When Three’s Company premiered on ABC in 1977, John Ritter became one of television’s most gifted physical comedians. As Jack Tripper, the culinary student who shared an apartment with Janet Wood, played by Joyce DeWitt, and Chrissy Snow, played by Suzanne Somers, Ritter became a comedy legend. The show ran until 1984 and sparked a career that would run for decades, until his tragic and sudden death in 2003.
Johnathan Southworth Ritter was born on September 17, 1948, in Burbank, California. He came from a show business family: his father was singing cowboy and actor Tex Ritter, and his mother was actress Dorothy Fay. Ritter attended Hollywood High School, then studied at the University of Southern California, where he later earned a degree from the School of Dramatic Arts.