RIP John Ritter

[moe.ron]

'Three's Company' actor John Ritter dies of 54

Actor John Ritter, who starred in the sitcom "Three's Company" in the 1970s and early '80s has died, according to news reports.
ABC News and MSNBC reported the death shortly after 4:30 a.m. this morning. Details of his death were not immediately available.

Ritter, 54, son of country singer and actor Tex Ritter, recently starred in ABC's "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter."

Jonathan Southworth Ritter was born in Burbank, Calif., on Sept. 17, 1948.

John was enrolled at Hollywood High School, where he was a student body president, and later attended the University of Southern California, where he majored in Psychology and minored in Architecture.

After taking an acting class he changed his major to Theater Arts, graduating in 1971 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Drama.

He also studied acting with Stella Adler at the Harvey Lembeck Comedy Workshop. Between 1968 and 1969, he appeared in a series of stage plays in England, Scotland, Holland and in Germany.

He is survived by his wife, actress Amy Yasbeck, and four children.

[KDbutterfly]

That is so awful!! He was so young! I wonder what happend I loved watching Three's Company. I didn't understand most of the jokes since I only watched the re-runs in the late 80's, but I still loved to watch. I'm so sad about this

[KDbutterfly]

This, according to Reuters was how he died:

Ritter collapsed on Thursday evening while filming "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter," the ABC television comedy which had reinvigorated his career and was a centerpiece of the network's upcoming fall season.


He was taken to Providence St. Joseph hospital in Burbank, California, across from the studio where he had been working.


There he died from a "dissection of the aorta," which results from an unrecognized flaw in a main artery from the heart, his publicists, Wolf-Kasteler & Associates Public Relations, said.

[SuperSister]

How sad! My heart goes out to his family, it must be devastating to lose a family member so unexpectedly like that.

[CrimsonTide4]

OMG!!! The other night I couldn't sleep and watched 3's Company for a little while. I actually enjoyed his new show.

[wishuponastar]

May he rest in peace... my prayers are with his family...

ETA: He was a Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) at USC (Southern Cal) as well. My thoughts and prayers are also with his greek family

[mmcat]

how sad...
he was a talent.

[xok85xo]

i saw this on the news this morning and was just in shock..it was so very sudden...i grew up watching three's company in reruns, and now i watch it every night when i go to sleep...while up until the past year or so his career was more or less dormant, he will most certainly be misse.d

[ZTAngel]

Wow...he was so young. May he rest in peace.

[MereMere21]

wow a dissection of the Aorta basically means his artery exploded - thats a quick, but awful way to die

may he rest in peace

[justamom]

Funny man! Agree, great talent. Now AOL is showing Johnny Cash died.

Sometimes people take for granted that they're going to live till an old age and then you hear about someone passing at 54. For most of us, me, anyway...our parents are around that age.

Just goes to show that you don't know when your time's up.

So sad. I know he'll still be making people laugh where he is now.

[Dionysus]

I grew up watching him on 3's Company.

Yeah OTW, that's pretty scary, my parents are close to his age, I can't imagine it happening to either of them.

[thetakates]

This is so sad! I heard about him and Johnny Cash when I woke up this morning. I loved his new show because it was so true to life about what it is like with dads and daughters. My mother and brother were so upset this mornign when I call them! We watch the show all the time together. Watching Threes Company will never be the same.

[tinydancer]

Oh, what sad news. He was such a funny man, and I think rather unappreciated. Makes me feel even worse that he was close to MY age!
A totally unexpected shock.