Ruth Elizabeth Wertz (1935July 14, 2021), known as Ricki Wertz, was an American actress and television personality. She was a pioneering figure in local television in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, appearing on several shows from the late 1950s until the 1980s. She was noted for hosting '' Ricki & Copper'' and ''Junior High Quiz''.

Early life

Wertz was born in

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre ( , alternatively or ) is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It ...

, in 1935. She left her hometown when she was 17 in order to train at the

Pittsburgh Playhouse Pittsburgh Playhouse is Point Park University's performing arts center located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It houses three performance spaces and is home to The Rep, Point Park's resident professional theatre company, as well as three student com ...

on a scholarship. One of her roommates was future film and television star

Shirley Jones Shirley Mae Jones (born March 31, 1934) is an American actress and singer. In her six decades in show business, she has starred as wholesome characters in a number of musical films, such as ''Oklahoma! (film), Oklahoma!'' (1955), ''Carousel (fi ...

, also from Pennsylvania. Wertz subsequently undertook

postgraduate studies Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...

La Roche College La Roche University is a private Catholic university in McCandless, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1963 by the Sisters of Divine Providence and now sits on an campus within the Diocese of Pittsburgh. History La Roche Univers ...

, where her thesis was based on the series she created called ''The Chemical People''.

Career

Wertz first worked on local Pittsburgh TV delivering the weather report for

WTAE-TV WTAE-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with ABC. It has been owned by Hearst Television since the station's inception, making this one of two stations that have been built and signe ...

. It featured her singing to the audience while dressed in a negligee. She went on to host a popular children's morning program, ''Comedy Time'', starting in 1958. The show was renamed '' Ricki & Copper'' the following year, when Ricki's dog, Copper, joined the cast. The show continued to be broadcast until 1969, when Wertz left the show to spend more time with her baby daughter who had been born prematurely. From 1965 to 1982, Wertz also hosted '' Junior High Quiz'' on Sunday afternoons. ''Junior High Quiz'' showcased two teams of eighth grade students from local junior high schools. The students had to answer a series of questions to score points for their teams. The quiz show was sponsored by

Pittsburgh National Bank The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. is an American bank holding company and financial services corporation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its banking subsidiary, PNC Bank, operates in 27 states and the District of Columbia, with 2,629 b ...

. Both ''Ricki & Copper'' and ''Junior High Quiz'' were broadcast on

Channel 4. Wertz moved to

WQED-TV WQED (channel 13) is a PBS member television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Owned by WQED Multimedia, it is sister to public radio station WQED-FM (89.3). The two outlets share studios on Fifth Avenue near the Carnegie M ...

Channel 13 in 1982. There she hosted a documentary series, ''Chemical People'', which focused on drug-addicted persons, and ''Project Literacy U.S.'', another documentary addressing literacy in the USA.

Personal life

Wertz married Tom Bordenkircher in 1954. They met in Pittsburgh PA, while Ricki was acting at the Pittsburgh Playhouse and auditioned for a

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

commercial when Tom was working for an advertising agency. They remained married until his death in February 2020. She revealed in 2007 that Copper was the wedding gift Bordenkircher gave her, after she requested a dog instead of jewelry. Together, they had two children: Tom and Kristin. The couple moved from North Huntingdon to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in 2015 to live closer to their children. Wertz died on the night of July 14, 2021, at her home in

. She was 86, and suffered from unspecified health issues prior to her death.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wertz, Ricki 1935 births 2021 deaths Actresses from Pittsburgh American game show hosts Mass media in Pittsburgh People from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania 21st-century American women