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Katey Sagal recounted the September 2003 day that her 8 Simple Rules costar John Ritter suddenly died at the age of 54, calling his passing "mind-blowing."
By Gibson Johns Aug 07, 2026 3:59 PM | Updated 2 minutes ago
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Over two decades after John Ritter's death, Katey Sagal knows there are no rules when it comes to navigating grief.
The actress, who portrayed Ritter's onscreen wife Cate Hennessy in 8 Simples Rules, reflected on that September 2003 day when he suddenly got sick during production of the show's second season.
"I was there, yes," Sagal told Ted Danson on the Aug. 5 episode of his Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast. "We were doing press pretty much at 4 in the afternoon on that day and then by 10 o'clock that night, he left us."
She added, "It was mind-blowing."
The 72-year-old went on to share that she still feels Ritter's presence in her life over two decades after he died from an aortic dissection at age 54.
"It's interesting," she explained. "I don't know what your belief system is, but I feel him around a lot. I just feel him around. His energy and his love of laughter and life."
"Even though I think he had his darker side too," Sagal continued, "he just brought so much light that I just feel him around."
The Married with Children alum also praised Ritter's comedic chops, pointing out that he "had that rubbery face" that was conducive to physical comedy.
"When I worked with John Ritter," Sagal explained of her time on 8 Simple Rules, which also starred Kaley Cuoco, "he used to always, he would make such big jokes about face acting."
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The Golden Globe winner previously recounted her final moments with Ritter before his shocking death.
"We shot a promo and he didn’t feel well," she said on The Howard Stern Show back in 2012, "and so at four in the afternoon he went to his room, after we shot the promo, and we all went home—we were done for the day."
"Literally five hours later, at nine o’clock at night," Sagal went on, "I get a call saying John’s in the hospital and he’s had a heart attack. So we get to the hospital, and within a couple of hours, he’d passed. It was a shock."
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