Amy Yasbeck says she still talks to John Ritter every day, 23 years after the actor’s death. Yasbeck, 64, made the comments in an exclusive interview with Page Six published Oct. 31. The “Three’s Company” star died Sept. 11, 2003, at age 54.
“I still talk to John. I check in all the time. … I talk to him every day,” Yasbeck told Page Six.
What Amy Yasbeck Said About Talking To John Ritter
For Yasbeck, checking in with Ritter “all the time” isn’t something saved for anniversaries. It’s part of everyday life.
She said the practice carries over into moments of shared humor with Ritter’s children from his first marriage, Jason, Carly and Tyler. The family often bonds over comedy and physical humor they think Ritter would have loved.
“A new comic comes on the scene, or there’s physical comedy. Like John is with us or beside us when we’re watching something entertaining,” Yasbeck said.
How She Remembers His Personality
Yasbeck told Page Six that Ritter was a great audience. He loved being on stage, and he loved sitting in the crowd watching other people perform just as much.
But what she misses most is Ritter as a father. She pointed to his humanity, his comedy, his empathy and his frustration with the world, adding, “So him as a father encompassed everything about him.”
She called Ritter a “very fair-minded, progressive guy” who got angry when he saw people treated unfairly, especially children. It’s a glimpse of the man behind the comedy that made him famous.
Why Fans Still Reach Out
Yasbeck said almost every day since Ritter’s death, someone has come up to her to share what he meant to them. “He really affected people that way,” she said.
Ritter fell ill while rehearsing “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter” and died that night. The cause was later found to be an aortic dissection. Within weeks, Yasbeck founded the John Ritter Foundation for Aortic Health to raise awareness of the condition, which she has said is often genetic and preventable. The couple met during a read-through for the 1990 film “Problem Child,” married in 1999 and share a daughter, Stella.
Yasbeck is still celebrating his work, too. Page Six reported that she and Joyce DeWitt were set to host a “Three’s Company” 50th anniversary celebration Nov. 2 at Joe’s Pub in New York City, featuring a celebrity staged reading.
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