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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview with Mary Hart

Aired September 13, 2003 - 09:41   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FRAZIER: Friends and family and fans all remembering that kind of physical comedy from funnyman John Ritter. The television star died of a heart ailment at the age of 54 very suddenly. So we've asked "Entertainment Tonight" anchor Mary Hart to join us with the reaction from Hollywood.
And this is not the time of day when we're normally used to seeing you. Mary Hart, thanks so much for giving us this trouble this morning.

MARY HART, "ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT": Stephen, it's nice to be with you. I can't say I'm happy to be talking about John and his passing. It truly -- in my 21 years of "Entertainment Tonight," this really was one of the most shocking and sad things to have happened.

We all woke up to the news, and, of course, we had heard it about 1:00 in the morning the night before. And our terrific staff was immediately rushed to the office to put together a show for last night, and an entire hour on John Ritter for the weekend.

I spent yesterday morning talking with Henry Winkler, who was one of John's very, very best friends, going back nearly 30 years. And, of course, he was stunned.

But the one thing that comes through in all of us who knew John, and all of his good friends and family is, his love of life, his great, never-ending sense of humor, and his spirit.

FRAZIER: Well, it seems that that is what people are talking about today, even more than his accomplishments as a television star. It doesn't seem that there's a person who didn't like him.

HART: It -- I think that's true, Stephen. There are -- you know, people have their ups and downs. John had his ups and downs in his career. And, I mean, it's really hard to top having a sitcom as successful as "Three's Company," but that was a long time ago.

And there were times when we would all kind of say, Where's John Ritter? We don't want to be doing one of those whatever-happened-to segments.

Here he had this incredible resurgence in his career. He was the hit show.

FRAZIER: He was the hit show... HART: For ABC.

FRAZIER: ... you know, and the irony is, he was playing a kind of a dad worried about what could happen to his young daughters out there with, you know, young men coming to the door, after he played that kind of young man. So it gave his role a certain resonance, his past.

HART: And he was having such a great time with this renewed success. He was appreciating every single minute, believe me. He came over to our set one time last year, and they did some special promos and tie-ins with "Entertainment Tonight." And he just said, I can't believe this is happening again. How lucky am I?

And that was just his great attitude.

FRAZIER: Great (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

HART: And I was talking with -- I was talking with my 11-year- old son and his buddy last night. And I said, Do you guys know who John Ritter is? And they went, No. Who's John Ritter? I said, On "TV Land," have you ever seen "Three's Company"? No, not really. Well how about "Eight Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter"? Oh, yes, that, John Ritter? And I said, yes. And you know what, boys? He passed away. And they went, He was so young.

The 11-year-olds knew John Ritter. He had translated into several more generations after "Three's Company." And that's a real gift.

FRAZIER: So hard to do. You mentioned Henry Winkler, who was actually going to appear in the next episode of "Eight Simple Rules." So he was on the set with John Ritter that day.

HART: Well, he was on the set that day...

FRAZIER: And no clue?

HART: ... he was just -- No clue. Well, here's what happened. Henry told me, they were rehearsing. He and John were actually running their dialogue in the morning. And John had walked in and he said, I'm so tired. To which Henry, you know, teasingly, said, You're always tired. He said, No, but I took a nap. And he said, Well, you didn't sleep long enough.

And then shortly thereafter, he kind of broke out into a sweat and said he was going home to rest. Henry got a call saying, Come to the set tomorrow morning, and we'll get through this. And that would have been yesterday. And, of course, they were going to tape last night.

And Henry got a call at midnight, and the producer was crying and said, Henry, I hate to tell you this, but John has just passed away. And Henry thought this was a terrible joke, needless to say. But it had happened two hours prior to that. FRAZIER: Well, I'm sorry that it shocked everybody so much there, as it has all of us. But we are grateful that you took time out to help remember John Ritter. Mary Hart, thanks so much for joining us this evening.

HART: Stephen, it's nice to help remember somebody who really made a very positive difference in the world.

