Learn more about late actor John Ritter’s widow and second wife, Amy Yasbeck.
During his life, comedy icon John Ritter was married twice. His first wife was actress Nancy Morgan, 72, who he was married to from 1977 until their 1996 divorce. After splitting from Nancy, John started dating Wings actress Amy Yasbeck, 58, and the pair got married in 1999. Amy was his wife until his death in 2003. Here’s everything you need to know about Amy Yasbeck.
Amy Is Also An Actress
Like her husband, Amy has been an actress for decades, and many of her best-known roles were in comedy films. Two of her most famous parts were in in Jim Carrey‘s The Mask (1994) and the Mel Brooks comedy Robin Hood: Men In Tights (1993). In fact, Amy and John first met while working on the 1990 flick Problem Child together! That wasn’t the only time the actors worked together. Besides appearing in both of the Problem Child movies together, John made a guest appearance on an episode of Amy’s show Wings, and the couple also appeared together on an episode of The Cosby Show.
Amy Married John In 1999 And They Had One Child
In 1998, two years after John and his first wife divorced, Amy gave birth to their first child. Born Stella Ritter, it was reported that the couple’s child was transitioning to a man and went by the name Noah Lee, a source close to the pair’s son told Radar Online in 2017. John and Amy got married a year after their child was born in 1999, and they were together until the actor died in 2003.
Amy’s Lawsuit Against The Hospital Her Husband Died In
After John’s sudden death due to aortic dissection in 2003, Amy, along with the actor’s four children, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, where the Three’s Company star died in 2008, according to the Los Angeles Times. The lawsuit sought $67 million in damages from the suit. She’d received $14 million from some defendants. In March 2008, a jury ruled that the doctor who operated on the actor had been cleared of negligence and liability in the sitcom actor’s death, via The Times.
Amy Gave Her Blessing To Continue ‘8 Simple Rules’
John’s death was incredibly unexpected, as he was filming his sitcom 8 Simple Rules. The show was three episodes into its second season when the actor passed. ABC executives were left with a difficult decision as to whether or not the series should continue after the star’s death. The network executives made the difficult decision early on to keep the show going after discussing with Amy and some of John co-stars, according to The Washington Post. “We don’t pretend to know exactly where this will take us; we will take episodes one at a time,” then-ABC Entertainment President Susan Lyne told The Post at the time. John’s character’s death was addressed in the fourth episode of the season, and the show continued with a third season. John was posthumously nominated for the “Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series” Emmy award in 2004 for his role on 8 Simple Rules.
Amy’s Recent TV Roles
Amy has continued working throughout the 2000s and 2010s. She’s appeared on numerous TV shows, making guest appearances such as Pretty Little Liars, Workaholics, and That’s So Raven. She also starred in the short-lived sitcom Life on a Stick.