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Lucille Ball’s ‘Primary Love’ on ‘Three’s Company’ Was John Ritter, Joyce DeWitt Reveals
Lucille Ball was a huge fan of ’70s sitcom Three’s Company, but in particular its male star.
John Ritter and his brilliant physical comedy won over millions of viewers including Ball.
She was such a big supporter of Three’s Company before her death in 1989 and even took part in a 1982 special of the show.
“I think it’s only fair to say her primary love was Jonathan,” Ritter’s friend and costar Joyce DeWitt recalled while speaking to People on the red carpet at the John Ritter Foundation for Aortic Health’s Evening From the Heart LA Gala at the Sunset Room in Hollywood on September 12.
Ritter died in September 2003 at age 54 after suffering an aortic dissection. The foundation was later established in his honor.
DeWitt, 77, also told the outlet that Ball appreciated the show “very much and was kind to all of us,” but that it was due to Ritter’s “brilliant physical comedy that she first noticed us and became a devotee.”
DeWitt went on to say that describing Ball’s appreciation of the show “flattering” would “be an understatement of the century,” adding it was “enormously kind on her part.”
Three’s Company aired for eight seasons on ABC from March 1977 until September 1984, starring Ritter, DeWitt and Suzanne Somers as three single roommates living together in California.
As previously reported by Examiner, DeWitt said she felt she shared an amazing connection with Ritter when they filmed scenes together.
On Ball’s influence and encouragement, DeWitt added, “The sweetness that she saw what we were doing, the stupidness of all the physicality, just to make people laugh, was just so much that she had done with her TV show.”
It also seemed that Ball could “appreciate these young bucks running around trying to do something that was a shadow of what she had done.”
Ball previously found fame in her landmark sitcom I Love Lucy, which premiered in 1951. During the 180 episodes, Ball, who played Lucy Ricardo, would do anything for a laugh, much like Ritter.
