Reply #3: I'm very sorry to hear about the death of John Ritter. [View All]

[undergroundrailroad]

Emmy-winning actor John Ritter dead at 54


(CNN) --Actor and comedian John Ritter has died unexpectedly after he was rushed to the hospital for a "dissection of the aorta," his publicist Lisa Kasteler told CNN.

Ritter, who would have turned 55 next week, was the star of the ABC series "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter."

In a statement, Kasteler said Ritter was rushed to the hospital after suffering from an unrecognized and undetected flaw in his aorta.

Surgeons at the hospital tried to save the Emmy Award-winning actor but were unable to do so, the statement said.

WebMD.com described an aortic dissection as "an abnormal separation of tissues within the walls of the aorta" caused by high blood pressure, family history of the condition, disease of connective tissue, or severe trauma to the chest.