really Big Movie	Clifford the Big Red Dog	Voice, posthumous release; dedicated in memory
2006	Stanley's Dinosaur Round-Up	Great Uncle Stew	Voice, posthumous release; final film role; dedicated in memory

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1967	The Dating Game	Contestant	Selected as the "Winning Bachelor"
1968	Crazy World, Crazy People	Various characters	TV special
1970	Dan August	Coley Smith	Episode: "Quadrangle for Death"
1971	Hawaii Five-O	Ryan Moore, Mike Welles	2 episodes
1972–1976	The Waltons	Rev. Matthew Fordwick	Recurring role (18 episodes)
1973	Medical Center	Ronnie	Episode: "End of the Line"
	Bachelor-at-Law	Ben Sykes	Unsold pilot
	M*A*S*H	Pvt. Carter	Episode: "Deal Me Out"
1974	Kojak	Kenny Soames	Episode: "Deliver Us Some Evil"
	Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law	Greg	Episode: "To Keep and Bear Arms"
	The Bob Newhart Show	Dave	Episode: "Sorry, Wrong Mother"
1975	Movin' On	Casey	Episode: "Landslide"
	Rhoda	Vince Mazuma	Episode: "Chest Pains"
	Mannix	Cliff Elgin	Episode: "Hardball"
	Great Performances	Richard	Episode: "Who's Happy Now?"
	The Bob Crane Show	Hornbeck	Episode: "Son of the Campus Capers"
	Petrocelli	John Oleson	Episode: "Chain of Command"
	Barnaby Jones	Joe Rockwell	Episode: "The Price of Terror"
	The Streets of San Francisco	John 'Johnny' Steiner	Episode: "Murder by Proxy"
	The Night That Panicked America	Walter Wingate	TV film
	The Mary Tyler Moore Show	Reverend Chatfield	Episode: "Ted's Wedding"
	The Rookies	Hap Dawson	Episode: "Reluctant Hero"
1976	Starsky & Hutch	Tom Cole	Episode: "The Hostages"
	Doc	Jeff, George	Episode: "A Little Bit of Soap"
	Rhoda	Jerry Blocker	Episode: "Attack on Mr. Right"
	Phyllis	Paul Jameson	Episode: "The New Job"
1977–1984	Three's Company	Jack Tripper	Lead role (174 episodes)
1977	The Love Boat	Dale Riley	Episode: "Oh, Dale"
	Tattletales	Himself (panelist)	Syndication
1978	Ringo	Marty Flesh	TV film
	Leave Yesterday Behind	Paul Stallings
	$25,000 Pyramid	Himself (panelist)	Syndication
1979	The Ropers	Jack Tripper	Episode: "The Party"
1980	The Associates	Chick	Episode: "The Censors"
	The Comeback Kid	Bubba Newman	TV film
	John Ritter: Being of Sound Mind and Body	Himself, Various Characters	TV special
1981	Insight	Frankie	Episode: "Little Miseries"
1982	Pray TV	Tom McPherson	TV film
	In Love with an Older Woman	Robert Christenberry
	The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show	Himself (guest star)	TV special
1983	Sunset Limousine	Alan O'Black	TV film
	The Love Boat	Ben Cummins	Episode: "The Emperor's Fortune"
1984	Love Thy Neighbor	Danny Loeb	TV film
	Pryor's Place	Himself (guest star)	Episode: "The Showoff"
