John Ritter, better known to a lot of board members as Ted from Buffy has passed away due to heart complications after collapsing on the set of 8 Simple Rules. He was 54.

Rest in peace.

Yahoo news

That's very sad

Since he was a guest star on Buffy in a great episode, I think we could have this in the Buffy discussion forum - those who don't frequent the OT forum might be interested/saddened to know this.

I cannot believe this! I was so freaked out when I heard it!

Wow. That's a total shock. Especially after seeing him in seemingly good health and full of life on the TCAs.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...eople_ritter_dc

Ritter Collapses on Set, Dies



By Peter Henderson

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Emmy award-winning actor John Ritter, who gained fame playing bumbling and lovable characters in a pair of television comedies decades apart, has died suddenly due to a previously undetected arterial problem, his representatives said on Friday.




Ritter, who was 54, 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.


The former star of "Three's Company" was taken to Providence St. Joseph hospital in Burbank, California, across from the studio where he had been working.


Surgeons at the hospital were unable to save him, and 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 reconnected with television audiences as the star of "8 Simple Rules."


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


"All of us at ABC, Touchstone Television and The Walt Disney Company are shocked and heartbroken at the terrible news of John's passing. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife and children at this very difficult time," ABC said in a statement.


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 graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in drama and went on to act in film, television and on the stage.


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.

omg Im shocked too. He's not even that old and I had no idea he had any heart problems. This is truly sad and my condolences go out to his family

OMG nooo awwwww I LOVE him. This is so sad!

I can't believe he passed away.
My condolences also go out to his family.

I'm actually speakless.

My thought r with his family.

You know, such things really bother me. You'd think he'd have enough money to get a good healthcare and yet the doctors weren't able to detect this flaw in the ateria. This is really sad My grandpa died at the age of 59 some years ago because of heart-problems. He knew about it years in advance though and didn't want a heart-transplantation so he prepared my grandma for the time he wasn't gonna be around anymore ... It is really sad to lose someone when they're still at such a relatively young age

I'm still in shock-mode too. He was so great. This is just so sad... I can't believe it.
Heaven must be in need for a lot of angels, cause they just have taken so many from us.

The first role I remember him in was playing a country preacher in the 1970's family drama The Waltons. First for a couple episodes,then added to the cast full time.That was 1 of my fav shows growing up.He was a master at physical comedy,as anyone who seen him as Jack Tripper on Three's Company can tell,as well as drama.That 1989 Blake Edwards farce "Skin Deep" was totally outrageous,though not suitable for viewers under 16. If you ever seen the Trailer,you'll know what I mean..... The tagline for it on movie posters & the few TV commercials you'd see was "The comedy that glows in the dark"

He was one of this generation's greats,and not just for his brilliant work on Buffy.

Aww yea, he had some great things. I will always love him as Jack from "Three's company" And for some strange reason, I really loved his TV movie with Katey Sagal 'Chance of a Lifetime ' It was pretty predictable, but at the same time Oh-SO-very-great!

I'm going to make some kind of fanart for him. But I can't now, lacking major sleep! I will when I wake up later.

It's just so sad to lose him... I hope when I wake up, it will all have been just a bad dream.

how sad...that really is shocking

OMG, that is such ashame. At such a young age as well for a heart problem.

He was awesome on 8 simple rules, i love that show.

I really am speechless. My thoughts are with his friends/family

HOLY CRAP. Jeeeeez.... That's really frigging shocking!

It's sad, everybody is dying lately. Aaliyah, Left Eye, John Ritter, not Fat Joe but the other one I forgot his name, the other famous old school rapper(forgot his name too)

I always liked the character Ted!

Oh my God...he was such a great guy, seemed so happy and full of life. I can't believe it. R.I.P.

This is terrible I only really knew him from Buffy and from when he played Ben Hanscom in "IT", which he was fantastic in.

I feel awaful. This is sad. He was so young! I went to Mexico this summer, and in the airplane they played an episode of "8 Simple Rules," and that just made my flight so much better. John Ritter, as somone has already mentioned, did such hilarious physical comedy.

I will always remember him best as Ted, though.

My prayer's are with his family. I heard his daughter's BDay was yesterday, and today is her first day of school. So sad.

I heard about this on this other message board I go too. I am completely stunned and speechless. I absolutely loved John Ritter. He seemed like such a great guy and he was a great actor. This is just so sad. My prayers go out to his family and the 8 Simple Rules cast.

So sad...rest in peace!

I couldnt believe it because he so young to pass away. My mom would watch the show the Waltons, and I remember him as the reverand. I really just saw his reruns of his 70s shows, but he was cool. Then when he appeared on Buffy my parents and I were like man he is such a versatile actor. He really freaked us out as Ted.

