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Mark Ritts (June 16, 1946 – December 7, 2009) was an American actor,
puppeteer A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object, called a puppet, to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from ...
, television producer and director, and author. Ritts also produced and directed many independent videos and television spots as president of Mark Ritts Productions, Inc., for clients around the world.


Biography

Ritts was born in
West Chester, Pennsylvania West Chester is a borough and the county seat of Chester County, Pennsylvania. Located within the Philadelphia metropolitan area, the borough had a population of 18,461 at the 2010 census. West Chester is the mailing address for most of its neighb ...
. He graduated from
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
with a degree in English literature. Being the son of noted puppeteers Paul and Mary Ritts, he pursued a sideline in puppetry, starring in PBS's ''The Real Adventures of Sherlock Jones and Proctor Watson'' and NBC's ''
The Pink Panther Show ''The Pink Panther Show'' is a showcase of animated shorts produced by David H. DePatie and Friz Freleng between 1969 and 1978, starring the animated Pink Panther character from the opening credits of the live-action films. The series was pr ...
'', among many others. In the 1980s he was the puppeteer for the Philadelphia-area produced '' Starstuff.'' Throughout the 1990s, Ritts was the voice and performer of Kino, the
Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
-winning puppet co-host of the
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
series '' Storytime'', as well as one of the show's writers. From 1992 to 1998, he participated on
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
's ''
Beakman's World ''Beakman's World'' is an American educational children's television program. The program is based on the Universal Press Syndicate syndicated comic strip ''You Can with Beakman and Jax'' created by Jok Church. The series premiered on Wednesday, S ...
''. In it, Ritts starred as Lester, a disgruntled actor (with a bad agent) in a rat suit who reluctantly helps Beakman with his experiments and trades barbs with Josie, Liza and Phoebe. The character was originally conceived as a puppet character, but at the last minute, the show's producers decided he would be a costumed actor. Ritts also operated the Herb penguin puppet, with the voice provided by Alan Barzman. The program has been televised in nearly 90 countries around the world, and is seen in syndication throughout the United States. After moving to California from the East Coast in 1994, Mark wrote and produced a
Barney the Dinosaur ''Barney & Friends'' is an American children's television series targeted at young children aged 2–7, created by Sheryl Leach. The series premiered on PBS on April 6, 1992. The series features the title character Barney, a purple anthropomo ...
special for
Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...
, as well as a one-hour documentary on microbiology called ''Creators of the Future'', which debuted in prime time on PBS in 1999. Ritts is also the co-author (with Don Fleming, PhD) of a parenting book entitled ''Mom, I Hate You'', released by Three Rivers/
Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
in April 2003. In July 2005, he and co-producer/writer/director
Ted Field Frederick Woodruff "Ted" Field (born June 1, 1953) is an American media mogul, record executive, entrepreneur and film producer. He co-founded Interscope Records with Jimmy Iovine and founded Interscope Communications to develop and produce f ...
released ''Cast Off for Catalina'', a DVD about visiting and enjoying southern California's Santa Catalina Island aboard your own boat. A second DVD, ''Cast Off for Mexico'', was released in 2007. Ritts provided the voice for the character Gianciotto in the 2007 film ''
Dante's Inferno ''Inferno'' (; Italian for "Hell") is the first part of Italian writer Dante Alighieri's 14th-century epic poem ''Divine Comedy''. It is followed by ''Purgatorio'' and '' Paradiso''. The ''Inferno'' describes Dante's journey through Hell, gui ...
''. He made a major high-definition documentary for Merck & Co. and creative directed an elaborate conference for Carlson Hotels at
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
's Bellagio Resort and Casino. He was also a director of the
Court TV Court TV is an American digital broadcast network and former cable television channel. It was originally launched in 1991 with a focus on crime-themed programs such as true crime documentary series, legal analysis talk shows, and live news cove ...
series ''North Mission Road''. Ritts died from
kidney cancer Kidney cancer, also known as renal cancer, is a group of cancers that starts in the kidney. Symptoms may include blood in the urine, lump in the abdomen, or back pain. Fever, weight loss, and tiredness may also occur. Complications can include spr ...
in
La Cañada Flintridge, California La Cañada Flintridge, commonly known as "La Cañada" (Spanish for "The Canyon"), is a city in the foothills of the Verdugo Mountains in Los Angeles County, California. Located in the Crescenta Valley, in the western edge of Southern Califor ...
. He was 63 years old.


Family

He was married to actress and singer
Teresa Parente Teresa Parente is an American actress and singer. Career She is best known for her recurrent role on the Fox Broadcasting Company's sitcom '' Married... with Children'' as hapless television reporter "Miranda Veracruz de la Hoya Cardinal", who ...
and had a daughter. He was previously married to Nina Daniel and they had two sons.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ritts, Mark 1946 births 2009 deaths American puppeteers American male television actors Deaths from kidney cancer Deaths from cancer in California People from La Cañada Flintridge, California People from West Chester, Pennsylvania Harvard University alumni 20th-century American male actors