FRAZIER: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired September 13, 2003 - 09:41   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FRAZIER: Friends and family and fans all remembering that kind of physical comedy from funnyman John Ritter. The television star died of a heart ailment at the age of 54 very suddenly. So we've asked "Entertainment Tonight" anchor Mary Hart to join us with the reaction from Hollywood.
And this is not the time of day when we're normally used to seeing you. Mary Hart, thanks so much for giving us this trouble this morning.

MARY HART, "ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT": Stephen, it's nice to be with you. I can't say I'm happy to be talking about John and his passing. It truly -- in my 21 years of "Entertainment Tonight," this really was one of the most shocking and sad things to have happened.

We all woke up to the news, and, of course, we had heard it about 1:00 in the morning the night before. And our terrific staff was immediately rushed to the office to put together a show for last night, and an entire hour on John Ritter for the weekend.

I spent yesterday morning talking with Henry Winkler, who was one of John's very, very best friends, going back nearly 30 years. And, of course, he was stunned.

But the one thing that comes through in all of us who knew John, and all of his good friends and family is, his love of life, his great, never-ending sense of humor, and his spirit.

FRAZIER: Well, it seems that that is what people are talking about today, even more than his accomplishments as a television star. It doesn't seem that there's a person who didn't like him.

HART: It -- I think that's true, Stephen. There are -- you know, people have their ups and downs. John had his ups and downs in his career. And, I mean, it's really hard to top having a sitcom as successful as "Three's Company," but that was a long time ago.

And there were times when we would all kind of say, Where's John Ritter? We don't want to be doing one of those whatever-happened-to segments.

Here he had this incredible resurgence in his career. He was the hit show.

FRAZIER: He was the hit show... HART: For ABC.

FRAZIER: ... you know, and the irony is, he was playing a kind of a dad worried about what could happen to his young daughters out there with, you know, young men coming to the door, after he played that kind of young man. So it gave his role a certain resonance, his past.

HART: And he was having such a great time with this renewed success. He was appreciating every single minute, believe me. He came over to our set one time last year, and they did some special promos and tie-ins with "Entertainment Tonight." And he just said, I can't believe this is happening again. How lucky am I?

And that was just his great attitude.

FRAZIER: Great (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

HART: And I was talking with -- I was talking with my 11-year- old son and his buddy last night. And I said, Do you guys know who John Ritter is? And they went, No. Who's John Ritter? I said, On "TV Land," have you ever seen "Three's Company"? No, not really. Well how about "Eight Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter"? Oh, yes, that, John Ritter? And I said, yes. And you know what, boys? He passed away. And they went, He was so young.

The 11-year-olds knew John Ritter. He had translated into several more generations after "Three's Company." And that's a real gift.

FRAZIER: So hard to do. You mentioned Henry Winkler, who was actually going to appear in the next episode of "Eight Simple Rules." So he was on the set with John Ritter that day.

HART: Well, he was on the set that day...

FRAZIER: And no clue?

HART: ... he was just -- No clue. Well, here's what happened. Henry told me, they were rehearsing. He and John were actually running their dialogue in the morning. And John had walked in and he said, I'm so tired. To which Henry, you know, teasingly, said, You're always tired. He said, No, but I took a nap. And he said, Well, you didn't sleep long enough.

And then shortly thereafter, he kind of broke out into a sweat and said he was going home to rest. Henry got a call saying, Come to the set tomorrow morning, and we'll get through this. And that would have been yesterday. And, of course, they were going to tape last night.

And Henry got a call at midnight, and the producer was crying and said, Henry, I hate to tell you this, but John has just passed away. And Henry thought this was a terrible joke, needless to say. But it had happened two hours prior to that. FRAZIER: Well, I'm sorry that it shocked everybody so much there, as it has all of us. But we are grateful that you took time out to help remember John Ritter. Mary Hart, thanks so much for joining us this evening.

HART: Stephen, it's nice to help remember somebody who really made a very positive difference in the world.

FRAZIER: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com