Clinton Charles Augustus Ritchie was born on a farm in Grafton, North Dakota on August 9, 1938. “My father worked on farms around Grafton,” Clint recalls. “One of the guys he worked for was A.B. Thompson, who was a big potato farmer.” When he was seven years old, the family moved to Washington. Clint remained there until he was 16 years old and then moved to California.
Clint secretly harbored a dream — to become an actor. But there were many detours on his road to stardom. “I was too shy,” Clint admits. “I went to San Jose, where I had a variety of jobs, including truck driver, service station attendant, construction worker in a furniture factory, bartender (until they discovered his age — 19) and health club/gym manager.”
Eventually, Clint realized that if he was to become an actor, he had to be where the “action” was, so he moved to Southern California. Even then, it took him two years to work up the courage to attend an acting class. His life turned around, however, as soon as he did. He landed a six-month contract with Columbia Pictures and the lead role in a one-act presentation of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” after studying with Estelle Harman for two years. His turn as Randall Patrick McMurphey led to a seven-year contract at 20th Century Fox. (Jack Nicholson would later play the role in the 1975 motion picture adaptation.)
In 1965, Clint earned his Screen Actors Guild membership portraying “The Lieutenant” in the pilot for the popular television series “The Wild Wild West.” He followed that with roles in films such as:
- “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” (Jack McGurn, 1967)
- “Bandolero” (Babe Jenkins, 1968)
- “Patton” (Tank captain, 1970)
- “Joe Kid” (Deputy Sheriff Calvin, 1972)
- “A Force of One” (Melrose, 1977).
“They were all enjoyable experiences,” Clint reflected.
Around 1970, Clint and many other contract players such as Tom Selleck (Clint taught Tom to ride a horse), Lyle Waggoner, Sam Elliott, and Jacqueline Bisset were released from their contracts by Twentieth Century Fox as a result of budget cuts. It was a new era in Hollywood — the old “studio system” was a thing of the past. Clint moved to the San Fernando Valley where he worked extensively with horses, trying to convince himself that he was happy. Without even realizing it, though, he had withdrawn from his chosen profession.
In 1975, Clint signed with a new agent and began acting again, primarily in commercials and episodic television series such as:
- “Police Story”
- “Batman”
- “Felony Squad”
- “Dallas”
- “Three Desperate Women” (television movie)
- “Centennial” (television mini-series).
Also during that period, he discovered, studied, and embraced the teachings and philosophy of the Church of Religious Science.
Clint has always loved horses. In 1976, he and his favorite mount, Hammer, entered and completed the Western States Trail Ride, popularly known as the Tevis Cup Ride. Riders cover the rugged trail from Lake Tahoe to Auburn, California in a single day. Clint still wears the belt buckle that he earned for completing the ride within the 24-hour limit.
Writing is another favorite of Clint’s favorite pastimes. He wrote a screenplay based on the true story of Francois Aubry, whom Clint describes as “the greatest long distance horseman who ever lived.”
But Clint’s life would be forever changed when he was given an eleven-page scene and character breakdown with which to prepare to audition for the role of “Chris Logan.” 
Unaware that the scene was from a daytime soap taped in New York City, Clint instantly recognized that he was right for the part. Barbara Remsen, “One Life to Live’s” then-casting director, was looking for an “outdoors newspaperman” to play the man hand-picked by the character of Joe Riley, the editor-in-chief of fictional Llanview, Pennsylvania’s newspaper, The Banner, to serve as his replacement. She liked what she saw in Clint the moment he arrived for the audition in cowboy attire. When Clint assured Ms. Remsen that he would not mind sharing his name with his character, “Chris Logan” became “Clint Logan.” By the time Clint reported for work, his character’s surname had been changed to “Buchanan.”
Over the years, sharing the same first name, as well as many personal characteristics, caused the line between the fictional character and the man portraying him to blur for many viewers.
It was on September 10, 1979, that Clint’s first scene on “One Life to Live” aired. Thinking the job would last about thirteen weeks, he didn’t even bother to unpack when he arrived in New York. Having worked in films and prime time television, “I had no idea they did a complete show each day or that you were expected to learn the amount of dialogue we learned. When I did a movie, we took ten weeks to shoot it, and I’d have only two or three pages of dialogue a day. I remember one day Erika Slezak and I had over 50 pages of dialogue, and we did it,” Clint recollects.
Within a year of joining “One Life To Live,” Clint realized another long-held dream: He purchased “Happy Horse Ranch,” situated near Grass Valley in Northern California. Over the years, Clint purchased properties adjacent to the original property, so that today the Ranch consists of approximately 60 acres.
During his remaining tenure with ABC, he flew home to California as often as possible when he wasn’t needed in front of the cameras in New York.
Far and away, Clint’s favorite storyline on “One Life to Live” was 1988’s Old West adventure. Filmed on location in Arizona, Clint transported six of his own horses to the set, reveling in the chance to be a cowboy on camera.
