John Ritter Movies and Career Information

Johnathan Southworth "John" Ritter (September 17, 1948 – September 11, 2003) was an American actor, voice over artist and comedian perhaps best known for playing Jack Tripper and Paul Hennessy in the ABC sitcoms Three's Company and 8 Simple Rules respectively. Don Knotts called him the "Greatest physical comedian on the planet". Ritter's final films Bad Santa, Clifford's Really Big Movie and Stanley's Dinosaur Round-Up were all dedicated in his memory. John Ritter was born in Burbank, California, the son of Dorothy Fay (née Southworth), an actress, and singing cowboy/matinee-star Tex Ritter. He attended Hollywood High School, where he was Student Body President. He went on to the University of Southern California, where he was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) fraternity, and majored in psychology and minored in architecture. Ritter headlined several stage performances before he was made a star by appearing in the hit sitcom Three's Company (the Americanized version of the 1970s British Thames Television series Man About the House) in 1977, playing a single ladies' man and culinary student, Jack Tripper, who lives with two female roommates. The females originally were Janet