John Ritter, whose portrayal of the bumbling but lovable Jack Tripper helped make the television comedy series Three’s Company a smash hit in the 1970s, has died, his publicist said on Friday. He was 54. Country music legend Johnny Cash also passed away on Friday in a hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. He was 71.
Ritter fell ill on Thursday on the set of his ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules … for Dating My Teenage Daughter, said Susan Wilcox, his assistant of 22 years.
The cause of death was a dissection of the aorta, the result of an unrecognised flaw in his heart, said his publicist, Lisa Kasteler.
Ritter died at Providence St Joseph Medical Centre shortly after 10pm on Thursday.
Ritter, a Southern California native who lived in Beverly Hills, came to prominence for his role in Three’s Company and had appeared in more than 25 television movies and a number of films.
Ritter, who would have turned 55 on Wednesday, made a successful return to sitcom acting with 8 Simple Rules last year, and the ABC show was scheduled to begin its second season on September 23.
At the Burbank hospital where he died, Ritter was accompanied by producers and co-workers, his wife, Amy Yasbeck, and 23-year-old son Jason, Wilcox said.
He is survived by three other children, Carly, Tyler and Stella.
Country music legend Cash died at 2am (7am GMT) ”due to complications from
diabetes which resulted in respiratory failure,” spokesperson Nicole Base for Baptist hospital said.
She said family members were at his bedside when Cash passed away.
Cash was released from the same hospital on Tuesday, after spending three weeks ther for treatment of pancreatitis.
His manager, Lou Robin, said at the time that Cash was finishing an album with songs written after his wife, June Carter Cash, also a country singer, died in May. She was 73. — Sapa-AP