1984–1985	Three's a Crowd	Jack Tripper	Lead role (22 episodes)
1985	Letting Go	Alex Schuster	TV film
1986	Unnatural Causes	Frank Coleman
	A Smoky Mountain Christmas	Judge Harold Benton
	Life with Lucy	Himself (guest star)	Episode: "Lucy Makes a Hit with John Ritter"
1987	The Last Fling	Phillip Reed	TV film
	Prison for Children	David Royce
1987–1989	Hooperman	Det. Harry Hooperman	Lead role (42 episodes)
1988	Mickey's 60th Birthday	Dudley Goode	TV special
	Tricks of the Trade	Donald Todsen	TV film
1989	Have Faith	Rick Shepherd	Episode: "The Window"
	My Brother's Wife	Barney Rusher	TV film
1990	It	Ben Hanscom	TV miniseries
	The Dreamer of Oz: The L. Frank Baum Story	L. Frank Baum	TV film
1991	The Cosby Show	Ray Evans	Episode: "Total Control"
	The Summer My Father Grew Up	Dr. Paul Saunders	TV film
	Anything but Love	Patrick Serreau	Recurring role (5 episodes)
1992	Fish Police	Inspector Gill	Voice, 6 episodes
1992–1995	Hearts Afire	John Hartman	Lead role (54 episodes)
1993	Heartbeat	Bill Grant	Television film
	The Only Way Out	Jeremy Carlisle [33]
	The Larry Sanders Show	Himself (guest star)	Episode: "Off Camera"
1994	Dave's World	John Hartman	Episode: "Please Won't You Be My Neighbor"
1995	Gramps	Clarke MacGruder	TV film
	The Colony	Rick Knowlton
	NewsRadio	Dr. Frank Westford	Episode: "The Shrink"
	The Larry Sanders Show	Himself (guest star)	Episode: "The Fourteenth Floor"
1996	Unforgivable	Paul Hegstrom	TV film
	Wings	Stuart Davenport	Episode: "Love Overboard"
	For Hope	Date #5	TV film (uncredited) [34]
	Touched by an Angel	Mike O'Connor, Tom McKinsley	2 episodes
1997	Loss of Faith	Bruce Simon Barker	TV film
	A Child's Wish	Ed Chandler
	Dead Man's Gun	Harry McDonacle	Segment: "The Great McDonacle"
	Over the Top	Justin Talbot	Episode: "The Nemesis"
	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	TV film
	Ally McBeal	George Madison	2 episodes
	Dead Husbands	Dr. Carter Elston	TV film
1999	Veronica's Closet	Tim	Episode: "Veronica's Favorite Year"
	Holy Joe	Rev. Joe Cass	TV film
	It Came from the Sky	Donald Bridges
	Lethal Vows	Dr. David Farris
2000–2003	Clifford the Big Red Dog	Clifford	Voice, main role
2000	Chicago Hope	Joe Dysmerski	Episode: "Simon Sez"
	Batman Beyond	Dr. David Wheeler	Voice, episode: "The Last Resort"
	Family Law	Father Andrews	Episode: "Possession is Nine Tenths of the Law"
2000–2002	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"
	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Dr. Richard Manning	Episode: "Monogamy"
	Breaking News	Lloyd Fuchs	Episode: "Pilot"
	Scrubs	Sam Dorian	2 episodes
2002–2003	8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter	Paul Hennessy	Lead role (31 episodes)

