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TV Sitcom Star John Ritter Dies

Reuters
Friday, September 12, 2003; 5:30 AM


LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Emmy award-winning actor John Ritter, who gained fame playing bumbling and lovable characters in two television comedies decades apart, has died, a representative said on Friday.



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.

Ritter was best known for his portrayal of Jack Tripper in the 1970s situation comedy "Three's Company," which won him Emmy, Golden Globe and People's Choice awards.

A prolific actor, Ritter recently reinvigorated his career as the star of "8 Simple Rules."

Ritter played Paul Hennessy in a family comedy about a father dealing with his precocious daughters which was one of the Walt Disney Co.-owned network's new hits in the 2002 season.

Born into a Hollywood family, John Ritter was the son of country singer and actor Tex Ritter and graduated from Hollywood High School, where he was student body president.

He is survived by his wife, Amy Yasbeck and their daughter, Stella and three children, Carly, Tyler and Jason, from his first marriage to Nancy Morgan.

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Because I'm the biggest nitpicker there ever was, I'll point out that the Buffy episode "Ted" starring John Ritter was in season 2, not 3. Sorry.

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