I was so devasted that I reread his interview in the Watcher's Guide Vol.1. He was so sweet he put so many nice comments on Sarah, Nicky, and Aly. And that the Buffy set was the only set his kids wanted to go to because him and his family loved the show. Remember, he was yelling Buffy the Vampire Slayer at the Teen Choice awards but he didnt get that euthastic about the other shows in the category. He really loved this show.

My sisters well always remember him for being Ted and the dad on 8 simple rules, but I'll remember him for being such a versatile actor. This day got even worse when I found out Johnny Cash passed away too. My dad would always play his songs when I was little like Ring of Fire.

My prayers and thoughts are with the Ritter and Cash families.

Serious bummer. John Ritter was a very talented guy and by all accounts a very warm and funny guy. I saw a "set visit" by a talk show to the 8 Simple Rules set and they just seemed to have a lot of fun - practically everything he said was really funny. I really liked that show and I've been watching reruns all summer since it was on opposite Buffy last year. I'm really sorry to see this happen.

RIP John.

Premiere just said it to me... it's so sad, R.I.P..

Very shocking and very sad

my thoughts are with his loved ones

OMG i luved 8 simple rules and he was so gr8 on buffy im gonna go and cry now!

I hope these reports of John's death are just the result of some wacky misunderstanding.

That is so incredibly sad. R.I.P. John.

I just watched a tape of "8 Simple Rules" and "Three's Company" the other night. The funniest thing I've ever seen him do was quite a while ago on the "Mary Tyler Moore" show. He was a minister that just happened to be playing tennis when Ted & Georgette got married,
"Okay, Bride's family on my forehand, Groom's on my backhand" He was an Ace.

This really has me depressed. It doesn't help that I just downloaded Johnny Cash's song, "Hurt."

OMG! OMG!! It's going to be so weird watching 'Ted' now


God, thats just horrible, i'm like in shock. RIP John...

Very tragic. I love him on 8 simple rules and of course in Ted. It's very sad!

omg.. that's so shocking!

It's so sad and he died on his daughter's 5th birthday. It's always scary when people die of some health problem that they're not aware of.

"WebMD.com describes an aortic dissection as "an abnormal separation of tissues within the walls of the aorta" caused by high blood pressure, family history of the condition, disease of connective tissue, or severe trauma to the chest.

"Aortic dissection results in a weakened blood vessel wall that may also rupture," the Web site says. "

May he rest in peace.

I just heard

Man, he was cool, he was in this movie i watche dheaps when i was younger, and he had a son and they moved and all these women brought them cakes...hmmm, well it was a great movie anyway.

It was going to b his birthday on the 17th of September I fell sorry for his cast mates because he fell ill on the set

RIP

While this is very, very sad, there was absolutely nothing that the doctors could have done. My father is a doctor and surgeon and told me that when the aorta ruptures, unless you are put on the operating table a minute after it occurs, you are dead, and even if you get to the operating table incredibly quickly, 90% of those die. This is also undetected, in can happen suddenly to a person with the best health imaginable.

RIP John Ritter.

Wow, That has hit me hard. That's so sad and shocking.
My best wishes to his friends and family.

I wonder how any of the Buffy cast reacted, if they still kept in touch. It was so sad when Henry Winkler mentioned the whole thing of how his daughter was born Sept 11, and he died Sept 11. That is horrible! Amy Yasbeck's birthday is today...it is so sad. Also, if it so weird he married Amy Sept 18th, his birthday was Sept 17th, his daughter with Amy was born Sept 11, Amy was born the 12th, and he died the 11th. A month of supposed to be good times now has tragedy.

Ya i rememeber John Ritter, from an episode of Buffy, he was her moms bf, the robot guy; Ted. Rest in Peace John.

I couldn't believe this when I heard it on the news today, I mean dang...he was only 54. I send my wishes out to his family...

I was so shocked when I heard the news of John Ritter's passing, I was speechless.
I loved him in Ted He played the character wonderfully.
And I loved him in his new show 8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter

He will be missed.

My heart goes out to his family. May he Rest in Peace.

TinyRose

This is just awful, my thoughts and prayers are with his family

when i got to school my friend told me and i thought she was joking until my homeroom teacher said "who watches 8 simple rules? well, i got bad news for you...John Ritter died yesterday..." i was in total shock...i mean...he looked so healthy! john ritter is one of the funniest guys on tv! i absolutely love his show 8 simple rules. he was also great on buffy! his daughter is only 5 years old, how hard it must be for her, for all his family. He didn't even get to see his son's show premier on television. He would've been so proud of him. My prayers are with his family and friends.

God Bless John Ritter
(1948-2003)
You will be missed...

This is very sad.

My art teacher told me and I was in shock. This is very horrible news.

I wonder what ABC is gonna do now. 8 Simple Rules was a huge hit..I imagine they'll want to keep going on with the show...but how can they? Replace John Ritter with someone else and act like nothing happened like on Bewitched? Write what happened into the script? End the show?