Age, Biography, and Wiki
John Ritter was born on September 17, 1948, and passed away on September 11, 2003, at the age of 54. He was an American actor, comedian, and voice-over artist, celebrated for his deft comedic timing and versatility. Ritter's career spanned over three decades, with notable roles in over 100 films and television shows, including "Three's Company" and "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter" .
| Occupation | Voice Actors |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 17 September 1948 |
| Age | 76 Years |
| Birth Place | Burbank, California, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Virgo |
| Country | U.S |
| Date of death | 11 September, 2003 |
| Died Place | Burbank, California, U.S. |
Height, Weight & Measurements
Unfortunately, specific details about John Ritter's height and weight are not widely documented. However, his physical presence and comedic expressions were integral to his acting style.
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Dating & Relationship Status
John Ritter was married twice, first to Nancy Morgan from 1977 to 1996 and then to Amy Yasbeck from 1999 until his death in 2003. He had four children from these marriages.
Johnathan Southworth Ritter (September 17, 1948 – September 11, 2003) was an American comedian and actor. He was a son of the singing cowboy star Tex Ritter and the father of actors Jason and Tyler Ritter. He is best 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.
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 "Tom" Ritter. Ritter attended Hollywood High School, where he was student body president. While a teenager, Ritter's right eye was permanently injured by a projectile flying into the car in which he was riding. This resulted in his right pupil having a strange appearance and only having peripheral vision in that eye for the rest of his life. Ritter 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 1970.
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 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 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.
Ritter starred in many television films, 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.
On October 16, 1977, Ritter married actress Nancy Morgan, with whom he had three children: Jason, Carly and Tyler. They divorced on September 1, 1996. He married actress Amy Yasbeck on September 18, 1999, at the Murphy Theatre in Wilmington, Ohio. They had a son, Noah, born in 1998, five years to the day before Ritter's death. Yasbeck played his love interest in the first two Problem Child films, 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.
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: sweating profusely, vomiting, and complaining of chest pain. He was taken across the street to the Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center (the same hospital where he had been born) at 6:00 pm. Ritter was initially treated by emergency room physicians for an assumed heart attack; however, his condition quickly worsened. Ritter was then diagnosed with aortic dissection and taken into surgery, but was pronounced dead at 10:48 p.m., at the age of 54.
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 (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". His Three's Company co-star Joyce DeWitt remarked he was "Impossible to forget. Impossible not to love."
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.
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 his performances as the title character of Frasier. Upon accepting his trophy, Grammer's remarks included comments made in tribute and remembrance of Ritter. 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.
* 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.
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| Husband | Nancy Morgan (m. 1977-1996) Amy Yasbeck (m. 1999) |
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Net Worth and Salary
At the time of his death in 2003, John Ritter had a net worth of approximately $20 million. This wealth was accumulated from his successful career in television and film, particularly from his long-running sitcoms and various movie roles .
Since John Ritter passed away in 2003, there is no updated net worth for him in 2025. However, his legacy continues to be celebrated through reruns of his shows and other media.
Career, Business, and Investments
Ritter's career began in the early 1970s, but it was his breakout role as Jack Tripper in "Three's Company" from 1977 to 1984 that catapulted him to fame. He also had a successful stint on Broadway and appeared in numerous films. Notably, he was involved in various business ventures, though specific details about investments are not widely documented.
John Ritter was not involved in any stock trading or corporate positions like some other individuals with similar names, such as a John Ritter who was involved with EESTech Inc .
Social Network
Given that John Ritter passed away before the widespread use of modern social networks, he did not have an active presence on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
Education
John Ritter attended Hollywood High School in Los Angeles and later studied psychology at the University of Southern California (USC) for two years before deciding to pursue acting.
In summary, John Ritter's legacy as a beloved actor and comedian continues to be celebrated today, with his work remaining popular across various media platforms.
On June 6, 2008, Hollywood High School dedicated a mural of Ritter painted by Eloy Torrez. 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.
