America lost one of its most talented comic actors when John Ritter died unexpectedly last week of a rare heart condition. Ritter was a genuinely kind-hearted guy and family man – his five-year-old little girl will have only sketchy memories of her multitalented, beloved father. Ritter is survived by three other children from his first marriage.

If you grew up during the 1980s or caught any episodes of “Three’s Company,” you know who John Ritter is. I was young enough to catch reruns of the show, yet old enough to appreciate his comic genius. I was smitten by Ritter’s wacky antics as Jack Tripper. Of course, I wasn’t supposed to watch that particular sitcom because my parents considered it “inappropriate” due to the male/female living arrangements of the characters and sexual innuendos – none of which I understood at the time – so I was compelled to watch.

Once “Three’s Company” ran its course through 1984, Ritter founded his own production company called Adam Productions, which led to “Hooperman” and a series for other actors, including Jamie Lee Curtis, who starred in “Anything But Love.” I never made the effort to follow much of Ritter’s extensive appearances on other prime time television shows throughout the 1990s but was excited for the premiere of “8 Simple Rules For Dating my Teenage Daughter” last year. I looked forward to watching Ritter in another comic role as an overprotective dad 25 years later to contrast the swinging bachelor role that first won him fame. And Ritter didn’t disappoint me. In fact, “8 Simple Rules” was my favorite sitcom.

Ritter is the son of legendary country singer/actor Tex Ritter and Dorothy Fay, born Sept. 17, 1948 in Burbank, Calif. According to a biography of John Ritter (www.freespace.virgin.net), Tex Ritter didn’t want his son to pursue acting, and at first John did his best to comply with his father’s wishes and began a major in psychology and minor in architecture at the University of Southern California. But acting was in his blood, and a cute girl persuaded him to join a drama class given by leading drama coach and actress Nina Foch. Not long after that he changed his major to theater arts.

Between 1968 and 1969 Ritter appeared in several stage performances at the Edinburgh Festival. Tex Ritter happened to be entertaining troops in Germany while John was performing at an air base there. Tex recognized “something special” in John and gave him his blessing to continue acting. Unfortunately, the senior Ritter died before John achieved the celebrity status that came in 1977 with “Three’s Company.”

“Three’s Company” did for Ritter what the “Star Wars” trilogy did for Harrison Ford, but Ritter chose to stay primarily in television rather than motion pictures, which is why some might not be as familiar with Ritter’s work after “Three’s Company” ended. Ritter has also hosted many documentaries, read for several audio books, including three of humorist Dave Barry’s works and voiced Clifford in “Clifford the Big Red Dog” animated series on Iowa Public Television.

According to news reports from The Associated Press, Ritter had been on the set filming the fourth episode of “8 Simple Rules” for the new season when he collapsed. His condition was known as an aortic dissection, which is a break of the main artery that carries blood from the heart. The lining of the aorta tears, separating the middle layer of the vessel from the still intact outer layer, according to the condition described at www.msnbc.com.

Aortic dissection most commonly occurs in people between the ages of 40 and 70. Ritter was 54. Approximately one-third of patients die within the first 24 hours and half die within two days.

A variety of medical conditions can cause the artery wall to deteriorate, leading to the tear, and the most common is high blood pressure. Evidence of aortic dissection is found between one and three percent of all autopsies.

Ritter’s sudden and untimely death has left the already struggling ABC network in a quandary. “8 Simple Rules” was keeping the network afloat. For that matter, Ritter kept “8 Simple Rules” afloat.

As of yet, no decision has been made about the future of the sitcom. Maybe the producers will change the focus of the show to Katey Segal. Maybe producers will save the three episodes that Ritter did for sweeps week. Regardless of the pending decision, ABC should produce and air a special tribute to Ritter. This would give other actors who had the privilege of working with him an opportunity to talk about their experiences.

He was a good-hearted, kind man who simply enjoyed making people laugh using his God-given talent.