'Three's Company' star Joyce DeWitt recalls final hours with John Ritter - USA Today

Joyce DeWitt believes she had "divine assistance" in spending time with her "Three's Company" costar John Ritter weeks before he unexpectedly died.

DeWitt, 77, recounted their "precious" final dinner in an interview with Page Six, published Sunday, Nov. 1.

"Not knowing that it would be the last time we would hang out together, it was extraordinarily special," she told the outlet.

DeWitt – whose character, Janet, was roommates with Ritter's Jack and Suzanne Somers' Chrissy – said she reached out to Ritter in August 2003 after learning they were in New York at the same time. He called her back, and the two ended up going out to dinner with Jim Belushi.

"If he had called one minute later, I would have been out walking to Lincoln Center on my way to a movie," DeWitt said. "I mean, it’s like there was divine assistance in allowing us that time together."

Ritter was 54 when he died of an aortic dissection on Sept. 11, 2003. He had been hospitalized and mistakenly treated for a heart attack after experiencing health issues while in rehearsals for the sitcom "8 Simple Rules." His family received millions in settlements after taking legal action against the hospital and other defendants for his wrongful death.

DeWitt, alongside Amy Yasbeck – Ritter's widow and "Wings" actress – will host a "Three's Company" 50th anniversary celebration Monday, Nov. 2, in New York City to fundraise for the John Ritter Foundation for Aortic Health. The staged reading and auction will involve Jason Biggs, Christine Taylor, Richard Kind, Susie Essman and Richard Kline, among other celebrity appearances.

Yasbeck established the foundation weeks after his death to raise awareness of "thoracic aortic aneurysm and dissection through research, education, and advocacy."

Speaking with PauseRewind's Elizabeth Stanton at the foundation's fundraising gala in Los Angeles on Sept. 12, DeWitt opened up about her onscreen chemistry with her late costar.

"On the very first day, John and I worked well together physically. It's like I always say, John and I worked together kinesthetically," she said. "Our bodies talk to each other; we didn't even have to say it verbally."

She continued, "That's a great gift if you're doing physical comedy, and it happens maybe once in a lifetime. I don't expect ever to have that again, and certainly not with someone as spectacular as Jonathan."