Jason Ritter's Real Name: Jason Ritter

Quick answer: Jason Ritter is known professionally as Jason Ritter. The Library of Congress heading is "Ritter, Jason, 1980-." The Television Academy lists his birthday as February 17 and his birthplace as Los Angeles, and records a 2012 Emmy nomination for Parenthood (Television Academy). CBS News has identified him as the son of the actor John Ritter (CBS News).

Real name and early life

The Academy biography does not state a year; the Library of Congress heading uses 1980, which is consistent with a 2007 CBS interview given when he was already working as an adult. A more precise year-plus-day combination is therefore 1980 plus the Academy's February 17, but this page treats the year as coming from the library heading. CBS News, in a January 8, 2007, report, said he is the son of John Ritter, known for Three's Company and 8 Simple Rules, and that following his father into sitcoms was not always easy. The Television Academy says he is a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he studied at the Atlantic Theatre Company, and that he also studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

Career highlights

CBS News reported that his first major television break was the drama Joan of Arcadia and that, in 2007, he was starring on the CBS comedy The Class as Dr. Ethan Haas. The Television Academy lists additional series-regular work on The Event and a role as Lauren Graham's love interest, Mark Cyr, on NBC's Parenthood, which brought a 2012 nomination for outstanding guest actor in a drama series. A later Academy nomination, in 2017, was for outstanding actor in a short-form comedy or drama series, for Tales of Titans.

The Academy biography also records film work including Good Dick, Peter and Vandy, and The Dry Land, festival titles that played at Sundance, and stage work including the Lincoln Center production of Wendy Wasserstein's Third, opposite Dianne Wiest, and the London premiere of Neil LaBute's The Distance from Here at the Almeida Theatre. The Library of Congress heading is based in part on credits for the film Swimfan (2003).

Name notes for searchers

Jason Ritter is the name used in credits, by CBS News, and by the Library of Congress. Searchers looking for the Parenthood or Joan of Arcadia actor, or for John Ritter's son, are usually aiming at the same person.