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The son of a legendary country singing musician/actor (Tex) and his wife (Dorothy Fay), who was also an actress, John Ritter started out his life as Jonathan Southworth Ritter, who was born in Burbank, California, on September 17, 1948. After his father married Dorothy Fay Southworth in 1941, the couple had their first child, Tom, who had been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, and became a lawyer, but John was destined to follow in his parents footsteps. He was enrolled at Hollywood High School, where he was a student body president, and became the most popular student ever. After graduation from high school, he later attended the University of Southern California, where he majored in Psychology and minored in Architecture. Also in 1966, before attending college, his first appearance on TV was as a contestant on “Dating Game, The” (1965), on which he won a vacation to Acapulco, Mexico.
After making his very first cameo appearance and a couple of years of attending school, he was induced to join an acting class taught by Nina Foch. He changed his major to Theater Arts, graduating in 1971 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Drama. He also studied acting with Stella Adler at the Harvey Lembeck Comedy Workshop. Between 1968 and 1969, he appeared in a series of stage plays in England, Scotland, Holland and in Germany. His father was entertaining troops in Germany at the same time that his son was performing at an air base there. His acting debut was on an episode of “Hawaii Five-O” (1968), playing various roles.
On “Dan August” (1970), he played a campus revolutionary, in a film which also starred Burt Reynolds and Norman Fell, who later starred with him on, “Three’s Company.” Then, he appeared as Reverend Matthew Fordwick on “Tee Waltons” (1972). His guest-starring spot was so popular, that he was interested in having a recurring role on the show. But, he continued making more guest appearances on “Medical Center” (1969), “M*A*S*H” (1972), “The Bob Newhart Show” (1972), “The Streets of San Francisco” (1972), “Kojak” (1973), and, once again, a preacher on “Rhoda” (1974), “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” (1970), among many others. While working on “The Waltons” (1972), he received word that his legendary father had passed away, just a day after New Years’ Day in 1974. The following year in late 1975, ABC picked up the rights for a new series on a British sitcom about, “A Man About The House,” and Ritter beat out 50 people including a young Billy Crystal, to get a major role. The first pilot was trashed, and in order for it to be improved, Joyce DeWitt, an unknown actress, played the role of Janet Wood, the following year, along with Susan Lanier as the dumb blonde, Chrissy Snow. Unlike the first pilot, it did better but the producers still needed a change and Suzanne Somers came to the show, at the very last minute to play Chrissy. The series, “Three’s Company” (1977), was born. When it debuted as a mid-season replacement, it became a ratings hit, like many other sitcoms of the 70s, and it focused mainly on his character, Jack Tripper, an admirable chef who lived in an apartment with two attractive ladies, while pretending to be gay. Before playing Jack Tripper on the small screen, he also made his box office debut in the movie Nickelodeon (1976). Two years later, he worked with his close friend, Jenny Sullivan, in Breakfast in Bed (1978), and the following year, played Pres. Chet Roosevelt in the movie Americathon (1979). Also in 1977, he and his brother emceed the Annual United Cerebral Palsy Telethon (a neurological condition particularly close to their hearts because of Tom’s triumph over it) and racked up millions of dollars for the cause in the 15+ years he ran the telethon. He also became more popular with movies such as Hero at Large (1980), and They All Laughed (1981).
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