- Born
- Died
- Birth nameMichael Brunswick Ritchie
- Height6′ 7″ (2.01 m)
- Michael Ritchie was born on November 28, 1938 in Waukesha, Wisconsin, USA. He was a director and producer, known for The Golden Child (1986), The Island (1980) and Fletch (1985). He was married to Jimmie Brown and Georgina Tebrock. He died on April 16, 2001 in New York City, New York, USA.
- SpousesJimmie Brown(1982 - April 16, 2001) (his death, 2 children)Georgina Tebrock(February 2, 1963 - ?) (divorced, 3 children)
- His father was Benbow Ritchie, a professor of experimental psychology at the University of California.
- Attended Berkeley High School in Berkeley, California.
- Graduated from Harvard University.
- Started his career as an assistant producer in television in the early 1960s. He made his feature film debut as a director with Downhill Racer (1969), for which he was hired by Robert Redford. Sports continued to be his forte, his greatest box-office successes being about baseball (The Bad News Bears (1976)) and football (Semi-Tough (1977)). He took a humorous swipe, with far less commercial success, at beauty pageants with the underrated Smile (1975), for which he adopted an effective semi-documentary approach. While his work became more mainstream during the 1980s, it does include a few memorable comedies, notably Fletch (1985) (and its sequel) and The Couch Trip (1988).
- Two stepchildren, Nelly and Billy Bly.
- I had no training in the theater. I did not study it but just did it.
- I feel that I'm leaving Williamstown too early, but I'd rather leave too early than too late.
- I have no interest in directing. I'd be a bad director.
- I've never presented. The logistics of that is a challenge.
- I'll be going to the granddaddy of the Los Angeles theaters.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
