Beloved actor John Ritter is gone, but not forgotten. On Sept. 17, Ritter would have turned 74 years old if he were still with us today. Sadly, the 8 Simple Rules star died in 2003 from a flaw in his heart called an aortic dissection. He was just 54 years old.


Nearly two decades later, it’s still clear just how much Ritter is loved and missed. There are many fans worldwide that are paying tribute to the actor, whose big screen work includes Stay Tuned and Bad Santa, with remembrance posts online. Those who knew Ritter well are also taking the opportunity to honor the late actor, such as his friend and co-star Annette O’Toole. O’Toole, who co-starred with Ritter in the 1990 TV movie The Dreamer of Oz as well as that year’s Stephen King’s It miniseries, posted a tribute message on Twitter.

“Thinking of John Ritter on his birthday today. Will never not miss him,” the tweet reads.

“Greatest physical comedian ever,” one fan of Ritter said in response to the tweet. “Deserved an oscar NOMINATION for skin deep – a one man tour de force that contains one the FUNNIEST scenes EVER put on film. John Ritter is the most UNDERRATED actor EVER imo. The film where he played an abusive husband…what a performance.”

“I still miss JOHN RITTER to this day,” another fan said. “The world was heartbroken when this funny man passed away so suddenly. I loved him not only on Three’s Company and his other TV shows & TV movies but loved when he & his wife Nancy hosted the Cerebral Palsy Telethon each year. Great person.”

Some fans are remembering Ritter’s work, such as one person praising his performance in the holiday comedy Bad Santa. He tweeted, “It’s apparently John Ritter’s birthday, I firmly believe he should’ve gotten a posthumous Oscar for this character.”

Meanwhile, Ritter’s son Jason Ritter posted a subtle tribute for his dad. He mere included emoji representing the blowing out of candles on a birthday cake as a way of telling John to have a happy heavenly birthday.

Related: John Ritter Remembered as a ‘Comedy Genius’ by His Son Jason Ritter

John Ritter Was a ‘Comedy Genius’

“He is a comedy genius,” Jason Ritter said of father in the ABC documentary Superstar: John Ritter last year. “He was a very loving and supportive dad. I never felt like I was jealous that I had to share him with the world. One of the things that I try to do is look at his life. Instead of feeling like I was reading this beautiful book and all of a sudden the last ten chapters were ripped out, I started to look at it as, that was the whole book. That’s the whole story. And what’s the beauty in that. And there was so much beauty in his life.”

Happy heavenly birthday to John Ritter. You can see some more of the tribute posts for the actor from Twitter below.