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Ritter dies at 54
Published:
Monday, September 15, 2003
Hal Boedeker
The Orlando Sentinel (KRT)
Most actors detest docudramas about their lives. Not John Ritter. He praised an NBC film earlier this year about "Three's Company," befriended the actor who played him and saluted former co-star Joyce DeWitt, who co-produced the tell-all about the ABC sitcom.
"The thing I loved was what Joyce said at the end," Ritter said in a phone interview this spring. "With all that's been said and done, we all do care about each other. This movie tries to highlight the dark side, but it was so much fun. We knew how much fun we were having."
Ritter, who helped turn "Three's Company" into one of the biggest hits of 1970s and 1980s, died Thursday from a heart problem that had gone undetected. His publicist cited a dissection of the aorta as the cause. Ritter would have turned 55 next week.
His death threw into doubt the future of his current sitcom, "8 Simple Rules ... for Dating My Teenage Daughter." Ritter became ill on the set Thursday and later died at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Calif.
He is survived by his wife, actress Amy Yasbeck, and their daughter, Stella, who turned 5 Thursday. He had three grown children from a previous marriage: Jason, Carly and Tyler.
The Tuesday series was a modest success when it debuted last season, but ABC executives trumpeted it as a sign of the broadcaster's turnaround. A network statement read: "All of us at ABC, Touchstone Television and the Walt Disney Co. are shocked and heartbroken at the terrible news of John's passing."
His death is a major blow to the Disney-owned network because, quite simply, he was the show as well-meaning but exasperated father Paul Hennessy. His passing raised speculation: How do they continue with the show? And could any actor replace Ritter?
Wonderful irony was in the casting of Ritter on "8 Simple Rules": Hennessy spent his time protecting his two daughters from bumbling skirt-chasers like Tripper.
Many critics initially dismissed "Three's Company" as a lewd farce for its double entendres and racy situations. It looks pretty tame today, but Ritter's brilliant work keeps it entertaining. He won an Emmy as best comedy actor in 1984.
On the sitcom that ran from 1977 to 1984, the lusty Tripper was roommates with two women, Janet Wood (DeWitt) and Chrissy Snow (Suzanne Somers). The series often made headlines for Somers' squabbles with producers for more money. She was written out of the show in 1981.
Ritter reveled in his success but never played the prima donna. Born Sept. 17, 1948, he was the son of singing cowboy Tex Ritter, and he understood the ways of show business.
In a 1991 interview with the Orlando Sentinel, he talked about his film "Problem Child." "It's a movie the critics loved to hate and the public loved to see," he said.
Then he was shooting "Problem Child 2" in Orlando, and he didn't seem concerned about the critical reception for it. "This movie, while it's fun to do, is not something I take seriously," he said. "What I care about are other projects that I invest a lot more in."
He continued playing Tripper in the short-lived ABC spinoff "Three's a Crowd" in 1984-85. In other major series roles, he was a minister on "The Waltons," a police detective on "Hooperman" and a senator's legislative assistant on "Heart's Afire."
The hard-working Ritter amassed many credits. He had a recurring role on "Felicity," appeared in the miniseries "Stephen King's It" and made guest appearances on "The Cosby Show" and "Anything But Love," which he also produced. His numerous TV movies included "The Dreamer of Oz," "Love Thy Neighbor," "My Brother's Wife" and "The Last Fling."
His big-screen movie credits ranged from "Sling Blade," "Noises Off" and "They All Laughed" to "Bride of Chucky." He went to Broadway to star in "The Dinner Party" with his good friend Henry Winkler.
Ritter appeared in ABC's celebration of its 50th anniversary in the spring and recalled that he met Winkler at the 25th anniversary shindig.
"He was the Fonz, and I was just starting out in my show," Ritter said. "That night I was so happy to be in the door. I was happy to rent a tuxedo."
Ritter described the 50th anniversary celebration as poignant for him, because it was at the Pantages Theatre, where his father had sung "High Noon" ("Do Not Forsake Me," "Oh My Darlin") during the Oscar telecast in 1953.
"It had an old-time feel, touching and fun," he said of the ABC event. "It's so typically American, this feeling of 'it means a lot to us, but we see the humor.' We've been hit and miss, but we've been coming at you 50 years. It's really impressive."
Most actors would ignore docudramas about themselves, but Ritter praised the NBC movie "Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Three's Company.'" "I thought it was an amazing, energetic production and captured the 1970s," Ritter said.
He raved over the actor playing him, Bret Anthony, and said they had become friends. Although Ritter complained that scenes between co-star Somers and her husband Alan Hamel were "creepy" and "unfair," Ritter liked the movie.
Back then, ABC executives offered "huge and extensive" notes about what to fix on "Three's Company," Ritter said. "Whoever got the shortest straw had to be the representative with the network."
But there were no hard feelings. "We did all right by the network, and the network did all right by us," Ritter said.
