Watching this actor is somewhat eerie since he sports the same disarming smile as his father---the late, great
Three's Company star John Ritter---although unlike his dad he's made his name primarily in dramas, not comedies. The younger Ritter was 10 when he made his acting debut opposite his father (playing his son, of course) in the fantastical TV biopic
The Dreamer of Oz: The L. Frank Baum Story, but he didn't truly embark on an entertainment career until he enrolled in NYU's prestigious acting program. While still in school, he began landing guest spots and appearing on stage, but he broke through in 2003, appearing in the popular slasher flick
Jason vs. Freddy and landing a plum role as an angry, wheelchair-bound teen in the divinely inspired drama
Joan of Arcadia. Unfortunately, personal tragedy struck that same year when his father died suddenly of a previously undetected heart condition. But Jason persevered and continued to rack up impressive credits on both stage and screen, including tackling a sitcom role in the short-lived CBS series
The Class (2006-07) and headlining the NBC action thriller
The Event in 2010.
Jason Ritter Fast Facts:
- Appears in the opening credits of Three's Company with Joyce DeWitt at the zoo.
- Appeared, at age 8, with Jack Black in a school production of Pippin.
- First professional job was opposite father John Ritter in the 1990 TV-movie The Dreamer of Oz.
- His big-screen debut was 1999's Mumford as Ted Danson's son.
- Founding member of New York City's Irreputable Theater Company.
- Jason Ritter Relationships:
- Amy Yasbeck - Stepmother
- Dorothy Fay - Grandmother
- John Ritter - Father
- Marianna Palka - Significant Other
- Nancy Morgan - Mother
- Stella Ritter - Half Sister
- Tex Ritter - Grandfather
- College:
- New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, New York, NY (2002); attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London, England