Trivia

Attended Berkeley High School in Berkeley, California.

His father was Benbow Ritchie, a professor of experimental psychology at the University of California.

Two stepchildren, Nelly and Billy Bly.

Graduated from Harvard University.

Brother of Elsie Ritchie and Jack Ritchie.

In 1994, Ritchie purchased for $995,000, the modest hacienda-style house at 12305 Fifth Helena Drive in the Brentwood section of LA where Marilyn Monroe died in 1962.

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).

Father of Steven Ritchie, Lillian Ritchie, and Miriam Ritchie.

Has directed two Emmy Award-winning performances: Beau Bridges in The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom (1993) and Holly Hunter in The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom (1993).