Posted on 09/12/2003 9:10:37 AM PDT by Sir Gawain
The entertainment world received a double shock today, with the deaths of country music giant Johnny Cash and comic actor John Ritter.
Cash, a singer and songwriter, whose work sparked a revival of American country and western music, died early today of complications from diabetes, according to officials at Baptist Hospital in Nashville, Tenn. He was 71.
Cash, who suffered the loss of his beloved wife June Carter Cash in May, had been hospitalized for two weeks with an unspecified stomach ailment, but had been released from Baptist Hospital in Nashville on Wednesday.
Ritter was an Emmy Award-winning actor who gained fame playing bumbling and lovable characters in a pair of television comedies decades apart.
He died suddenly due to a previously undetected arterial problem, his representatives said today. He was 54.
The Man in Black
With his deep, resonant voice and his songs about life's troubles and society's outcasts, Cash, known as "The Man in Black," had an appeal that reached traditional country music fans.
An 11-time Grammy winner and six-time winner of Country Music Association awards, the talented artist had success as a solo artist, as part of a duet, as the leader of a trio, and as a part of the award-winning Highwaymen quartet.
He was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1980 and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
His most recent Grammy came this year, when he received the award for best male country vocal performance for "Give My Love To Rose."
Even at 71 he was still connecting with young music fans. He was nominated for awards in seven categories for last month's MTV Video Music Awards, and received the award for best cinematography for the video of his cover of "Hurt," a Nine Inch Nails song.
Missed Company
Ritter, the son of country music legend Tex Ritter, came to fame in the 1970s comedy Three's Company , and found himself a new hit with 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, an ABC television comedy.
He collapsed Thursday night, while filming an episode of the comedy, and was taken to Providence St. Joseph hospital in Burbank, Calif., across the street from the studio.
Ritter's publicist, Lisa Kasteler, said the cause of death was a dissection of the aorta, the result of an unrecognized flaw in his heart.
Though he is most associated with the two sitcom roles, he also appeared in films and more than 25 TV movies and was a prolific stage actor, having appeared in more than 50 plays nationwide. His recent nine-month role in the Broadway premiere of Neil Simon's The Dinner Party brought him critical acclaim.
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That, and he was great in 'Slingblade'.


http://www.psufiji.org/famous.html
He's a Fiji.
Ala Rodney Dangerfield;
.."my doctor told me, if, from know on, I take very good care of myself, I could get very sick and die."
Truth in comedy.
I have stood upon the mountain
I have seen the other side
I have wrestled with the devil
I have wrestled with my pride
I have been down in the valley
I have stood out in the rain
I have seen my love forsaken
Felt the pleasure and the pain
There's one thing that's for certain
One chord that rings true
It's a mighty world we live in
But the truth is, we're only passin' thru
I have cried in tears of sadness
I have cried in tears of joy
I have found a life worth livin'
From the peace within the noise
I have turned by back on hatred
Lyin', prejudice and greed
Found the future in the present
Found hope within a seed
There's one thing that's for certain
One chord that rings true
It's a mighty world we live in
But the truth is, we're only passin' thru
Passin' thru, passin' thru
It's a mighty world we live in
but the truth is
We're only passin' thru
I have seen my bucket empty
I have seen my well run dry
But there's water down the road
And I'm only goin' by
If I'm settin' on dead ready
When my chances come and knock
I'll make it where I'm going
I'll be tall just like a rock
There's one thing that's for certain
One chord that rings true
It's a wicked world we live in
But the truth is, we're only passin' thru
Passin' thru, passin' thru
It's a mighty world we live in
but the truth is
We're only passin' thru
Yea, it's a mighty world we live in
but the truth is
We're only passin' thru
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