As the son of country musician Tex Ritter, it'd be easy to assume that John Ritter would've followed in his father's footsteps. However, John carved out a niche for himself in the world of comedy television as one of the most gifted physical comedic actors of his generation. Well known for his expertly executed pratfalls as well as a gift for playing flustered just about better than anyone else, John was one of the biggest television stars of the late 70s and early 80s thanks to his role as Jack Tripper on Three's Company! As a straight man pretending to be a gay man so that he can live with two women in a non-coed apartment complex, Ritter charmed audiences despite the now rather offensive premise of the series, landing an Emmy and a Golden Globe for Best Actor in the show's final season! John's film career wasn't quite as robust as his television career, but one particularly sexy flick he starred in was Blake Edwards' Skin Deep (1989), playing a man in the midst of a mid-life sexual crisis and showing off an impressive bulge in a pair of grey undies! John got a chance to at least marginally redeem his Jack Tripper character by portraying an actual gay man with a great deal of sensitivity in Billy Bob Thornton's Oscar winning film Sling Blade (1996). Ritter would later re-team with his friend Thornton for what would ultimately prove to be his final film role in Bad Santa (2003). Sadly, John passed away in September 2003, just days shy of what would have been his 55th birthday, leaving an enormous hole in our hearts.
