Shirley Ritts

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Shirley Ritts (October 28, 1920 – February 24, 2008) was an American interior designer whose company helped to popularize rattan furniture in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s.[1] Ritts was the mother of photographer and music video director, Herb Ritts (August 13, 1952 – December 26, 2002).[1]

Early life[]

Shirley Ritts was born in Baltimore, Maryland on October 28, 1920.[1] Her father was an ophthalmologist.[1] She married her husband Herb Ritts, Sr. in 1950, who happened to own a furniture company at the time.[1]

The Ritts Company[]

The benefited from the popularity of rattan furniture during the post-World War II era.[1] Herb Ritts acted as the company's furniture designer, and Shirley was in charge of sales and marketing.[1] The couple had four children whom they raised in a 27-room, Spanish-style house in Brentwood, California.[1] Ritts assisted with the set design on Elvis Presley's 1961 film Blue Hawaii, in which she used rattan furniture and Polynesian design.[1] Ritts often traveled extensively once her company introduced a line of high-end acrylic furniture.[1]

Personal life[]

Ritts and her husband Herb divorced during the late 1970s.[1] They remarried in the 1990s.[1] Shirley Ritts died of emphysema at her home in Brentwood, California on February 24, 2008 at the age of 87.[1]

Popular culture[]

In the first installment of Lethal Weapon film series, the Ritts Co. store can be seen from a rooftop where Mel Gibson's character Martin Riggs is trying to subdue a suspect.

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Designer, mother of Herb Ritts." Los Angeles Times Archives. March 1, 2008. Retrieved November 24, 2021.

External links[]


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