The Chlotrudis Society was shocked and saddened to hear about John Ritter’s sudden death Thursday on the set of his sitcom, “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter.” Of course we all remember Ritter so well from the ’70’s sitcom “Three’s Company,” with Joyce DeWitt and Suzanne Somers. But surely Chlotrudis members will reserve a very special place for Ritter for his wonderful, nuanced portrayal of Vaughn Cunningham, a closeted gay man, in Sling Blade. Ritter earned a Chlotrudis Award nomination for that role. He also appeared in several other independent films, including Greg Araki’s Nowhere, the little seen Montana, with a fascinating cast including Kyra Sedgwick, Stanley Tucci, Robin Tunney, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Panic, with William H. Macy and Neve Campbell.
Most recently on the indie scene, Ritter appeared as Stanley Grubman in Tadpole. His intellectual academic played Tadpole’s father, whose new wife played by Sigrouney Weaver, is the object of his stepson’s crush. Chlotrudis members will have a couple more chances to see Ritter on the indie film scene. Manhood is a new film co-starring Janeane Garafalo, which premiered this year at the Sundance Film Festival, and just completed is Terry Zwigoff’s Bad Santa, which stars Billy Bob Thornton.
Thanks for making us laugh, and showing us your dramatic talents as well in independent film… we’ll miss you, John Ritter