Family and close friends mourned the passing of beloved TV vet John Ritter on Monday at a private funeral service held in Los Angeles.
Ritter, who would have turned 55 and celebrated his wedding anniversary this week, died last Thursday of a dissected aorta, the victim of an undetected heart defect.
Details of the service were not released but Ritter's publicist, Lisa Kasteler, said that a public memorial service was being planned.
ABC will hold its own tribute Tuesday night, set to air in the 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter time slot. Diane Sawyer will host the hour-long special, A Life of Laughter: Remembering John Ritter.
Familiar faces scheduled to be a part of the broadcast include Three's Company alums, Suzanne Somers and Joyce DeWitt, Katey Sagal, his co-star on their mutual comeback vehicle 8 Simple Rules? and colleagues Henry Winkler, Jason Alexander, Marilu Henner and Billy Bob Thornton.
Fans are also paying tribute to the actor, who touched audiences of TV, film and theater, by leaving flowers and memorabilia at his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and lighting candles in his memory.
Meanwhile, Hollywood tries to make sense of Ritter's sudden absence. ABC is still debating the fate of 8 Simple Rules?, slated to start its sophomore season on September 23. The thesp will also be missed on the sets of NBC's Scrubs and PBS' Clifford the Big Red Dog, where he moonlights regularly.
Ritter may have made his mark playing horndog Jack Tripper on Three's Company but audiences may not be aware he's also received several Daytime Emmy nominations for his work as the voice of popular TV hound Clifford, a favorite with the underage set.
Scrubs is also one man short with Ritter's untimely passing. He was scheduled to be on set this past Monday to reprise his role as Zach Braff's father, Sam Dorian, on the show.
"It's the ultimate example of 'the show must go on.' No one wants to be here working. Everyone is kind of in a daze," Braff told Extra.