Michael Brunswick Ritchie (November 28, 1938 – April 16, 2001) was an American film director, producer, and writer of films with comical or satirical leanings, such as The Candidate (1972) and Smile (1975). He scored commercial successes directing sports films like Downhill Racer (1969) and The Bad News Bears (1976), and comedies like Chevy Chase's Fletch (1985) and Eddie Murphy's The Golden Child (1986).

Early life 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 BerkeleyMichael Ritchie Biography (1938-2001) 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. He told Robert Redford's biographer, author Michael Feeney Callan, that academic interest in film culture was the basis and drive for his career.

Career While at Harvard, Ritchie directed 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. This led Robert Saudek to offer him a job, and Ritchie worked on several TV series prior to his film debut in 1969 with Downhill Racer.

In 1970, Ritchie worked for John V. Tunney's senate election campaign, Tunney was the basis for Robert Redford's character in Ritchie's Oscar-winning film, The Candidate.The Washington Post, "John V. Tunney, California lawmaker whose campaign inspired a film, dies at 83," By Matt Schudel, 914 words, 16 January 2018. Retrieved on 9/11/2020.

As a director, Ritchie's output was highly varied. Although originally known for his sports films and satires in the 1970s, such as The Candidate and The Bad News Bears, he became more known for his broad comedies in the 1980s, such as Fletch and The Golden Child.

Ritchie also briefly pursued a career as an author, writing Please Stand By: A Prehistory of Television, a nonfiction book about the experimental period of the television industry from the 1920s through the 1940s.

Personal life 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 the property for $995,000 and it became his Los Angeles family base. Also 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. His sister, Elsie Ritchie, acted in two of his films: The Candidate and Smile.

Death and legacy Ritchie died on April 16, 2001, from complications related to prostate cancer. Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "It’s difficult to think of any director, ever, who had a more consistently uneven career." According to Mark LeFanu, his films were recognized as "unpretentious, closely observed, finely textured works...there comes a point when, looking back, one sees that their consistency itself – consistent excellence – is telling us something: something about the way that cinema itself is able to move out and look around."

Filmography Film +Year TitleDirectorProducerWriterNotes 1969Downhill Racer Directorial debut1972Prime Cut The Candidate 1975Smile1976The Bad News Bears1977Semi-Tough1978The Bad News Bears Go to Japan1979An Almost Perfect Affair1980The Island Divine Madness Concert film1981Student BodiesProducer credit as "Allen Smithee"1983The Survivors1985Fletch 1986WildcatsThe Golden Child 1988The Couch Trip1989Fletch Lives1992Diggstown Innocent BloodRole as "Night Watchman"1993Cool Runnings1994Cops & Robbersons The Scout 1997A Simple Wish2000The FantasticksAlso music producer

Television TV movies TitleYearDirectorWriterNotesThe Theater of Tomorrow1963The Sound of Anger1968The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom1993Voice role as "Minister"Comfort, Texas1997Big Shot: Confessions of a Campus Bookie2002

TV series directed +TitleYearNotesOmnibus1955Segment "The Trial of St. Joan"Profiles in Courage19652 episodes, also associate producerDr. Kildare3 episodesThe Big Valley19663 episodesThe Man from U.N.C.L.E.Episode "The Nowhere Affair"Felony Squad3 episodesRun for Your Life1966-6711 episodesBob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre1967Episode "To Sleep, Perchance to Scream"The Outsider1967-682 episodesHarold Robbins' The Survivors19692 episodesL'encyclopédie audio-visuelle1993Documentary series, episode "Albert Einstein"Beggars and Choosers19992 episodes

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