He was also terrific in the little-seen Panic. He played a therapist treating a fellow (William H. Macy) who wanted to get out of the family business. Trouble was, the family business was a murder-for hire outfit. Plenty of great performances in that movie, but Ritter held his own.
Too bad that he died so young. He was taking on some of the best roles of his career.
And he was Tex Ritter’s son!
RIP 
This is so sad! I loved John Ritter–especially in Slingblade and also in his sitcom “Hearts Afire”.
And of course Three’s Company but that goes without saying.
What a sad day.
I almost never turn on my TV in the morning, but today I turned on ABC’s Good Morning America, where John Ritter was often a guest. They were so broken up, they could barely talk.
I loved John Ritter.
RIP John Ritter
I’ve been in some heated rows here before, but I have never wanted to snap my fingers in front of somebody’s nose more than I do at this very moment.
The rest of you, please excuse me.
Ritter was also very good in a Blake Edwards movie called Skin Deep in which he plyed an alcoholic writer. The movie was flawed but Ritter’s performance was excellent and the film also featured one of the most obscenely funny scenes in film history.
He will be missed. His new show 8 Simple Rules For Dating My Daughter is cute. I just saw it last week and it featured Shelly Long. If I am not mistaken the premiere was supposed to clue you in on whether John and his tv wife Katie Segall were expecting another baby.
I wonder how they will write him off the show? A car accident maybe?
I liked him in The Dreamer of Oz, a TV movie about L. Frank Baum. Glad I taped it.
What a shock. He was much too young to go.
Johnny Cash had one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel for many years.
John Ritter’s death is unbelievable. Shows everyone, one can die at anytime from anything.
This morning was a flashback to some day back in the 1980’s when I turned on the news, heard two celebrities had died, first Sammie Davis Jr. (oh, I expected that, he was sick) and then the unexpected death of Jim Henson. I loved Kermit too.
** Isabelle ** you really think that 8 Simple Rules can survive without John?
I heard on the news that his youngest daughter Stella had her 5th Birthday yesterday. Poor kid is born on September 11th, and her father dies the day after her birthday? Sheesh. John himself would have been 55 next Wednesday.
Now that I have had 15 min to think about it…No. He was the ENTIRE show. He carried the entire show.
That really is too bad. Only 55
To be honest, what surprised me most was that John Ritter was 54 years old. Time flies.
He was a talented and funny guy who made a lot of people laugh.
I’ve only seen a couple of episodes of 8 Simple Rules, but it had promise. The best one was where they parodied Three’s Company, with Ritter as Furley, the two daughters as Crissy and Janet, etc. And then a cameo by Don Knotts, very funny. I only saw about two minutes of that episode, and hope they rebroadcast it at some point…
I am also kind of surprised and how sad and upset I am. My 12 year old son and I absolutely love the Problem Child movies! I think I may have to go rent a few tonight…
R.I.P. John
Very sad—always thought he was an underrated actor, and rarely had material good enough for him. Three’s Company was unadulterated crap, of course, but he did show a good deal of talent in other vehicles, and did seem like a genuinely nice guy.
I loved every character John Ritter has played, to me he could play any role. I was sad to hear also, that he died. I was more taken with him dying than Johnny Cash (which his passing is also sad, and a shame) but you had more of clue he wasn’t going to last very long.
What is going to happen to Eight Simple Rules?, I was kind of hoping during the run of that show “Jack Tripper” would be a friend who would show up now and again, and didn’t matter if it was John Ritter’s or Katey Segall’s friend either.
I agree John Ritter was a very underrated actor. He did a superb job in Sling Blade.
I am very sad at this passing. I have always liked and admired John Ritter, and considered him a much better actor than the parts that were given him.
RIP, John Ritter. Wherever you are now will be a better place now that you are there.
I’m in shock! He was such a gifted physical comedian. Even Lucille Ball said so.
He was great as Zach’s dad, guest starring on ‘Scrubs’. They kind of looked like father and son and they both had those goofy, animated faces that never seemed to stop twitching a little.
I loved in in dramas too. I remember seeing him in a TV movie in which he was a young widower trying to cope with grief (looking at the IMDB, I think it was “Letting Go”).
I was pretty young at the time, but I also remember a (bad) movie inwhich he was a down-on-his-luck actor who was paying the rent by taking on a gig where he had to dress as “Captain Avenger” and sign autographs outside movie theatres. Then he foils a robbery and becomes a local hero. I must’ve been 8, but I thought it was great.
I recently saw one episode of “8 Simple Rules…” in which they did a “Three’s Company” dream sequence (only he was Mr. Roper). It was great!
Thanks for making me laugh, John. You’ll be missed.