More than two decades after John Ritter’s sudden death, his face still seems to be appearing in Hollywood — just not quite where you might expect.
John Ritter could shine in dramatic roles just as easily as he did in comedy. I grew up watching reruns of Three’s Company in the early ’90s and sometimes the whole family would gather around the TV.
But John Ritter was so much more than the characters we saw on screen. He was a brother, a father, a husband, and, by all accounts, a very close and caring friend to the people he worked alongside.
That’s the kind of legacy that goes beyond Hollywood, and it’s one of the reasons he is still so deeply missed.
The beloved Three’s Company star died in 2003 at just 54, leaving behind four children. Today, two of his sons, Jason and Tyler Ritter, are grown men with acting careers of their own, and recent photos have fans doing a double take.
Looking like your father or mother is nothing unusual, but in Jason’s case, the family resemblance is hard to miss.
As he’s gotten older, more and more people have pointed out just how much he looks like his famous dad, and even Jason has admitted that he’s starting to see more of John in himself.
And when fans recently saw Jason and Tyler together, many couldn’t help but notice just how much of their father seemed to live on in both of them.
One fan wrote, “It’s crazy how i [sic] see him in both of his sons….”
Another simply said, “Jason looks so much like John it’s scary..”
Someone else pointed out that each brother appears to resemble a different version of their father, writing, “His son in the gray look so much like him when he was younger and the one in the black look so much like him when he was older [sic].”
Another fan summed it up: “They both look so much like him.”
For longtime viewers, the reaction is understandable. John had one of those instantly recognizable faces, and now his sons are carrying that unmistakable Ritter look into a new generation.
Before his sons became stars, there was John
Born Jonathan Southworth Ritter in Burbank, California, in 1948, John grew up in an entertainment family. His father was country singer and actor Tex Ritter, while his mother was actress Dorothy Fay.
Interestingly, John did not initially plan to follow his parents into acting.
At USC, he studied psychology and architecture before taking a drama class that changed the direction of his life. He eventually switched to theater arts and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in drama in 1971.
