Robert Ryan
Known for Acting · 100 credits
- Born
- 1909-11-11
- Died
- 1973-07-11
- Place of birth
- Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Also known as
- Robert Bushnell Ryan · Роберт Райан · رابرت رایان
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).
Known For
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
as Self
What's My Line?
1950
as Self - Mystery Guest
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1963
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
as Matt Jessop / Cob Oakley / Sheriff Amos Parney / Captain William Kraig
The Oscars
1953
as Self
The Steve Allen Show
1956
as Self
TV Shows (12)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
as Self
What's My Line?
1950
as Self - Mystery Guest
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1963
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
as Matt Jessop / Cob Oakley / Sheriff Amos Parney / Captain William Kraig
The Oscars
1953
as Self
The Steve Allen Show
1956
as Self
Kraft Suspense Theatre
1963
as Thomas Bollington
Alcoa Theatre
1957
as Trilbridge / Mike Ripetti
The David Susskind Show
1959
as Self
Goodyear Theatre
1957
as Frank Berry
World War I: The Complete Story
1964
as Narrator
World War One
1964
as Narrator
Movies (88)
The Longest Day
1962
as Brig. Gen. James M. Gavin
The Dirty Dozen
1967
as Col. Everett Dasher Breed
The Wild Bunch
1969
as Deke Thornton
The Professionals
1966
as Ehrengard
King of Kings
1961
as John the Baptist
Battle of the Bulge
1965
as General Grey
Flying Leathernecks
1951
as Capt. Carl 'Griff' Griffin
Bad Day at Black Rock
1955
as Reno Smith
Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade
2004
as Self (archive footage)
The Outfit
1973
as Mailer
North West Mounted Police
1940
as Constable Dumont
Lawman
1971
as Sabbath Marshal Cotton Ryan
Anzio
1968
as Gen. Carson
Horizons West
1952
as Dan Hammond
Trail Street
1947
as Allen Harper
Caught
1949
as Smith Ohlrig
Lolly-Madonna XXX
1973
as Pap Gutshall
Act of Violence
1949
as Joe Parkson
The Tall Men
1955
as Nathan Stark
Crossfire
1947
as Montgomery
Day of the Outlaw
1959
as Blaise Starrett
The Iceman Cometh
1973
as Larry Slade
Best of the Badmen
1951
as Jeff Clanton
Hour of the Gun
1967
as Ike Clanton
Men in War
1957
as Lt. Benson
Lonelyhearts
1959
as William Shrike
Her Twelve Men
1954
as Joe Hargrave
Clash by Night
1952
as Earl Pfeiffer
The Naked Spur
1953
as Ben Vandergroat
Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire
1991
as Self (archive footage)
The Ghost Breakers
1940
as Intern (uncredited)
The Set-Up
1949
as Stoker
Marine Raiders
1944
as Capt. Dan Craig
The Racket
1951
as Nick Scanlon
On Dangerous Ground
1951
as Jim Wilson
The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller
2002
as Sandy Dawson (archive footage) (uncredited)
God's Little Acre
1958
as Ty Ty Walden
The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn
1986
as Self (archive footage)
Ice Palace
1960
as Thor Storm
And Hope to Die
1972
as Charley
Captain Nemo and the Underwater City
1969
as Captain Nemo
Executive Action
1973
as Foster
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line
1997
as Self (archive footage)
Golden Gloves
1940
as Pete Wells
Bombardier
1943
as Joe Connors
House of Bamboo
1955
as Sandy Dawson
Custer of the West
1967
as Mulligan
The Texas Rangers Ride Again
1940
as Eddie (uncredited)
Billy Budd
1962
as John Claggart, Master of Arms
Odds Against Tomorrow
1959
as Earle Slater
The Love Machine
1971
as Gregory 'Greg' Austin
Alaska Seas
1954
as Matt Kelly
Berlin Express
1948
as Robert Lindley
Queen of the Mob
1940
as Jim
City Beneath the Sea
1953
as Brad Carlton
Return of the Bad Men
1948
as Sundance Kid
About Mrs. Leslie
1954
as George Leslie
Back from Eternity
1956
as Bill Lonagan
Tender Comrade
1944
as Chris Jones
The Busy Body
1967
as Charley Barker
The Dirty Game
1965
as General Bruce
A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die
1968
as New Mexico Gov. Lem Carter
Inferno
1953
as Donald Whitley Carson III
Born to Be Bad
1950
as Nick
The Crooked Road
1965
as Richard Ashley
Escape to Burma
1955
as Jim Brecan
The Boy with Green Hair
1948
as Dr. Evans
The Sky's the Limit
1943
as Reginald Fenton
The Woman on the Beach
1947
as Scott Burnett
The Proud Ones
1956
as Marshal Cass Silver
Behind the Rising Sun
1943
as Lefty O'Doyle
The Secret Fury
1950
as David McLean
Hard, Fast and Beautiful!
1951
as Seabright Tennis Match Spectator (uncredited)
Gangway for Tomorrow
1943
as Joe Dunham
The Iron Major
1943
as Father Timothy 'Tim' Donovan
The Great Gatsby
1958
as Jay Gatsby
The Man Without a Country
1973
as Lt. Cmdr. Vaughan
The Canadians
1961
as Inspector William Gannon
The Woman on Pier 13
1950
as Bradley Collins / Frank Johnson
Beware, My Lovely
1952
as Howard Wilton
Simon and Garfunkel: Songs of America
1969
as Self - Host
The Moviemakers
1973
as Self
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
1960
as Harry Walters
A Regular Bouquet: Mississippi Summer
1964
as Narrator (voice)
The House Without a Name
1956
A New Dimension in Noir: Filming Inferno in 3D
2017
as Self
The Reason Why
1970
as Roger
The Inheritance
1964
as Narrator (voice)
About Robert Ryan
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… With 100 credits spanning from 1940 to 2017, Robert Ryan has appeared in 88 films and 12 TV shows.
Fans searching for Robert Ryan movies, Robert Ryan filmography, or the latest projects starring Robert Ryan can stream many of these titles on Bowood.TV, free and in HD, with no subscription required.
Most Popular Robert Ryan Movies
- The Longest Day (1962) — as Brig. Gen. James M. Gavin
- The Dirty Dozen (1967) — as Col. Everett Dasher Breed
- The Wild Bunch (1969) — as Deke Thornton
- The Professionals (1966) — as Ehrengard
- King of Kings (1961) — as John the Baptist
Where to Watch Robert Ryan Films
Most Robert Ryan movies and series are available to stream on Bowood.TV in full HD, completely free and without signup. Browse the complete filmography above to jump directly to any title. For more films and the latest web series featuring Robert Ryan, check our movies catalogue and browse page.