# John Ritter died?! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 12, 2003, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-ritter-died/201169 "2003-09-12T09:53:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-ritter-died/201169/1 "2003-09-12T09:53:01Z")
[Link](http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/12/ritter.obit/index.html) > [@](#): > > (CNN) – Actor and comedian John Ritter has died unexpectedly after he was rushed to the hospital for a “dissection of the aorta,” his publicist Lisa Kasteler told CNN. > > In a statement, Kasteler said Ritter was rushed to the hospital after suffering from an unrecognized and undetected flaw in his aorta. > > Surgeons at the hospital tried to save the Emmy Award-winning actor but were unable to do so, the statement said. That is so sad! I did my hourly check of CNN, saw the headline and said “_What?!_” My first thought, honestly, was that it must have been an accident or an assault. Shame that someone who was known for playing a big-hearted guy actually had a weak physical heart. R.I.P., John. ---
**Author:** ![MrSarcasticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@MrSarcasticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSarcasticus)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-ritter-died/201169/2 "2003-09-12T09:57:35Z")
and now Johnny Cash… ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-ritter-died/201169/3 "2003-09-12T10:03:37Z")
Oh man that sucks. I just watched his biography a couple days ago and thought he was a true class act. His underrated acting chops were on fine display in Sling Blade. And I’m (was?!) a big fan of 8 Simple Rules, almost exclusively because of him. What a shame. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-ritter-died/201169/4 "2003-09-12T10:11:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MrSarcasticus \* > \*\*and now Johnny Cash… \*\* Johnny Cash? But yesterday (well, day before by now) they said he was out of the hospital and in stable condition! ---
**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-ritter-died/201169/5 "2003-09-12T10:11:22Z")
I can’t believe it!! I just saw that on CNN. That’s awful. He was so young. BTW, people can live normal lives without any signs that they have aortic aneurisms…then one day for no reason, it can dissect, and that person is a goner. Even if you’re right at a hospital. I took care of a kid that was walking in his hospital room fine as you please, then collapsed and died within several minutes before we could get him to surgery. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-ritter-died/201169/6 "2003-09-12T10:20:58Z")
I am really, really sad. I always liked him. A friend of mine worked on a TV show that Ritter did. (“Hooperman,” I think it was.) She thought very highly of him. He must have been a really sweet guy. ---
**Author:** ![JRootabega](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e7dd6/32.png) [@JRootabega](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRootabega)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-ritter-died/201169/7 "2003-09-12T10:26:31Z")
Oh man. He was likeable and funny. And he got the shaft dying at the same time as Johnny Cash. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-ritter-died/201169/8 "2003-09-12T10:33:11Z")
Okay, I believe you now about Johnny Cash, since I saw a thread with link in MPSIMS. You know, it’s not necessarily being “shafted” to die at the same time as someone else. Charles Schulz and Tom Landry passed on the same day, but they got equal notice. (I have an editorial cartoon that shows Landry and Charlie Brown walking through the pearly gates together; Landry pats CB’s shoulder and says, “Now, son, a few pointers on kicking a football…”) ---
**Author:** ![dragongirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b38774/32.png) [@dragongirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragongirl)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-ritter-died/201169/9 "2003-09-12T10:34:31Z")
I just heard about both of them. How sad. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-ritter-died/201169/10 "2003-09-12T10:37:01Z")
Okay, and now Cash has the lead story on CNN. Must have taken them a few minutes to get it ready. (Not much more than a few minutes, of course, since they knew he was sick.) ---
**Author:** ![JRootabega](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e7dd6/32.png) [@JRootabega](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRootabega)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-ritter-died/201169/11 "2003-09-12T10:37:58Z")
I agree, just joking. ---
**Author:** ![JRootabega](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e7dd6/32.png) [@JRootabega](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRootabega)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-ritter-died/201169/12 "2003-09-12T10:38:35Z")
About the shaft part. Not the sad part, or the agreeing part. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-ritter-died/201169/13 "2003-09-12T10:41:06Z")
Okay! ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-ritter-died/201169/14 "2003-09-12T10:47:33Z")
Oh no! I saw him on Broadway in THE DINNER PARTY and always thought he deserved more credit than he got for the sitcoms, although he always brought depth to his characters no matter how they were written. So sad for his wife and kids, and of course 8 SIMPLE RULES is over. As for the aortic problem, one of my mom’s friends lost a healthy mountain-climbing 32-year-old daughter with this condition. Totally unexpected and devastating. Not as surprised about Johnny Cash, who lived so hard, but it’s a shame that he seemed to be recovering. It’s amazing how often people die near their spouse’s death. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-ritter-died/201169/15 "2003-09-12T10:52:53Z")
I’m surprised at how much this saddens me. I just saw Slingblade again Sunday, and I thought his performance was the best in the movie. It was just so subtile and layered. I am shocked. It’s a sad day. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-ritter-died/201169/16 "2003-09-12T11:45:34Z")
That is so sad! Johnny Cash was ill, but my goodness, what a voice. Well, he and June will be serenading the angels now. And John Ritter!!! My God…he was so young! How exactly does one get a dissected aorta? ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-ritter-died/201169/17 "2003-09-12T11:45:35Z")
He was a brilliant actor and it showed, even though most people know him only from sitcoms. I’m with singular1 here - I thought he was brilliant in Sling Blade. ---
**Author:** ![mug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@mug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mug)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-ritter-died/201169/18 "2003-09-12T11:51:41Z")
I was truly shocked. I had expected many more years of enjoying watching John on the screen. Loved him as the robot on ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’. Rest in peace. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-ritter-died/201169/19 "2003-09-12T11:54:20Z")
I am in total shock. I fell in love with John when he played the minister on the Waltons. Loved Three’s Company, Three’s A Crowd, Hooperman (his best series, I don’t know why it didn’t last) and even watched 8 Simple Rules solely because of him. I saw him on Broadway in The Dinner Party, where he was magnificent. Talked to him at the stage door afterwards. He seemed very nice and gracious, just like the characters he played. I think that growing up as the son of Tex Ritter, he was use to fame and never believed the hype. Johnny Cash, I expected. But John Ritter? I am very very sad. Again! ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-ritter-died/201169/20 "2003-09-12T11:54:32Z")
Johnny Cash? Whatever. John Ritter? NOOOOOOOOOooooo! Jack Tripper cannot be dead! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-ritter-died/201169.md?page=2)