Clint Ritchie has passed away

[allatwitter]

One Life to Live soap opera veteran, Clint Ritchie is dead.

The handsome cowboy shocked his family and friends after successfully getting a pacemaker implanted only to die 10 hours later, quietly in his sleep.

Clint Ritchie's longtime friend and bookkeeper, Linda Honore tells RadarOnline.com, "The last time I saw Clint was last week when I took him some leftovers. He had been sick for awhile. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family."

Clint, 70, was best known for his 20-year role as "Clinton 'Clint' Buchanan" on the popular ABC soap. The avid horseman suffered a heart attack in late January and had a pacemaker implanted, but unfortunately a deadly blood clot formed and he died in the early hours of Jan. 31.

Clint, who never married or had children, lived on his 60-acre Happy Horse Ranch in Grass Valley, Calif., near Sacramento with his horses and many dogs and cats. He starred in a number of TV Westerns in the '50s and '60s including the 1965 pilot for The Wild, Wild West. He also acted in movies, including The St. Valentine Day's Massacre, Patton, and A Force of One, but he loved the role of "Clint Buchanan" because it allowed him to show off the real cowboy side of his character. Ritchie joined the cast of OLTL in 1979 and retired in 1998. He reprised his role in several encore appearances, the last in 2004. His role was eventually recast.

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2009...itchie-dies.php

[PAsoapfan]

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends during this time.

[NYC123]

OMG!

I loved his Clint back in the day!

May he R.I.P!

[rangethatrover]

Very, very sad.

I know Clint was a big drinker too and that does not help things at all....

He will always be Clint to me.

God bless him.

[DeeeDee]

RIP.

[dm.]

RIP Clint.

[DRW50]

Sad to hear. I still remember those beautiful scenes where he met Natalie for the first time

[bellcurve]

Oh wow. I loved Clint Ritchie.

[Faulkner]

Oh No!

I always had a hope he'd return as Clint one day.

RIP indeed.

[SarahJoyBrownFF]

Me too! As much as I like Ross Marler from the Guiding Light as Clint, I longed for Clint Ritchie to come back to Llanview. I'm praying for whatever famil he has who are morning his passing. God Bless his eternal soul cause it must live somewhere after his earthly body passes.

[Dan]

Damn. There go my hopes that he would return to OLTL so that they can give me back my Jerry ver Dorn...

RIP Clint.

[Marco Dane]

rip

[Rakesh]

OMG!

R.I.P

[nell17]

Sad news. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family at this time.

[applcin]

OMG! He was my longtime fave on OLTL for years! I was watching a little bit of his 1888 storyline from my tapes the other day. I remember that was his favorite storyline.

I also can appreciate what JvD brings to Clint Buchanan, even though he, and the writing, are quite a ways away from the original. I mean, they asked Clint if they could name Clint Buchanan after him. I have missed Clint Ritchie's presence dearly.

:(

I wish they could do some kind of fitting tribute on the show...which would probably be hard considering his character is now played by someone else. But perhaps save a minute or two at the end of a show to run a montage? I really hope the show acknowledges it with more than just his name at the end.

His passing is also mentioned on his official website, which they say they will continue. That photo is how I always remember him.

http://www.clintritchie.com/

Incidentally, I was quite surprised to happen to catch the In Memoriam segment of the SAG Awards to find out Don Galloway had passed. He was best known for Ironside but I also remember him as Dr. Buzz Stryker on GH, one of Robin's "3 godfathers."