John Ritter’s Wife, Son and Costars Reflect on His Death 20 Years Later: ‘Really Hard to Process’

John Ritter’s family members and famous friends are still honoring the late star 20 years after his death.

The John Ritter Foundation for Aortic Health hosted their annual gala at the Sunset Room in Hollywood on Thursday, May 9, and some notable names shared their best memories with the actor while speaking with Us Weekly exclusively.

John’s son Tyler Ritter, for one, spoke about how his late father was always showing support.

“He was second generation in the industry as well. Both of his parents were actors, and they knew how tough the industry could be,” Tyler told Us. “Anything we wanted to do in the arts, he was all for it and he gave us as much support as he could. He never got to see me as a professional actor, which is one of those things I miss.”

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John died at age 54 in 2003 after suffering from aortic dissection. The John Ritter Foundation was created in 2010 to honor the late star and raise awareness about the disease and how to prevent it.

“I miss that experience and what it would have been like to share a project with them,” Tyler continued of his father. “But he saw enough school plays and student films and things to sort of know something was cooking.”

Keep scrolling to see which other celebs honored John at the foundation’s gala:

Kaley Cuoco

The actress worked with John on 8 Simple Rules and told Us about the “pretty spectacular” legacy he left along the way. One story Cuoco shared was John telling her to “mess up on purpose” in front of the live audience as a way to calm the nerves.

“He goes, ‘Watch me,’ and he messed up on purpose, and the audience went crazy. I'll never forget that,” she recalled. “20 years now in the business and doing live TV in that way, I have always taken that with me and been like it's for the audience, don't take yourself too seriously.”

Because of John, the 8 Simple Rules cast “always felt like family,” Cuoco added. “That's why we're all here still 20 years later celebrating him, feeling like the family that he really created.”

Sasha Pieterse

The Pretty Little Liars alum got a chance to act with John in one of her first projects, Family Affair.

“It was just so heartwarming to see him and I'm glad to be here supporting the foundation. I think that this is a wonderful event. It's just heartwarming,” Pieterse told Us. “As you can tell, there's so much love here. Advocacy is just so incredibly important and the fact that everybody is getting together to support him, and his legacy is just tremendous.”

Holly Robinson Peete

Peete shared everything she misses about John with Us.

“I miss his humor. I miss going on double dates with him and Amy [Yasbeck] and just how he made us laugh and always feel so special,” she said, noting that the late star “always showed up” for those in his life.

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Peete said it’s “really hard to process” that John has been dead for 20 years.

“We're just going to continue supporting the John Ritter Foundation,” she added. “Aortic dissection was something nobody talked about until we lost John. The awareness has been so key and it saves lives. That’s why we’re here.”

Tyler Ritter

Tyler — who John shared with ex-wife Nancy Morgan — told Us that John was “the best” dad.

“He's the only dad I'll ever know. I don't have anyone else to compare him to,” the actor said. “As much of a goofball as he was, he had his head screwed on right. He had a high sense of morality and a huge heart. He had the best sense of humor I could imagine.”

The Ritter household was full of “laughter” and “life lessons,” Tyler added. “I'm forever grateful and I'm trying now as a father myself, I’m trying to draw on as many of those memories and skills as I can.”

Amy Yasbeck

Yasbeck and Ritter were married for four years when he died. She told Us that John’s legacy was healing “people’s spirits with comedy” before it became “fixing people’s impressions about aortic dissection.”

“He was so smart,” she recalled of the late actor. “He read like five books at the same time. He was pretty much a scholar of American history, and yet, always hungry to learn. It’s something that we had in common. We would watch a documentary about anything. … He was a great audience member.”

Steven Weber

The Chicago Med star reflected on how the NBC show paid tribute to John with an episode showcasing aortic dissection.

“It was a great opportunity for the show,” Weber added, praising Yasbeck for continuing to raise awareness. “Amy has literally saved people’s lives by raising awareness with this thing that's actually shockingly common. So that was a great moment for me and Chicago Med.”

Joyce DeWitt

DeWitt starred alongside John on Three’s Company, and shared her memories of working alongside the actor.

“Being happy, being allowed to play at such a high level at the speed of light because that's where John was operating,” she said. “To be able to be free and play at that frequency and create something that will cause others to find humor and laugh. To be allowed to participate in that is almost impossible to know how to be grateful for.”

Reporting by Mike Vulpo