John Ritter

John Ritter, born Johnathan Southworth Ritter on September 17, 1948, at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California, was an American actor whose career spanned film, television, and stage. His father, Tex Ritter (1905–1974), was a singing cowboy and film star, and his mother, Dorothy Fay (née Southworth; 1915–2003), was an actress. He had an older brother, Thomas Ritter. Ritter is the father of actors Jason and Tyler Ritter. He died on September 11, 2003.

Ritter attended Hollywood High School, where he served as student body president. As a teenager, a projectile struck his right eye while he was riding in a car, permanently injuring it and leaving him with only peripheral vision in that eye for the remainder of his life. He enrolled at the University of Southern California, initially majoring in psychology with the intention of pursuing a career in politics before switching to theater arts at the USC School of Dramatic Arts. He was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity at USC and, while still a student, traveled to the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and West Germany to perform in plays. He also studied acting at the Stella Adler Academy and graduated from USC in 1970. He additionally studied acting at the Stella Adler Academy.

Following his graduation, Ritter made his television debut playing a campus revolutionary in the series Dan August, which starred Burt Reynolds and Norman Fell. His film debut came in the 1971 Disney production The Barefoot Executive. He made guest appearances on Hawaii Five-O, M*A*S*H, and other series, and held a recurring role as Reverend Matthew Fordwick on The Waltons from October 1972 to December 1976. He departed that role to star in Three's Company, the ABC sitcom that ran from 1977 to 1984, in which he portrayed culinary student Jack Tripper alongside Joyce DeWitt, Suzanne Somers, Jenilee Harrison, and Priscilla Barnes. For that role, Ritter received a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award in 1984. He briefly continued as the character in the spin-off Three's a Crowd, which produced 22 episodes before its cancellation in 1985.

During the run of Three's Company, Ritter appeared in the films Hero at Large, Americathon, and They All Laughed. In 1982, he provided the voice of Peter Dickinson in the animated film The Flight of Dragons. After Three's Company, he starred in Hooperman, for which he received Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations in 1988, as well as a People's Choice Award. From 1992 to 1995, he appeared in three seasons of Hearts Afire as John Hartman, an aide to a U.S. Senator, alongside Markie Post and Billy Bob Thornton. His film credits include Problem Child (1990), Problem Child 2 (1991), the 1996 Oscar-winning film Sling Blade alongside Thornton, and Bad Santa (2003), his final live-action film, which was dedicated to his memory. He also co-starred with Jim Belushi in Real Men (1987) and appeared in Blake Edwards' Skin Deep (1989). Ritter appeared in the film adaptation of Noises Off, having also played Garry Lejeune/Roger Tramplemain in the 1992 stage production. He made guest appearances on Felicity, Ally McBeal, Scrubs, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. From 2000 to 2003, he voiced the title character on the PBS children's program Clifford the Big Red Dog, receiving four Daytime Emmy Award nominations for the role. At the time of his death, he was starring as Paul Hennessy on the ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules (2002–2003).

In 2000, Ritter made his Broadway debut in Neil Simon's The Dinner Party at the Music Box Theatre, co-starring with Henry Winkler and portraying the character Claude Pichon. The production ran for 364 performances. For this performance, Ritter received the Theatre World Award in 2001. His stage work also included a production of J For J at LA's Court Theatre from March 14 to April 21, 2002, alongside Jeff Kober and Jenny Sullivan, directed by Joseph Fuqua and written by Sullivan. In 2003, Ritter made his final stage appearance in All About Eve at the Ahmanson Theatre.

On October 16, 1977, Ritter married actress Nancy Morgan, with whom he had three children. They divorced in 1996. In 1998, he and actress Amy Yasbeck welcomed a daughter, and the two married the following year at the Murphy Theatre in Wilmington, Ohio. Yasbeck had appeared opposite Ritter in the first two Problem Child films and in two sitcom guest appearances. Ritter died on September 11, 2003, in Burbank, California, after falling ill while rehearsing for 8 Simple Rules on the Walt Disney Studios lot.