Michael Ritchie (film director)
Encyclopedia
Michael Brunswick Ritchie (November 28, 1938 - April 16, 2001) was an American film director.
Ritchie was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin
, the son of Patricia (née
Graney) and Benbow Ferguson Ritchie. His family later moved to Berkeley, California
, where his father was a professor of experimental psychology at the University of California at Berkeley
and his mother was the art and music librarian for the city.
He attended Berkeley High School before becoming interested in film, and was accepted at Harvard University
following high school.
Ritchie attracted attention in his senior year at Harvard in 1960 by directing the original production of the Arthur Kopit play, Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad in Cambridge, Massachusetts
.
His work on Kopit's play led to a job offer from Robert Saudek, the producer of the Omnibus television series. Ritchie also directed episodes of Profiles in Courage
and such TV series as The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
, Dr. Kildare
and Felony Squad
prior to making his Hollywood feature-film debut in 1969 with Downhill Racer
.
His sister, Elsie Ritchie
, acted in two of his films (The Candidate
and Smile
).
In 1994, Ritchie purchased the hacienda-style house at 12305 Fifth Helena Drive, in the Brentwood
district of Los Angeles
, where Marilyn Monroe
died in 1962. He bought it for $995,000.
In 1994, Ritchie moved to Manhattan
with his wife, Jimmie B. Ritchie, and daughters, Lillian (b. 1986) and Miriam (b. 1988). His additional children include a son, Steven (b. 1973); daughters Lauren (b. 1966) and Jessica (b. 1973), and two stepchildren, Nelly Bly and Billy Bly.
Ritchie died at age 62 of complications from prostate cancer
, on April 16, 2001, in New York.
Ritchie was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, the son of Patricia (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Graney) and Benbow Ferguson Ritchie. His family later moved to Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, where his father was a professor of experimental psychology at the University of California at Berkeley
and his mother was the art and music librarian for the city.
He attended Berkeley High School before becoming interested in film, and was accepted at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
following high school.
Ritchie attracted attention in his senior year at Harvard in 1960 by directing the original production of the Arthur Kopit play, Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
.
His work on Kopit's play led to a job offer from Robert Saudek, the producer of the Omnibus television series. Ritchie also directed episodes of Profiles in Courage
Profiles in Courage (TV series)
Profiles in Courage was a historical anthology series that appeared on NBC from November 8, 1964 to May 9, 1965 . The series was based on the recently assassinated President John F...
and such TV series as The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1964, to January 15, 1968. It follows the exploits of two secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a fictitious secret international espionage and law-enforcement...
, Dr. Kildare
Dr. Kildare
Dr. James Kildare is a fictional character, the primary character in a series of American theatrical films in the late 1930s and early 1940s, an early 1950s radio series, a 1960s television series of the same name and a comic book based on the TV show, and a short-lived 1970s television series...
and Felony Squad
Felony Squad
Felony Squad is a half-hour television crime drama originally broadcast on the ABC network from September 12, 1966 to January 31, 1969, a span encompassing seventy-three episodes.-Overview:...
prior to making his Hollywood feature-film debut in 1969 with Downhill Racer
Downhill Racer
Downhill Racer is a 1969 film and the first to be directed by Michael Ritchie. A drama about ski racing, it stars Robert Redford and Gene Hackman.Tagline: How fast must a man go to get from where he's at?-Plot:...
.
His sister, Elsie Ritchie
Elsie Ritchie
Elsie Ritchie was an American actress with a brief career in the 1970s who was the sister of American film director, Michael Ritchie. She starred in her brother's films in The Candidate in 1972 and in 1975's Smile....
, acted in two of his films (The Candidate
The Candidate (1972 film)
The Candidate is a 1972 American film starring Robert Redford. Its themes include how the political machine corrupts. There are many parallels between the then-recent 1970 California Senate election between John V. Tunney and George Murphy; however, Redford's character Bill McKay is a political...
and Smile
Smile (1975 film)
Smile is a 1975 film directed by American director Michael Ritchie, with a screenplay by Jerry Belson, about a beauty pageant in Santa Rosa, California. It stars Bruce Dern and Barbara Feldon and introduced a number of young actresses who later went on to greater success and recognition, such as...
).
In 1994, Ritchie purchased the hacienda-style house at 12305 Fifth Helena Drive, in the Brentwood
Brentwood, Los Angeles, California
Brentwood is a district in western Los Angeles, California, United States. The district is located at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains, bounded by the San Diego Freeway on the east, Wilshire Boulevard on the south, the Santa Monica city limits on the southwest, the border of Topanga State...
district of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, where Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
died in 1962. He bought it for $995,000.
In 1994, Ritchie moved to Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
with his wife, Jimmie B. Ritchie, and daughters, Lillian (b. 1986) and Miriam (b. 1988). His additional children include a son, Steven (b. 1973); daughters Lauren (b. 1966) and Jessica (b. 1973), and two stepchildren, Nelly Bly and Billy Bly.
Ritchie died at age 62 of complications from prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
, on April 16, 2001, in New York.
Filmography
- Downhill RacerDownhill RacerDownhill Racer is a 1969 film and the first to be directed by Michael Ritchie. A drama about ski racing, it stars Robert Redford and Gene Hackman.Tagline: How fast must a man go to get from where he's at?-Plot:...
