John Ritter Tribute

Grief can come upon you when you least expect it. It looms like a dark cloud that slowly grazes through the sky. Then, without warning, it can pull you by the hair and knock you off your feet. So it was for me the day we lost John Ritter.
September 11, 2003 dawned like any other day. The sun filtered through my bedroom windows as I awoke slowly, grateful for not having early classes. I got out of bed and bounded down the hall. As I entered the kitchen, I heard the following statement: Actor John Ritter died suddenly last night from an undetected heart problem. Details are pending.”
“What?” I demanded as my mind reeled. It couldn’t be. It had to be a mistake. Kings just don’t die suddenly like this. Surely, my ears were deceiving me. My mother was sitting on the sofa. “Isn’t it awful? Can you believe it?” she inquired with tear-filled eyes. I thought of all the movies we would never see now that he is gone. 8 Simple Rules was our favorite sitcom. It was our Tuesday night ritual. We’d grab a snack and watch the antics of John Ritter’s character on TV. “What happened to him?” I asked, my breath quickening.
“They don’t know. It just came on TV this morning. They are investigating it now.”
Again, my head went into a tailspin. This couldn’t be happening. Later, it was announced that he had a torn aorta in his heart. He literally bled to death. What an awful way to die. Especially for a comic legend like John Ritter. As the theme from Three’s Company played, I looked at the pictures flashing on the screen of his life. In almost every one, he had a big smile on his face. John left a legacy behind. A legacy filled with warmth and laughter. You can’t even say the name “John Ritter” without smiling. The more you think about him, the bigger the smile gets. All at once, you feel happiness exploding out of your body in big splatters of emotion.
The only other times in my when I have grieved this way were when my grandmother died in 1990 and my next door neighbor in 2001. I was extremely close to both of them. Yet, here is a man who’s a national icon I’ve never met and I want to weep every five minutes. Why? What has pulled me into the life of this man that was so close to my heart yet so far away?
I think his widow Amy Yasbek answered that question in her Primetime interview with Diane Sawyer. When asked if there was anything about John that the public didn’t know, any dark secrets that he kept hidden from the spotlight, Amy said, “That’s the amazing thing. There isn’t anything. What you see on the screen of 8 Simple Rules, that’s him! That’s John. So, if you watched him on TV, you DID know him.”
Then, there is the tender matter of John’s five year old daughter, Stella. It is for her that I grieve the most. To be five years old and lose your father who is a national icon must be extremely painful. Although life must go on, the pain never really ends. There is always something there to remind you. A picture, a long lost interview, Clifford the Big Red Dog on your computer.
On the other hand, this can also be a blessing. My grandmother and I were extremely close. Yet, I can no longer remember the sound of her voice, no matter how hard I close my eyes. That is painful for me. Stella will never have that problem. Her father will always be around her, in the long legacy of movies, sitcoms and other streams of consciousness that he left behind. Hence, he will never be forgotten.
As I write this, I hear a faint ringing of bells in the distance. Surely, John is getting his wings. Long live the legacy of laughter that he left behind.

I thought it was amazing that Ritter managed to keep his personal life out the press. About two weeks or so before he died, I saw a brief article about one of his sons in the sunday "Parade." But before that time, I never knew he had children and didn't know he was married. Hard to believe that the tabloids left him alone, but they did.

He was one of a handfull of actors who you couldn't help but like. Another actor with that same likeable quality is James Garner, which is why I think he was cast in the show after Ritter died.

I'm glad that ABC decided to contuniue the show, even though the decision was controversial. Since Ritter was always an entertainer, he probably would want it that way. Of course, I didn't know the man so I'm speculating.

In my circle of friends in the late seventies and early eighties, I was the only one of us who liked the show Three's Company. Everbody else thought I'd gone daft when I'd admit to liking the show. I guess that's understandable as the plots were pretty contrived, not to mention that horrendous theme. I used to joke and say, "I liked the episode of Three's Company in which the plot was based on a misunderstanding. It's like saying "I liked the episode of Gilligan's Island where they almost get off the island, but Gilligan screws it up for them." Nevertheless, I loved Three's Company and couldn't get enough of it. Though most of the other characters contributed considerably, for me it was John Ritter who made that show. He was a funny, likeable kind of everyman that one would naturally want to hang with. His departure saddens me greatly.

Good tribute Cry, thanks for posting. There is another one somewhere on here that I started the morning he died. I was floored when I heard the news. It was early morning, and I had just gotten up, when I ran into my mom in the kitchen and she said: "Something awful happened last night, John Ritter died, it was a heart attack" (Or so she thought at the time) I was absolutely shocked and stricken, I was like, John Ritter died, he's in his 50s, still in the prime of his life, on a current show, hes not supposed to die so young. His passing was probably more difficult on me than any I've ever experienced in Hollywood. I grew up with John, and had watched him since early childhood on Three's, I felt like a part of my own life died with him that day.
I dont know if you saw 8 Simple Rules tribute after John's passing. I thought that they handled it well and real. Iam glad that they didnt replace him with another actor. I also saw John's last perfromance in a movie this weekend, the new release that just came out that he did with Billy Bob Thornton. It was difficult for me to watch him on the screen. For over 25 years, he made me feel so good when I watched him, and it s hard to believe he's gone. His work and legacy will live on, and he will be with us forever in reruns of his movies and his TV shows. That is the legacy he leaves, and the small comfort we have in dealing with his tragic and untimely loss.

Mitch

Mitchell said:

Good tribute Cry, thanks for posting. There is another one somewhere on here that I started the morning he died. I was floored when I heard the news. It was early morning, and I had just gotten up, when I ran into my mom in the kitchen and she said: "Something awful happened last night, John Ritter died, it was a heart attack" (Or so she thought at the time) I was absolutely shocked and stricken, I was like, John Ritter died, he's in his 50s, still in the prime of his life, on a current show, hes not supposed to die so young. His passing was probably more difficult on me than any I've ever experienced in Hollywood. I grew up with John, and had watched him since early childhood on Three's, I felt like a part of my own life died with him that day.
I dont know if you saw 8 Simple Rules tribute after John's passing. I thought that they handled it well and real. Iam glad that they didnt replace him with another actor. I also saw John's last perfromance in a movie this weekend, the new release that just came out that he did with Billy Bob Thornton. It was difficult for me to watch him on the screen. For over 25 years, he made me feel so good when I watched him, and it s hard to believe he's gone. His work and legacy will live on, and he will be with us forever in reruns of his movies and his TV shows. That is the legacy he leaves, and the small comfort we have in dealing with his tragic and untimely loss.

Mitch

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Very well said, Mitchell. Yes, I did see the 8 Simple Rules tribute, I had tears in my eyes almost the entire time. Yes, they handled it beautifully. I am also glad that they didn't replace him. He's irreplacable, imo. I haven't seen Bad Santa yet but I hope to. His death hit me harder than many that I have experienced in my short lifetime, thus far, not counting my grandmother and my former neighbor. It is a tremendous loss which is why I wrote about it to begin with. Thanks Mitchell