John Ritter dies (1 Viewer)

[Ricardo C]

This is a huge shock :frowning: I loved him in "Three's Company" when I was a kid, and last year was in awe of his dramatic turn as Ben's alcoholic dad in "Felicity". Truly a great, and very underrated, actor.

"Please, call me Colonel"

He definitely made "8 Simple Rules..." a hit. And even if a DVD collection of the show seems like a crass cash-in, I'll buy it, if only to better remember the man's talents.

Rest easy, John :frowning:

 

[Randy Korstick]

I'm very saddened by this.
Rest in peace John.
Add me to the list of Real Men fans as well as Stay Tuned.
Although most of his movies weren't great they were always enjoyable because he was in them.

Threes Company and 8 Simple Rules are both great though and must buys when DVD's are available.

 

[Kevin M]

This is one of the most unexpected celebrity deaths as I have heard of for a while....damn. My heart goes out to his family and co-workers.

 

[Michael Ballack]

I don't think this has been mentioned yet, but I also liked him in Bride of Chucky. I was used to him in the comedic role and it was very strange(in a good way) to see him in a horror film. Jesus, the guy was close to my mom's age.

R.I.P. John Ritter.

 

[Steve_Ch]

Echo what a lot of folks already said, woke up, scroll the news, and I had to do a double take, just could not beleive it, what a shock and sad day.. Mr. Ritter, you WILL be missed, RIP.

 

[TonyD]

he was good in SLING BLADE as well.

 

[Danny Tse]

What his "Three's Company" costars said after they heard the bad news (from E! Online)....

(Joyce) DeWitt's rep released a statement Friday saying: "Joyce is shocked and heartbroken and so sad for his family. She cannot find words to express her sorrow. Such a great loss to the joy in the world."

Meanwhile, (Suzanne) Somers, who was interviewed on Fox's Good Day Live, said she burst into tears when she heard the news. "So much was said about what [conflict we had] when we worked together, but I just loved John Ritter, and I loved John Ritter when we worked together."

Richard Kline, who played Larry on the sudsy sitcom, also released a statement saying: "John was a dear friend and someone who's talent I idolized. My life and my work was enriched by knowing him. The world has lost one of it's funniest people. My heart goes out to Amy, the children, his brother Tom and mother Dorothy. I will miss him deeply."

And according to the article, the stock value of Disney (ABC's parent company) dropped 2% today on the news of John's untimely passing.

 

[Peter Kline]

I believe John made his starring movie debut in the comedy "They All Laughed" released in 1981. It, unfortunately, is unavailable on DVD. Directed by Peter Bogdanovich it also stars:

Audrey Hepburn (her final film I believe)
Ben Gazzara
Dorothy Stratten (she died shortly after the release)

 

[Danny Tse]

Peter Bogdanovich and Henry Winkler (The Fonz ) were the guest stars in the episode of "8 Rules..." John was taping when he became ill. Little did they know....

I believe Audrey Hepburn's final film was "Always".

 

[Chris Lockwood]

Did John do more than one Buffy episode? I recently watched the DVD with the "Ted" episode, & there were no extras that he was in.

Yeah, I realize Ted was destroyed, but maybe he played another character in another episode.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I believe that was John's only appearance on Buffy.

Take a look at the listing for John on IMDB, he not only had success as leads in shows, but he did a lot of guest appearances too. I had totally forgotten about Hooperman until I saw the name of the show in the IMDB listing. He was a talented and funny guy.

 

[Scott Thomas]

In addition to "8 simple rules" he also played Zach Braff's dad on "Scrubs".
I am so heartbroken about this news

 

[Greg_S_H]

Thanks for the reaction of his Three's Company co-stars, Danny.

He was the heart of Three's Company, and he managed to make even the weakest episodes watchable. Like others here, I have also always loved Hero at Large. I think it's fair to say he's one of TV's biggest stars, as enough was thought of him that he had five somewhat (to very) successful sitcoms:

Three's Company
Three's a Crowd
Hooperman
Hearts Afire
8 Simple Rules

Thanks for the laughs, John.

 

[mike_frontier]

Even thou John Ritter is gone from this world... in my heart he will always be around. He will be missed but in heaven I know he is looking down at us to see whom the next actor(s) that will follow his lead.

He was such an funny character/person then and still is.

John RIP

 

[Lee Jamilkowski]

According to EpGuides, 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter's second season premiere was taped on Friday, August 29, 2003. So, assuming they do an episode a week, that means they would have been filming the season's third episode today.

 

[MikeH1]

RIP John. My first childhood TV hero is gone :frowning:

 

[Scott Weinberg]

While we're recalling John's memorable stints on various TV shows and movies, I'd like to mention a rather amusing little farce he starred in called Noises Off! It's a silly but altogether entertaining little comedy - and one I hope we can get on DVD some time soon.

And I'd like to echo everyone else's sentiments about Ritter's perpetual presence on several various TV shows. From Larry Sanders and Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Scrubs and Felicity...

I know that whenever John Ritter's name would pop up as a "guest star" on any TV show, there were millions of people who'd quietly think "Oooh, John Ritter's in this episode?? Cool!"

He might not have been a massive superstar, but it's clear that he was loved by many. He will be greatly missed.

 

[Clint B]

Damn. That's all I can say right now. RIP, John

 

[Jeff(R)]

Rest in peace, John.

I saw a hilarious episode of Conan Obrien about a month ago. It was a repeat -- I don't know the original air date. But it featured as guests: Ted Nugent who sat in with the band, Dana Carvey, and John Ritter. Needless to say, with that combination of nuttiness, this show was insanely hilarious, looney, and wacky.

I recall that when John Came out, he told Dana that his wife wanted an autograph for their children, and that they loved his Turtle character.

During the interview John described the story of the now infamous Three's Company episode where an unmentionable part fell out of his boxer shorts - discovered recently by a Nick viewer with freeze frame and too much time on his hands, that has since been edited for future airings.

The Conan show ended with Ted Nugent attempting to cook a food recipe from his book "Kill It & Grill It" while John, Dana and Conan "helped." It was a great moment and I hope that they are able to insert some footage of this into Conan's upcoming 10 year anniversary prime time special.

Jeff

 

[Michael Allred]

Count me in as a fan of "Real Men" too (if you haven't seen the software section yet.) Shame that MGM is releasing it full frame only on DVD.

I'd also like to chime in on "Noises Off", Ritter starred with the likes of Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve, and Carol Burnett in that wonderfully silly film.

As others have said, RIP John.