John Ritter - He was a well-known actor of big screen (Slingblade) and small ("Three's Company") with a gift for physical comedy that was admired by Lucille Ball herself. Still, what really set Jonathan Southworth Ritter apart - and made him beloved to countless fans and friends - was his deserved reputation in Hollywood as the quintessential nice guy. There was collective heartbreak when the actor fell ill on the set of his sitcom "8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter" and underwent surgery at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center for an aortic dissection (caused by an undiagnosed heart defect). On September 11, 2003 - the 5th birthday of his youngest daughter, Stella - 54 year-old John Ritter died in the same hospital in which he was born. To honor their hometown hero, Hollywood High School commissioned a mural of a smiling Ritter on the side of its Highland and Sunset building. When asked in an interview how he'd like to be remembered, the usually witty Ritter was contemplative: "Just as a guy who was interested in the golden thread that intertwines all of us together… Whether it makes you laugh or it makes you cry, it's that golden thread of humanity, and I'd like to be remembered as maybe a guy who plucked a few of those."

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Story by Shannon Peace

Starpulse contributing writer