Douglass Ritzenthaler

Douglass Alan Ritzenthaler, age 32 of Westchester, formerly of Berwyn. Loving son of Alan C. and Elizabeth A. (nee Karalius), cherished grandson of Margot Karalius, Larry Ritzenthaler, Alice Ritzenthaler and the late Joseph Karalius, fond nephew and cousin to many. Funeral Monday, February 6, 10:30am at Kuratko-Nosek Funeral Home, 2447 S. DesPlaines Avenue, North Riverside. Interment Queen of Heaven Cemetery. Visitation Sunday, 2:00pm – 6:00pm.

Doug Ritzenthaler was born in Chicago, Illinois. He attended St. Joseph High School and Proviso West High School. As an avid movie lover he decided to try out working as a background actor to get to see how the magic was made. His first job was on Nightmare on Elm Street which led him to the love for film-making. He then in 2009 searched for a film school he could attend and found The Nashville Film Institute for an extensive 9 month film training program. While attending The NFI he was lucky enough to have the opportunity to get to assist the Associate Producer on the film “Redemption Road”. He also was able to get to PA for the Nashville and Chicago casting calls for NBC’s America’s Next Great Restaurant. After graduating The NFI he moved back up to Chicago. Then in 2010 Steven Soderbergh came to Chicago to film “Contagion” and Doug decided to go to that casting call and try and see if the Background Casting Director would need help on this HUGE production. Luck was on his side and Rich King of Rich King Casting in Los Angeles hired him on the spot. After 3 months of shooting in Chicago, they resumed production after the holiday break and Doug moved to LA in Jan 2011. He worked for Rich King Casting as an Associate Background Casting Director for numerous projects in television and film.