(1969) - The CandidateThe Candidate (1972 film)The Candidate is a 1972 American film starring Robert Redford. Its themes include how the political machine corrupts. There are many parallels between the then-recent 1970 California Senate election between John V. Tunney and George Murphy; however, Redford's character Bill McKay is a political...
(1972) - Prime CutPrime CutPrime Cut is a 1972 American film produced by Joe Wizan and directed by Michael Ritchie, with a screenplay written by Robert Dillon. The movie stars Lee Marvin as a mob enforcer from Chicago sent to Kansas to collect a debt from a meatpacker boss played by Gene Hackman...
(1972) - SmileSmile (1975 film)Smile is a 1975 film directed by American director Michael Ritchie, with a screenplay by Jerry Belson, about a beauty pageant in Santa Rosa, California. It stars Bruce Dern and Barbara Feldon and introduced a number of young actresses who later went on to greater success and recognition, such as...
(1975) - The Bad News Bears (1976)
- Semi-ToughSemi-ToughSemi-Tough is a 1977 film directed by Michael Ritchie and starring Burt Reynolds, Kris Kristofferson, Jill Clayburgh, Lotte Lenya, Bert Convy, and Brian Dennehy. The plot involves a love triangle between the characters portrayed by Reynolds, Kristofferson and Clayburgh...
(1977) - An Almost Perfect AffairAn Almost Perfect AffairAn Almost Perfect Affair is a 1979 romantic comedy film directed by Michael Ritchie about the Cannes Film Festival and an affair between a filmmaker and a film producer's wife, set during the film festival...
(1979) - The IslandThe Island (1980 film)The Island is a 1980 American thriller film, directed by Michael Ritchie and starring Michael Caine and David Warner. The film was based on a novel of the same name by Peter Benchley who also wrote the screenplay...
(1980) - Divine Madness!Divine Madness!Divine Madness is a 1980 concert film directed by Michael Ritchie, and featuring Bette Midler during her 1979 concert at Pasadena's Civic Auditorium...
(1980) - Student BodiesStudent BodiesStudent Bodies is a 1981 comedy film written and directed by Mickey Rose, with an uncredited Michael Ritchie co-directing. The film stars Kristen Ritter, Matthew Goldsby, and Cullen Chambers....
(1981) - The Survivors (1983)
- FletchFletch (film)Fletch is a 1985 comedy film about a wisecracking investigative newspaper reporter, Irwin M. Fletcher , who writes under the name of Jane Doe...
(1985) - WildcatsWildcats (film)Wildcats is a 1986 film starring Goldie Hawn and costarring Jan Hooks and Swoosie Kurtz. It is the film debut of Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson. They also appeared together in White Men Can't Jump and Money Train...
(1986) - The Golden ChildThe Golden ChildThe Golden Child is a 1986 American comedy film starring Eddie Murphy. Murphy plays Chandler Jarrell, a social worker who is confronted by a young Asian woman , who tells him that he is The Chosen One destined to save The Golden Child, the savior of all mankind, from the clutches of the demon Sardo...
(1986) - The Couch TripThe Couch TripThe Couch Trip is a 1988 comedy film directed by Michael Ritchie. It stars Dan Aykroyd, Walter Matthau, Charles Grodin and Donna Dixon.-Plot:...
(1988) - Fletch LivesFletch LivesFletch Lives is a 1989 comedy film starring Chevy Chase. It was directed by Michael Ritchie with a screenplay by Leon Capetanos based on the character created by Gregory Mcdonald. Fletch Lives was released by Universal Pictures. It is a sequel to the 1985 film Fletch.- Plot :Chevy Chase once again...
(1989) - DiggstownDiggstownDiggstown is a 1992 movie directed by Michael Ritchie, and starring James Woods, Louis Gossett, Jr. and Bruce Dern. It also features Heather Graham, Oliver Platt and Randall "Tex" Cobb.-Synopsis:...
(1992) - The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering MomThe Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering MomThe Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom is a 1993 comedy TV movie produced by and for HBO. It was directed by Michael Ritchie and starred Holly Hunter, Swoosie Kurtz and Beau Bridges....
(1993) (TV movie) - Cops and RobbersonsCops and RobbersonsCops & Robbersons is a 1994 American crime comedy film directed by Michael Ritchie, and starring Chevy Chase, Jack Palance, Dianne Wiest, and Robert Davi.-Plot:...
(1994) - The Scout (1994)
- The FantasticksThe Fantasticks (film)The Fantasticks is a 1995 musical film directed by Michael Ritchie. The screenplay by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt is based on their record-breaking off-Broadway production of the same name, which ran for 17,162 performances...
(1995) - Comfort, TexasComfort, TexasComfort is a census-designated place in Kendall County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,363 at the 2010 census. It is part of the San Antonio Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
(1997) (TV movie) - A Simple WishA Simple WishA Simple Wish is a 1997 fantasy-comedy film directed by Michael Ritchie, and starring Martin Short, Mara Wilson, and Kathleen Turner. The film about a bumbling male fairy godmother named Murray , who tries to help eight-year-old Annabel fulfill her wish that her father, a carriage driver, wins the...
(1997)