Jason Ritter
Jason Morgan Ritter (born February 17, 1980) is an American actor. The son of John Ritter and Nancy Morgan, he is known for his work in television series such as Joan of Arcadia (2003–2005), Gravity Falls (2012–2016), Another Period (2015–2018), Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (2017–2018), and Raising Dion (2019–2022). For his portrayal of Mark Cyr on NBC's Parenthood (2010–2014), Ritter was nominated for the 2012 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor. His film credits include Swimfan (2002), Freddy vs. Jason (2003), Happy Endings (2005), The Education of Charlie Banks (2007), W. (2008), The Meddler (2015), The Tale (2018), and Frozen II (2019). Ritter is married to actress Melanie Lynskey, with whom he has a daughter.
Jason Ritter
- Actor
- producer
1990–present
Marianna Palka (1999–2013)
1
- John Ritter (father)
- Nancy Morgan (mother)
- Tex Ritter (grandfather)
- Dorothy Fay (grandmother)
- Tyler Ritter (brother)
- Amy Yasbeck (stepmother)
Early life[edit]
Ritter was born on February 17, 1980, in Los Angeles, California, to actors Nancy Morgan and John Ritter.[1] He is a grandson of actors Tex Ritter, who died six years before Ritter was born, and Dorothy Fay. His stepmother is actress Amy Yasbeck. Ritter has three siblings, including actor Tyler Ritter.[2]
Ritter appeared as a toddler in the opening credits of his father's show, Three's Company.[3]
He attended middle and high school at the Crossroads School in Santa Monica, California, with Simon Helberg, who became his roommate at NYU.[4] Ritter attended and graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he studied at the Atlantic Theater Company. He later studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.[5]
Career[edit]
1990–2007: Teen films and early career[edit]
Ritter made his professional acting debut at age 10, playing Harry Neal Baum in the 1990 television movie The Dreamer of Oz: The L. Frank Baum Story. Several years later, he had a supporting role as Martin Brockett in the 1999 film Mumford, a dramedy directed by Lawrence Kasdan.
Ritter's film work throughout the early 2000s included prominent parts in teen-oriented projects such as Swimfan (2002), Freddy vs. Jason (2003), and Raise Your Voice (2004). Between 2003 and 2005, he appeared as Kevin Girardi, the disabled brother of the titular main character, on the CBS family drama series Joan of Arcadia. Next, he played a young man struggling to come terms with his sexuality in the dark comedy Happy Endings (2005), with Stephen Hunter of The Washington Post commenting, "The acting in this ensemble is of such a high order that the movie simply takes you in and makes you feel these lives as real".[6]
Personal life[edit]
From October 1999 to 2013, Ritter was in a relationship with Marianna Palka. They met while they were both studying at the Atlantic Theater Company in New York City.[46] In 2017, Ritter became engaged to New Zealand actress Melanie Lynskey after four years of dating.[47] The couple had their first child, a daughter, in December 2018.[48] They wed in 2020.[49]
Speaking in 2010 about the death of his father, Ritter said, "I think it helped me realize how fragile we all are. At the end of the day, you can be a health freak or a body builder, but a truck might hit you. Or you might be a huge, larger than life personality and it could all be taken away in the next second. I learned to tell people in my life how I feel about them a little bit more".[50]
Ritter has been open about his struggle with alcoholism, and how his relationship with Lynskey gave him the strength to get sober: "I thought she would be incredible for someone who deserved her, basically", he said in 2023. "And I didn't feel like I was that person ... It was only after [a] year into not drinking where I started to go, 'Oh, maybe I can promise some things to someone else. Maybe I can be this person'".[51]