John Knight

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Ritter at the 1988 Emmy Awards

Jonathan Southworth Ritter (born September 17, 1948 in Burbank , California , † September 11, 2003 ibid) was an American film and television actor who became famous through numerous guest appearances in series and shows. He also became known in Germany through his role as Jack Tripper in the Jack of Hearts with Two Ladies (Three's Company) . For this role he was awarded a Golden Globe and an Emmy in 1984 .

Life

Ritter, son of country singer and actor Tex Ritter and actress Dorothy Fay , attended Hollywood High School in Los Angeles and then studied psychology and acting at the University of Southern California under the acting teacher Nina Foch . He received his further training from Stella Adler and at the Harvey Lembeck Comedy Workshop , where he befriended Robin Williams .

He appeared in several theater productions before his first appearance on the American game show The Dating Game in 1965 . His first role in a television series in 1968 in an episode of Hawaii Five-O , 1969, he joined the series Medical Center , until he in 1970 on the set of Dan August Norman Fell met, the later in Three's Company with occurred to him. He gained further popularity and notoriety through a guest role in The Waltons (1972) and made his guest appearances in his young career also in the series M * A * S * H (1972), The Bob Newhart Show (1972), The Streets of San Francisco (1972) and Kojak deployment in Manhattan (1973) continued.

In 1975 he got the lead role in the series Jack of Hearts with Two Women , a remake of the British series A Man About The House . There he played the role of Jack Tripper, who shares an apartment with two beautiful women and has to pretend to his landlord to be homosexual. The series ran from 1977 to 1984 and became a huge audience success. In 1983 he won a Golden Globe and an Emmy in 1984 .

In 1976 he appeared in the movie Rattlesnakes Don't Bite, among other things , before filming began on Jack of Hearts with Two Ladies , in 1978 he worked in Breakfast in Bed with his girlfriend Jenny Sullivan and in 1979 he played in Americathon , 1980 in A True Hero and 1981 in you all laughed with. He had other roles in the films Skin Deep - Men Have It Not Easy (1989), The Fun Begins (1992) or in North (1994) and in many other films.

After the discontinuation of the television series Jack of Hearts with Two Ladies after eight seasons in 1984, he continued with the spin-off Three's A Crowd , but the series was discontinued after one season. He also had television roles in Inspector Hooperman (1987), which earned him a Golden Globe and Emmy nomination, Kiss Me John (1992), Ally McBeal (1997), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997) ), Clifford the Big Red Dog (2000), Scrubs or My Wild Daughters (2002).

In October 2000 he took on a role in Neil Simon's play The Dinner Party at the New York Music Box Theater alongside Penny Fuller and Henry Winkler . The production ran until September 2001 with a total of 364 performances and brought Ritter good reviews. In 2001 he received a Theater World Award for his performance .

Knight's grave in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles

During rehearsals for an episode of My Wild Daughters , Ritter developed severe chest pain in September 2003, and he went to nearby Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center , where he was aged 54 on September 11, 2003 - a week before his 55th birthday - died of an aortic dissection . In early 2008, his family sued the treating doctors for $ 67 million in damages. The lawsuit was dismissed in March 2008.

Since Knight played the father of the protagonist John Dorian in some guest appearances in the series Scrubs, the sixth episode of the fourth season was dedicated to him, in which he died completely unexpectedly. In the series My Wild Daughters , after Ritter's sudden death, Paul Hennessy, who he portrayed, also suffered an unexpected death. The movie Bad Santa , in which Ritter had his last big screen appearance, was dedicated to him posthumously.

John Ritter was married twice and has four children. With his first wife, Nancy Morgan, he had two sons, actors Jason and Tyler Ritter , and a daughter. He also has a daughter with his second wife, Amy Yasbeck .

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Commons : John Ritter  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. http://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000292/1984
  2. http://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000223/1984
  3. John Ritter, 54, the Odd Man In 'Three's Company', Is Dead , NY Times obituary by Douglas Martin, September 13, 2003 , accessed November 23, 2008.
  4. Entry in the Broadway Database , accessed November 23, 2008.
  5. THEATER REVIEW; A Fine Meal: Please Pass The Vitriol , NY Times review October 20, 2000 , accessed November 23, 2008.
  6. ^ Overview of TWA winners on theatreworldawards.org , accessed November 23, 2008.
  7. ^ Doctors cleared in Ritter death . bbc.co.uk, March 15, 2008, accessed November 23, 2008.