In the story, Clint Buchanan and family move to his Arizona ranch after he is blinded. Determined not to be dependent upon his family, Clint rides out into the desert on Okie (portrayed by Clint’s horse, Okie Dokie). Thrown from his horse, Clint wakes to find that his sight has been restored, but he is in a town called Buchanan City in the year 1888.
Meanwhile, his family believes that he is dead and attempts to move on with their lives. 
But Viki’s intense emotional and spiritual connection to her husband convinces her that he is alive and she must hunt for him. Viki finds her way back to 1888 and is reunited with her husband who, by that time, has given up on ever being able to return home and is about to marry her great-great-grandmother, Ginny. Together, they search for the time warp through which they got to 1888 and, with the assistance of an old Native American named Clear Eyes, are transported back to 1998.
On May 10, 1993, Clint was at home enjoying some much-needed time off. While he was removing tree roots, his classic John Deere tractor upended, tossing Clint to the ground before running over him. He sustained life-threatening injuries, including a broken collarbone and numerous broken ribs. Fortunately, Clint had his cell phone with him (a premonition?) and, despite the fact that both of his lungs had collapsed, was able to direct the confused paramedics to his location on the Ranch before losing consciousness. He was treated at the University of California, Davis, Medical Center in Sacramento before returning to the Ranch to convalesce. He credits the doctors and nurses at the Medical Center with saving his life.
Clint’s recuperation required him to be away from the “One Life to Live” studios for many weeks during which time he was overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support he received from both fans and coworkers. He was visited at the Ranch by, among others, Robert S. Woods (”Bo Buchanan”). His co-star, Erika Slezak (”Viki”), implored the show’s producers not to recast the role but, rather, to simply create a storyline that would account for Clint Buchanan’s absence. Thus, Clint Buchanan was injured in an airplane crash and recovered at his “Happy Horse Ranch” in Arizona. (The character’s ranch was given the same name as Clint’s own Northern California spread.) When Clint was well enough to return to New York City and resume work, Clint Buchanan was also well enough to return home. Both Clints received heart-felt welcomes!
That initial thirteen-week contract evolved into more than 20 years spent portraying Clint Buchanan, during which every spare moment was devoted to running Happy Horse Ranch. But eventually, the long distance oversight of everything from the caretaking of his many animals to major building renovations and the supervision of his employees became increasingly difficult.
Dismayed by the manner in which his character had been scripted over the prior few years, especially when the writers opted to have Clint and Viki Buchanan divorce, and concerned about the overall direction of the show, Clint decided it was time to “hang up” his “acting spurs” and permanently retire at Happy Horse Ranch. He taped his final episode in early December 1998, but barely had time to adjust to the Pacific time zone when he was coaxed out of retirement to again portray Clint Buchanan in April 1999. To his delight, the scripts reflected what he considers the “real” Clint Buchanan. He earned rave reviews for his performances during the storyline involving the premature birth and subsequent death of his granddaughter, Megan, before his character returned to London to run Buchanan Enterprises’ European operation. (Why did Clint Buchanan move to London when he had a ranch in Arizona? That story development remains a mystery to the man to played him, as well as his fans.)
As part of the 1999 “One Life to Live” Fan Club luncheon, Clint’s Official Fan Club paid tribute to him for his many years of outstanding performances by contributing to the Phoenix Equine Foundationand adopting a horse named “Quigley” in his honor.
Clint was again lured out of retirement several times to reprise his role. Executive Producer Frank Valentini convinced him, in response to fan demand, to return for a one-episode “fan fantasy” in February 2003. Clint thoroughly enjoyed his brief return to New York City to work with old pals Phil Carey Robert S. Woods in “The Buchanans Ride Again.” Another short stint coincided with the show’s 35th anniversary.
He last stepped in front of the cameras in 2004 for a storyline involving Viki’s receipt of a donor heart.
Clint remains busy and happy at Happy Horse Ranch, where there is always something to attend to, whether it be one of the many animal residents, a sprinkler system, a fence in need of mending or . . . At last count, the Happy Horse Family included 40 horses, two dogs, and too many cats to count. Although Clint frequently declares quite emphatically that he doesn’t “want to own anything else that eats!” any animal in need of a home finds one at Happy Horse.
His dogs are his constant companions, making themselves at home inside Clint’s sprawling, comfortable house. He laughingly tells visitors, “This isn’t a house. It’s ‘Clint’s Kennel!’”
Despite his retirement, Clint’s Official Fan Club continues to thrive, in no small measure due to Clint’s continuing dedication to and appreciation of his fans and their fond recollection of his more than twenty years of understated, moving performances.
Writer Michael Logan once declared that the role of Clint Buchanan, along with those of Asa and Bo Buchanan, should never be recast, opining that no one but Clint could successfully play the “signature role.” Clint’s fans couldn’t agree more that their favorite cowboy’s professional legacy is his “Clintessential” contributions to “One Life to Live.”
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