Trivia
Attended Hollywood High, graduating in 1966.
Married Amy Yasbeck in Wilmington, Ohio. The two had lived together for a couple of years. [18 September 1999]
During an interview on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien", Ritter claimed that he chose the name "Vaughan Cunningham" for his character in "Sling Blade" based on an in-joke with the cast of Happy Days.
He appeared as a contestant on The Dating Game in 1967.
He was a scout (but not an Eagle).
Studied acting with Stella Adler and Nina Foch.
Studied four years at the Harvey Lembeck Comedy Workshop.
Attended the University of Southern California, where he graduated with bachelor of fine arts in theater arts in 1971.
Starred with wife Amy in an episode of The Cosby Show 10 years prior to their marriage. Coincidently they played a husband and wife expecting their first child.
Member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.
His talent for physical schtick was heralded by TV's top comedy icon Lucille Ball, who hosted a tribute to John's talent on "Three's Company." John later appeared in an episode of Lucille's last comedy series "Life with Lucy." In that episode, Lucy claims that during the shooting of a scene, it was the third time in her entire career that she had to yell "cut" because he broke her up laughing.
His father, cowboy star Tex Ritter, tried to steer him away from an acting career but lived long enough to rejoice in seeing him in a recurring role on "The Waltons," which was Tex's favorite TV program.
Has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame next to that of his father.
Was rehearsing lines with fellow actor Henry Winkler when he collapsed and died soon afterwards.
One of John's last public appearances was at Disney's Prime Time Weekend at Disney's California Adventure Park, 4 days before his death.
Was the first guest of the Wayne Brady Show
Died in the same hospital he was born in.
His older brother, Tom, has Cerebral Palsy. He helped with the telethon in aid of the disease.
At the same time he entered Hollywood High School, he fell in love with The Beatles.
He beat out 50 actors, including Billy Crystal to star in "Three's Company."
His favorite musical group was The Beatles and he even appeared on Ringo Starr's TV special Ringo in 1978!
Paul Hennessy, Ritter's character on "8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter" (2002), was ranked #48 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" [20 June 2004 issue].
Buried at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, 6300 Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles, California (actually borders Glendale and Griffith Park). Lot 1622 Court of Liberty near Stan Laurel's gravesite.
Was nominated for an Emmy, for best actor in a comedy, for "8 Simple Rules" one year after his death, after only appearing in 3 episodes.
Died one day before the death of country music legend Johnny Cash. Incidentally, his father, Tex, had written several songs for Johnny during the 50s and 60s.
Ended 20 year rift with his "Three's Company" (1977) co-star Suzanne Somers shortly before his death.
On an episode of _"8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter" (2002)_ , he and the cast did a spoof of his classic TV Series, "Three's Company" (1977). In the spoof, he played Mr. Roper, Katey Sagal played Helen Roper, Kaley Cuoco and Amy Davidson played Janet and Chrissy respectively, Billy Aaron Brown played Jack and Martin Spanjers played Larry. At the end of the episode, Don Knotts who played Mr. Furley in "Three's Company," reprised his role in one short scene. It was, not surprisingly, Ritter's favorite episode.
In "Three's Company" (1977) and "Three's a Crowd" (1984), he played a straight man pretending to be gay. In Perceptions (2005), his son, Jason Ritter, played a gay man pretending to be straight.
His final film, Bad Santa (2003), was dedicated to his memory.
After his death, the Sept 29 issue of People Magazine featured 2 different covers - issues distributed to the central and southwest US (except Florida) showed Johnny Cash who had also recently passed away, the rest displayed a photo of John Ritter taken by veteran photojournalist Michael Germana. Appropriately, he was waving goodbye.
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