Robert Ryan

Robert Ryan

Biography: Robert Bushnell Ryan (November 11, 1909 – July 11, 1973) was an American  actor who often played hardened cops and ruthless villains. Ryan was born in Chicago, Illinois, the first child of Timothy Ryan and his wife Mabel Bushnell Ryan.  He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1932, having held the school's heavyweight boxing title all four years of his attendance. After graduation, the 6'4" Ryan found employment as a stoker on a ship, a WPA worker, and a ranch hand in Montana. Ryan attempted to make a career in show business as a playwright, but had to turn to acting to support himself. He studied acting in Hollywood and appeared on stage and in small film parts during the early 1940s. In January 1944, after securing a contract guarantee from RKO Radio Pictures, Ryan enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and served as a drill instructor at Camp Pendleton, in San Diego, California. At Camp Pendleton, he befriended writer and future director Richard Brooks, whose novel, The Brick Foxhole, he greatly admired. He also took up painting. Ryan's breakthrough film role was as an anti-Semitic killer in Crossfire (1947), a film noir based on Brooks's novel. The role won Ryan his sole career Oscar nomination, for Best Supporting Actor. From then on, Ryan's specialty was tough/tender roles, finding particular expression in the films of directors such as Nicholas Ray, Robert Wise and Sam Fuller. In Ray's On Dangerous Ground (1951) he portrayed a burnt-out city cop finding redemption while solving a rural murder. In Wise's The Set-Up (1949), he played an over-the-hill boxer who is brutally punished for refusing to take a dive. Other important films were Anthony Mann's western The Naked Spur, Sam Fuller's uproarious Japanese set gangland thriller House of Bamboo, Bad Day at Black Rock, and the socially conscious heist movie Odds Against Tomorrow. He also appeared in several all-star war films, including The Longest Day (1962) and Battle of the Bulge (1965), and The Dirty Dozen. He also played John the Baptist in MGM's Technicolor epic King of Kings (1961) and was the villainous Claggart in Peter Ustinov's adaptation of Billy Budd (1962). In his later years, Ryan continued playing significant roles in major films. Most notable of these were The Dirty Dozen, The Professionals (1966) and Sam Peckinpah's highly influential brutal western The Wild Bunch (1969). Ryan appeared several times on the Broadway stage. His credits there include Clash by Night, Mr. President and The Front Page, the comedy drama about newspapermen. He appeared in many television series as a guest star, including the role of Franklin Hoppy-Hopp in the 1964 episode "Who Chopped Down the Cherry Tree?" on the NBC medical drama about psychiatry, The Eleventh Hour. Similarly, he guest starred as Lloyd Osment in the 1964 episode "Better Than a Dead Lion" in the ABC psychiatric series, Breaking Point. In 1964, Ryan appeared with Warren Oates in the episode "No Comment" of CBS's short-lived drama about newspapers, The Reporter, starring Harry Guardino in the title role of journalist Danny Taylor. Ryan appeared five times (1956–1959) on CBS's Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater and twice (1959 and 1961) on the Zane Grey spin-off Frontier Justice. He appeared three times (1962–1964) on the western Wagon Train.

Place of Birth: Not available

Birthday: November 11, 1909

Deathday: July 11, 1973

Popularity:

7.923

Known For

The Wild Bunch
The Wild Bunch

1969-06-19

The Dirty Dozen
The Dirty Dozen

1967-06-15

Billy Budd
Billy Budd

1962-11-12

House of Bamboo
House of Bamboo

1955-07-01

The Naked Spur
The Naked Spur

1953-01-30

Clash by Night
Clash by Night

1952-05-30

The Professionals
The Professionals

1966-11-01

On Dangerous Ground
On Dangerous Ground

1951-12-13

Hour of the Gun
Hour of the Gun

1967-11-01

The Racket
The Racket

1951-10-25

Odds Against Tomorrow
Odds Against Tomorrow

1959-10-15

The Longest Day
The Longest Day

1962-09-25

Act of Violence
Act of Violence

1949-01-22

The Outfit
The Outfit

1973-10-19

A New Dimension in Noir: Filming Inferno in 3D
A New Dimension in Noir: Filming Inferno in 3D

