Dad's Lasting Influence

"He'd tell me he was proud of me. I do wish he'd been able to see all of the things since his death, but I also think somewhere maybe he is seeing them and all the things in the future. My dad always had an eye on the ball as far as what was important; this whole idea of celebrity really bugged him. He told me I have total control over whether I'm an actor or not — I can go into the park and perform something, and that makes me an actor."

"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."

"It was a great and intense relationship. He was so much fun. I learned a lot from him. He was a great father and a great teacher."

-Jason Ritter

“Because he had that artist’s eye. We’d be on a road trip, and he’d go, ‘Look at that sunset! Look at that tree!’ He had that ability for really observing the world and its beauty, for being curious and always learning. Things that helped me as a human being, and as an artist, too.” 

“I think of him in my approach to life, and that crosses over to music, too. He always would say his primary purpose in life was love, and that he could do that through acting. People would come up to him and say that his work had meant something to them and that they would laugh. I also feel like that’s my main hope: just to be a loving presence in the world and to play music that I hope people connect with.”

-Carly Ritter

"I was very impressionable as a young kid. I grew up around the set of Hearts Afire, and I got to see my father enjoy himself at his work, and any young child who sees that starts taking notes subconsciously. I got to see my brother on The Class, just loving every second of it, all the while getting to make a couple hundred people laugh every week. I don't actively try to emulate their work; I think we share enough mannerisms and physical characteristics as is that if I added anything more on top of that, it would be disturbing."

"It was a balance of really practicing what they both preached. They were both obsessed with The Beatles, which by the way is a great role model. You have ‘All you need is love,' and the work ethic that The Beatles had, of just working hard every day. And also, we were always comfortable talking to each other. Every meal was about talking about what was going on. Always an open communication. And there was a lot of just telling each other that we loved each other. And on top of that, school comes first. And then fun. And hopefully, if you're prepared and you work hard, then hopefully, those two things will merge. And they really were just honest with themselves and with us. And that was what was most important. I have grown up the youngest, and I get to use them as my role models, all of them. And I have been very fortunate. They had to think about what they had to do because they had a youngster running around, and I just got to soak it all in. I was the luckiest of the bunch. We spent a lot of time outdoors and going to hiking camps, and staying in touch with the world outside of LA."

"It feels very kind of surreal because he didn't see a lot of my acting abilities. I do feel his presence and I know somewhere he's proud of me. I really got to see my dad enjoy every day that he was working. Everybody should be able to have this much fun when they go to work. He really paved that way for us and so here I am."

-Tyler Ritter