Kathleen Ryan (8 September 1922 – 11 December 1985) was an Irish actress. She was born in Dublin, Ireland of Tipperary parentage and appeared in British and Hollywood films between 1947 and 1957. In 2020, she was listed as number 40 on ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

s list of Ireland's greatest film actors.

Family

Ryan's father died in 1933, shortly after he had been elected to Ireland's senate. Her brother was John Ryan, an artist and

man of letters An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the nature of reality, especially the nature of society and proposed solutions for its normative problems. Coming from the world of culture, either ...

in bohemian Dublin of the 1940s and 1950s, who was a friend and benefactor of a number of struggling writers in the post-war era, such as

Patrick Kavanagh Patrick Kavanagh (21 October 1904 – 30 November 1967) was an Irish poet and novelist. His best-known works include the novel ''Tarry Flynn'', and the poems "On Raglan Road" and "The Great Hunger". He is known for his accounts of Irish life th ...

. He started and edited a short-lived literary magazine entitled ''

Envoy Envoy or Envoys may refer to: Diplomacy * Diplomacy, in general * Envoy (title) * Special envoy, a type of Diplomatic rank#Special envoy, diplomatic rank Brands *Airspeed Envoy, a 1930s British light transport aircraft *Envoy (automobile), an au ...

''. Among her other siblings were Fr. Vincent (Séamus), a Benedictine priest at Glenstal Abbey, Sister Íde of the Convent of The Sacred Heart, Mount Anville, Dublin, Oonagh (who married the Irish artist

Patrick Swift Patrick Swift (1927–1983) was an Irish painter who worked in Dublin, London and the Algarve, Portugal. Overview In Dublin he formed part of the Envoy, A Review of Literature and Art, Envoy arts review / McDaid's pub circle of artistic and l ...

), Cora who married the politician, Seán Dunne, T.D. Ryan's schooling came in convents and universities. She married Dermod Devane in the society wedding of 1944 and the couple had three children, but the marriage was

annulled Annulment is a legal procedure within secular and religious legal systems for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almo ...

in 1958.

Career

Ryan acted with the Dublin Abbey Players and at Longford's Gate Theater. She was discovered by

Carol Reed Sir Carol Reed (30 December 1906 – 25 April 1976) was an English film director and producer, best known for '' Odd Man Out'' (1947), '' The Fallen Idol'' (1948), '' The Third Man'' (1949), and '' Oliver!'' (1968), for which he was awarded th ...

, and her film debut was in a leading role in ''

Odd Man Out ''Odd Man Out'' is a 1947 British film noir directed by Carol Reed, and starring James Mason, Robert Newton, Cyril Cusack, and Kathleen Ryan. Set in Belfast, Northern Ireland, it follows a wounded Nationalist leader who attempts to evade pol ...

'' (1947). Arthur Rank, to whom she was under contract, turned down subsequent offers for her to act in films, but she resumed film work after that contract expired. Her other films included '' Captain Boycott'' (1947) and the American

film gris Film gris (, French for "grey film"), a term coined by experimental filmmaker Thom Andersen, is a type of film noir which categorizes a unique series of films that were released between 1947 and 1951. They came in the context of the first wave o ...

'' The Sound of Fury'' (1950), directed by

Cy Endfield Cyril Raker Endfield (November 10, 1914 – April 16, 1995) was an American film director, who at times also worked as a writer, theatre director, and inventor. Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, he worked in the New York theatre in the late 1930s ...

. She also appeared in the English-made ''

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

'' (1949), but censors removed her from the version shown in the United States. Her role involved "a romantic interlude in Columbus's life," she said, "and that did not meet with approval in America because of prevailing traditions regarding the discoverer of this continent."

Painting

Ryan was the subject of one of Louis le Brocquy's most striking portraits, ''Girl in White'', which he painted in 1941 and entered in the RHA exhibition of that year. The portrait (oil on canvas) is in the

Ulster Museum The Ulster Museum, located in the Botanic Gardens in Belfast, has around 8,000 square metres (90,000 sq. ft.) of public display space, featuring material from the collections of fine art and applied art, archaeology, ethnography, treasures ...

collection.

Death

Ryan died in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

in December 1985 from a lung ailment at the age of 63. She was buried with her parents beneath a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, near the Republican Plot in

Glasnevin Cemetery Glasnevin Cemetery () is a large cemetery in Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland which opened in 1832. It holds the graves and memorials of several notable figures, and has a museum. Location The cemetery is located in Glasnevin, Dublin, in two part ...

, Dublin.

Filmography

* ''

'' (1947) * '' Captain Boycott'' (1947) * '' Esther Waters'' (1948) * '' Give Us This Day'' (1949) * ''

'' (1949) * '' Prelude to Fame'' (1950) * '' The Sound of Fury'' (1950) * '' The Yellow Balloon'' (1953) * ''

Laxdale Hall ''Laxdale Hall'' (also known as ''Poacher Story'' and ''The Road to Nowhere''; U.S. title: ''Scotch on the Rocks'') is a 1953 British romantic comedy film directed by John Eldridge and starring Ronald Squire, Kathleen Ryan, Raymond Huntley and ...

'' (1953) * ''

Captain Lightfoot ''Captain Lightfoot'' is a 1955 American CinemaScope Technicolor adventure film directed by Douglas Sirk starring Rock Hudson, Barbara Rush and Jeff Morrow and is Sirk's adaptation of a book by W. R. Burnett written in 1954. The movie is set i ...

'' (1955) * '' Jacqueline'' (1956) * '' Sail Into Danger'' (aka ''El Aventurero'') (1957)

References

External links

*
''Kathleen Ryan (Devane) in 'Actors' file at Limerick City Library, Ireland''

''Girl in White'' by Louis le Brocquy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Kathleen 1922 births 1985 deaths Irish film actresses Actresses from County Dublin 20th-century Irish actresses Burials at Glasnevin Cemetery Irish stage actresses Irish expatriate actresses in the United States Irish expatriates in the United Kingdom Respiratory disease deaths in the Republic of Ireland Deaths from lung disease