Video games

Year	Title	Role
2001	Clifford the Big Red Dog: Learning Activities [35]	Clifford
2002	Clifford the Big Red Dog: Musical Memory Games [36]
2003	Clifford the Big Red Dog: Phonics [37]

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
	2003
	2004
Primetime Emmy Awards	1978	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series	Three's Company
	1981
	1984			Won
	1988		Hooperman	Nominated
	1999	Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series	Ally McBeal
	2004	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series	8 Simple Rules
Golden Globe Awards	1979	Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy	Three's Company
	1980
	1984			Won
	1987	Best Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television	Unnatural Causes	Nominated
	1988	Best TV Actor in a Musical/Comedy	Hooperman
People's Choice Awards	1988	Favorite Male Performer in a New TV Program [38]	Hooperman	Won
Screen Actors Guild Awards	1997	Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture	Sling Blade (shared w/co-stars)	Nominated

• 1983: Star on the Walk of Fame – 6627 Hollywood Boulevard; he and Tex Ritter were the first father-and-son pair to be so honored in different categories.

References

1. Martin, Douglas (September 13, 2003). "John Ritter, 54, the Odd Man In 'Three's Company,' Is Dead". The New York Times . Retrieved March 17, 2008.
2. Braxton, Greg; King, Susan (September 13, 2003). "John Ritter, 54; Versatile Star of 'Three's Company,' '8 Simple Rules'". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved September 18, 2022.
3. "John Ritter: 1948–2003". People . September 18, 2003. Archived from the original on November 22, 2016. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
4. Gliatto, Tom (September 29, 2003). "Wonderful Company". People. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013.
5. "John Ritter Biography". Biography.com. n.d. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
6. "Actor John Ritter". February 11, 2022. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
7. Lipton, Michael A. (December 16, 2002). "Acting His Age". People. Archived from the original on November 7, 2014.
8. "John Ritter Emmy Nominated". Emmys.com. September 12, 2003. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
9. Yasharoff, Hannah (August 26, 2021). "Kaley Cuoco gets emotional recalling her onscreen dad John Ritter's death: 'He's gone'". USA Today. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
10. Susman, Gary (September 15, 2003). "What will become of John Ritter-less 8 Simple Rules?". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
11. Isherwood, Charles (October 20, 2000). "The Dinner Party". Variety . Retrieved September 1, 2021.
12. Hodges, Ben; Willis, John A., eds. (November 1, 2009). Theatre World 2008–2009: The Most Complete Record of the American Theatre. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN   978-1-4234-7369-5 . Retrieved July 16, 2013.
13. PLAYBILL, March 14, 2002
14. "Jason Ritter". Us Weekly . March 8, 2013. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
15. "Jason Ritter Biography". TV Guide . Retrieved December 12, 2014.
16. "John Ritter". CBS News. page 5. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
17. "John Ritter". CBS News. Page 10. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
18. "John Ritter's widow talks about wrongful death suit". USA Today. February 4, 2008.
19. Considine, Bob (February 4, 2008). "John Ritter's widow talks about wrongful death suit". Today . NBC. Archived from the original on December 5, 2014. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
20. Grace, Francie (September 16, 2003). "John Ritter's Family Says Goodbye". CBS News .
21. "Where Celebrities Are Buried in LA". KCBS News. September 30, 2013.
22. Ornstein, Charles (January 24, 2008). "Ritter's family says he didn't have to die". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on January 27, 2008. Retrieved February 29, 2008.
23. Deutsch, Linda (April 2, 2008). "John Ritter's family seeks $67M in medical trial". USA Today . Retrieved November 7, 2014.
24. "Trial Begins Over John Ritter's Death". ABC News . Associated Press. February 11, 2008. Archived from the original on July 16, 2013. Retrieved February 29, 2008.
25. Ryan, Joal (March 14, 2008). "Jury Clears Ritter Doctors". E! News . Retrieved February 3, 2020.
26. "John Ritter Dies at 54". Extra . September 12, 2003. Archived from the original on April 6, 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2013.
27. Hammel, Sara (February 27, 2008). "Katey Sagal Testifies in John Ritter's Wrongful Death Trial". People .
28. "DeWitt: Ritter 'so full of joy and love'". CNN . September 16, 2003. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
29. Chung, Jen (September 15, 2003). "Three's Company Marathon". Gothamist. Archived from the original on October 17, 2015. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
30. Lammers, Tim (September 20, 2004). "'Angels,' 'Sopranos' Win Big at Emmys". KGTV News. Archived from the original on March 7, 2012. Retrieved February 29, 2008. 'I'd like to take a minute to pay respect to John Ritter and his family,' Grammer said the actor who received a posthumous nomination in the category. 'He was a terrific guy and his death was a shock to all of us. He will be missed not only for his kindness but for his work.'
31. Kennedy, Louise (April 23, 2004). "Clifford's 'Big Movie' will charm his small TV fans". The Boston Globe . Retrieved February 29, 2008. ...Clifford (voiced, as on TV, by the late John Ritter, to whom the movie is fittingly dedicated)...
32. "John Ritter photo added to mural". The Hollywood Reporter . Associated Press. June 5, 2008. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
33. Everett, Todd (December 15, 1993). "Abc Sunday Night Movie the Only Way Out". Variety. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
34. Brennan, Patricia (November 17, 1996). "FOR HOPE". The Washington Post . ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved August 11, 2020.
35. Clifford the Big Red Dog Learning Activities. Scholastic. Retrieved September 21, 2017. "Features popular characters and voices from the hit TV show"
36. Clifford the Big Red Dog: Musical Memory Games (CD ROM) CD-ROM – January 1, 2002
37. John Ritter. Moby Games. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
38. "14th People's Choice Awards 1988 Nominees and Winners". Archived from the original on June 17, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2022.

Further reading

• Yasbeck, Amy (2010). With Love and Laughter, John Ritter . New York: Gallery Books. ISBN   978-1-4165-9841-1.

External links

• Biography portal
• California portal
• Film portal
• Television portal

• John Ritter at IMDb  
• John Ritter at the TCM Movie Database
• John Ritter at Rotten Tomatoes
• John Ritter at AllMovie
• John Ritter at the Internet Broadway Database
• John Ritter at Emmys.com
• John Ritter's Death at Famously Dead
• John Ritter Foundation
• John Ritter’s Life-Saving Rules
• John Ritter Research Program in Aortic and Vascular Diseases