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Robert Ryan
Age: 63 (passed away Jul. 11th, 1973)
Height: 6' 4"
Birth Place: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Born: Nov. 11th, 1909
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Robert Ryan's Main TV Roles
NOTE: Complete List of Works can be found at
IMDB
BIOGRAPHY: Chicago born, distinguished US actor and long time civil rights campaigner, Robert Ryan served in the United States Marines as a drill instructor (winning a boxing championship) and went on to become a key figure in post WWII American film noir and western productions.
Ryan grabbed critical attention for his dynamic performance's as an anti-Semitic bully in the superb Crossfire (1947), as an over-the-hill boxer who refuses to take a fall in The Set-Up (1949) and as a hostile & jaded cop in On Dangerous Ground (1952). Ryan's athletic physique, intense gaze and sharply delivered, authoritarian tones made him an ideal actor for the oily world of the film noir genre, and he contributed solid performances to many noir features, usually as a vile villain. Ryan played a worthy opponent for bounty hunter James Stewart (I) in the Anthony Mann (I) directed western The Naked Spur (1953), he locked horns with an intrepid investigator Spencer Tracy in the suspenseful Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) and starred alongside Harry Belafonte in the grimy, gangster flick Odds Against Tomorrow (1959). Plus, the inventive Ryan excelled as the ruthless "John Claggart" in Billy Budd (1962), and two different WWII US generals - firstly in the star filled The Longest Day (1962) and secondly in Battle of the Bulge (1965).
For the next eight years prior to his untimely death in 1973, Ryan landed some tremendous roles in a mixture of productions each aided by his high calibre acting skills leaving strong impressions on movie audiences. He was one of the hard men hired to pursue kidnapped Claudia Cardinale (I) in the hard boiled action of The Professionals (1966), a by-the-book army colonel clashing with highly unorthodox army major Lee Marvin in The Dirty Dozen (1967), and an embittered bounty hunter forced to hunt down old friend William Holden (I) in the violent Sam Peckinpah western classic The Wild Bunch (1969). Ryan's final onscreen performance was in the terrific production of The Iceman Cometh (1973) based on the 'Eugene ONeill (I) play and also starring Lee Marvin and Fredric March.
Legend has it that Sam Peckinpah clashed very heatedly with Ryan during the making of The Wild Bunch (1969), however Peckinpah eventually backed down when a crew member reminded Sam of Robert Ryan's proficiency with his fists !
Primarily a man of pacifist beliefs, Ryan often found it a challenge playing sadistic and racist characters that very much were at odds with his own personal ideals. Additionally, Ryan actively campaigned for improved civil rights, restricting the growth of nuclear weapons and he strongly opposed McCarthyism and its abuse of innocent persons. A gifted, intelligent and powerful actor, Robert Ryan passed away on July 11th, 1973 of lung cancer.
TRIVIA:
- When casting the leading man role in the 1943 'Ginger Rogers' (qv) vehicle _Tender Comrade (1943)_ (qv), RKO producer 'David Hempstead' (qv) became interested in Ryan due to favorable preview cards hailing Ryan's performances in _Bombardier (1943)_ (qv), _The Sky's the Limit (1943)_ (qv) and _Behind the Rising Sun (1943)_ (qv). He suggested him to Rogers, who was at first unimpressed after screening parts of the three movies. She turned him down as her leading man, as she thought he looked mean and, at 6'4", too big. A week later, when Rogers visited Hempstead at his office, he was busily going through preview cards of "The Sky's the Limit" and showed her some of them. Rogers saw that all the reviews of Ryan's performance were favorable and, since principal production was drawing near, she decided to have another look at him. Ryan was conveniently waiting in a nearby office for just such a possibility. Less than a minute later he came to the office and talked with both the producer and Rogers. After a few moments, she unobtrusively slipped Hempstead a note: "I think this is the guy." Today, the note hangs on the wall above Cheyney Ryan's (Ryan's son) desk in his study.
- Shortly before his death, Ryan moved out of his apartment (number 72) at the Dakota in New York City. Ryan leased (and then his estate later sold) the apartment to 'John Lennon (I)' (qv) and 'Yoko Ono (I)' (qv).
- Actors 'Jeff Bridges (I)' (qv) and 'Kris Kristofferson (I)' (qv) have both cited Ryan as their favorite actor.
- Two sons, Tim (born circa 1946) and Cheyney (born March 10, 1948), and a daughter, Lisa (born September 10, 1951).
- His son Cheyney C Ryan is a Professor in the Philosophy Department of the University of Oregon.
- Ryan did not get along with 'John Wayne (I)' (qv) while filming _Flying Leathernecks (1951)_ (qv), and was appalled by Wayne's active support for blacklisting in Hollywood.
- His Shakespearean roles included "Antony and Cleopatra" with 'Katharine Hepburn' (qv) in 1960, and the title role of "Othello" at the Nottingham Playhouse in England.
- At the time he was diagnosed with cancer, he was scheduled to play "Don Quixote" in a film version of 'Miguel Cervantes (I)' (qv)' novel. It was 'Rex Harrison (I)' (qv), however, who was finally seen as the Don in a 1973 made-for-television film of the book, a year after 'Peter O'Toole (I)' (qv) had starred in the film version (_Man of La Mancha (1972)_ (qv)) of the Broadway musical "Man of La Mancha".
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