Michael Brunswick Ritchie (November 28, 1938 – April 16, 2001) was an American film and television director.
Born in Wisconsin, Ritchie and his family later moved to Berkeley, California. From there, he attended Harvard University, where he became involved in theater and interested in directing. He worked on TV series before making his feature directorial debut with Downhill Racer (1969). Ritchie was especially known for making sports-related movies and comedies. His last film as a director was A Simple Wish (1997).
Ritchie was also the author of Please Stand By, a 1994 non-fiction book about the history of television from the 1920s to the 1940s.
Not to be confused with the British author Michael J Ritchie.
Works directed by Michael Ritchie with TV Tropes pages:
- Downhill Racer (1969)
- Prime Cut (1972)
- The Candidate (1972)
- Smile (1975)
- The Bad News Bears (1976)
- The Island (1980)
- Student Bodies (1981) (uncredited)
- The Survivors (1983)
- Fletch (also its sequel, Fletch Lives (1989))
- Wildcats (1986)
- The Golden Child (1986)
- Diggstown (1992)
- Cool Runnings (1993) (story only)
- The Scout (1994)
- The Fantasticks (made in 1995, released in 2000)
- A Simple Wish (1997)
- Dr. Kildare (3 episodes, 1965)
- The Big Valley (3 episodes, 1966)
- The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1 episode, 1966)
- The Felony Squad (3 episodes, 1966)