2017-05-16

The Woman on Pier 13
The Woman on Pier 13

1950-06-15

Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge

1965-12-16

Crossfire
Crossfire

1947-08-15

Anzio
Anzio

1968-07-24

The Iceman Cometh
The Iceman Cometh

1973-11-10

Executive Action
Executive Action

1973-11-07

Berlin Express
Berlin Express

1948-05-01

The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby

1958-06-26

King of Kings
King of Kings

1961-10-11

Bad Day at Black Rock
Bad Day at Black Rock

1955-01-13

The Busy Body
The Busy Body

1967-03-12

Lawman
Lawman

1971-03-11

The Woman on the Beach
The Woman on the Beach

1947-06-07

God's Little Acre
God's Little Acre

1958-09-23

Horizons West
Horizons West

1952-10-11

The Tall Men
The Tall Men

1955-09-22

Born to Be Bad
Born to Be Bad

1950-09-28

Caught
Caught

1949-02-17

The Iron Major
The Iron Major

1943-10-31

Inferno
Inferno

1953-08-12

Beware, My Lovely
Beware, My Lovely

1952-08-29

The Sky's the Limit
The Sky's the Limit

1943-07-13

Day of the Outlaw
Day of the Outlaw

1959-07-01

The Boy with Green Hair
The Boy with Green Hair

1948-11-26

Men in War
Men in War

1957-05-03

Bombardier
Bombardier

1943-05-14

The Snows of Kilimanjaro
The Snows of Kilimanjaro

1960-03-25

Back from Eternity
Back from Eternity

1956-09-07

Ice Palace
Ice Palace

1960-01-02

Flying Leathernecks
Flying Leathernecks

1951-08-28

The Set-Up
The Set-Up

1949-03-29

City Beneath the Sea
City Beneath the Sea

1953-04-21

A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die
A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die

1968-02-08

The Secret Fury
The Secret Fury

1950-02-21

Captain Nemo and the Underwater City
Captain Nemo and the Underwater City

1969-12-01

And Hope to Die
And Hope to Die

1972-09-15

A Regular Bouquet: Mississippi Summer
A Regular Bouquet: Mississippi Summer

1964-04-13

The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller
The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller

2002-07-02

The Inheritance
The Inheritance

1964-11-08

Lonelyhearts
Lonelyhearts

1959-03-04

Tender Comrade
Tender Comrade

1944-05-30

Gangway for Tomorrow
Gangway for Tomorrow

1943-11-03

Trail Street
Trail Street

1947-02-19

Escape to Burma
Escape to Burma

1955-04-09

About Mrs. Leslie
About Mrs. Leslie

1954-08-03

The Proud Ones
The Proud Ones

1956-05-15

Best of the Badmen
Best of the Badmen

1951-08-09

Alaska Seas
Alaska Seas

1954-01-27

Lolly-Madonna xxx
Lolly-Madonna xxx

1973-02-21

Her Twelve Men
Her Twelve Men

1954-08-11

Return of the Bad Men
Return of the Bad Men

1948-07-17

The Crooked Road
The Crooked Road

1965-02-03

The Dirty Game
The Dirty Game

1965-06-23

Behind the Rising Sun
Behind the Rising Sun

1943-08-01

Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend
Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend

1986-04-19

Marine Raiders
Marine Raiders

1944-07-11

The Man Without a Country
The Man Without a Country

1973-04-24

The Canadians
The Canadians

1961-03-11

The Texas Rangers Ride Again
The Texas Rangers Ride Again

1940-12-13

The Reason Why
The Reason Why

1970-01-02

The Love Machine
The Love Machine

1971-08-14

Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down The Line
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down The Line

1997-05-12

Golden Gloves
Golden Gloves

1940-08-02

The Ghost Breakers
The Ghost Breakers

1940-06-21

The Notorious Lone Wolf
The Notorious Lone Wolf

1946-02-14

North West Mounted Police
North West Mounted Police

1940-10-22

Lincoln's Doctor's Dog
Lincoln's Doctor's Dog

1955-12-14

Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire
Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire

1991-07-15

The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn
The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn

1986-03-09

Simon and Garfunkel: Songs of America
Simon and Garfunkel: Songs of America

1969-11-30

Custer of the West
Custer of the West

1967-11-09

The House Without a Name
The House Without a Name

1956-01-01

Hard, Fast and Beautiful
Hard, Fast and Beautiful

1951-05-23

Queen of the Mob
Queen of the Mob

1940-06-28

Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade
Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade

2004-07-25