Robert Ryan (other)

Robert Bushnell Ryan (November 11, 1909 – July 11, 1973) was an American actor and activist. Known for his portrayals of hardened cops and ruthless villains, Ryan performed for over three decades. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the film noir drama ''Crossfire'' (1947).

Early life

Ryan was born in Chicago, the first child of Mabel Arbutus (née Bushnell), a secretary, and Timothy Aloysius Ryan, who was from a wealthy family who owned a real estate firm. He was of Irish (his paternal grandparents were from Thurles) and English descent. Ryan was raised Catholic and educated at Loyola Academy.

He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1932, where he held the school's heavyweight boxing title for all four years of his attendance, along with lettering in football and track. After graduation, Ryan found employment as a stoker on a ship that traveled to Africa, a WPA worker, a ranch hand in Montana, and other odd jobs.

He returned home in 1936 when his father died, and after a brief stint modeling clothes for a department store, he decided to become an actor.

Career

Early appearances

In 1937 Ryan joined a little theater group in Chicago. The following year he enrolled in the Max Reinhardt Workshop in Hollywood. His role in the 1939 play ''Too Many Husbands'' brought an offer from Paramount. Although he had done a screen test for them in 1938 and been turned down as "not the right type", the studio offered him a $75 a week contract.

Paramount

In November 1939, Paramount signed Ryan to a six-month contract and announced he would play the lead in ''Golden Gloves'' (1940)'','' citing his boxing experience at Dartmouth. However, after a screen test with ''Gloves'' director Edward Dmytryk, the lead went to Richard Denning and Ryan was cast in a minor, but important role as a boxing "ringer". He had his first credited role, while making a lasting association with the director in which they would make several films together.

In the same year, Ryan had small parts in ''The Ghost Breakers'' (1940) and ''Queen of the Mob'' (1940) as well as small roles in '' North West Mounted Police'' (1941) and ''Texas Rangers Ride Again'' (1941). Then Paramount dropped him.

He went to Broadway, where he was cast in a production of Clifford Odets' '' Clash by Night'' (1941–42), directed by Lee Strasberg and produced by Billy Rose starring Tallulah Bankhead and Lee J. Cobb. It had a run of 49 performances, but was high-profile and led to him being signed to a long-term contract by RKO.

RKO

Ryan appeared in '' Bombardier'' (1943), starring Pat O'Brien, and was fourth-billed in the Fred Astaire musical '' The Sky's the Limit'' (1943), playing a friend of Astaire. Both films were popular.

He was fourth-billed in '' Behind the Rising Sun'' (1943), directed by Edward Dmytryk, which was a huge box-office success then third-billed in ''The Iron Major'' (1943), with O'Brien, and '' Gangway for Tomorrow'' (1943).Richard Jewel, 'RKO Film Grosses: 1931-1951', ''Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television'', Vol 14 No 1, 1994 p41

RKO promoted him to star status in '' Tender Comrade'' (1943), where he was Ginger Rogers' leading man, directed for the third time by Dmytryk. It was a big hit. Also popular was ''Marine Raiders'' (1944), in which Ryan co-starred again alongside O'Brien.

World War II

Ryan enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and served as a drill instructor from January 1944 to November 1945 at Camp Pendleton, in Southern California. There he befriended a fellow Marine, the writer and future film director Richard Brooks. He also took up painting.

Return to acting

When Ryan was discharged from the Marine Corps, he returned to RKO. They immediately cast Ryan in the Randolph Scott western, ''Trail Street'' (1947), which was very popular. However, his next film made with Joan Bennett, '' The Woman on the Beach'' (1947) directed by Jean Renoir, lost money.

Ryan's breakthrough role was as an anti-Semitic killer in the Dmytryk-directed film noir ''Crossfire'' (1947), co-starring Robert Young, Robert Mitchum, and Gloria Grahame. The film was based on Richard Brooks's novel ''The Brick Foxhole,'' which reflected the tensions of barracks life during the war—something familiar to both Brooks and Ryan from their Pendleton experience. ''Crossfire'' was highly successful at the box office and received several Academy Award nominations including a Best Supporting Actor for Ryan's performance.

Ryan co-starred with Merle Oberon in ''Berlin Express'' (1948) for director Jacques Tourneur; it was the first movie made in Germany after the end of the second world war. He was reunited with Scott in ''Return of the Bad Men'' (1948), and with O'Brien in ''The Boy with Green Hair'' (1948). The latter film was directed by Joseph Losey and produced by Dore Schary, who was head of production at RKO.

MGM borrowed him to make ''Act of Violence'' (1948) for Fred Zinnemann. He stayed at that studio to make ''Caught'' (1949) for Max Ophuls with James Mason.

Back at RKO, Ryan had one of his best roles in ''The Set-Up'' (1949), directed by Robert Wise, as an over-the-hill boxer who is brutally punished for refusing to take a dive. ''The Set-Up'' was a favorite of Ryan's. He was top billed in '' The Woman on Pier 13'' (1949), an anti-communist melodrama directed by Robert Stevenson, that was made at the prompting of RKO's new owner, Howard Hughes.

Ryan next appeared in several film noirs: ''The Secret Fury'' (1950) with Claudette Colbert directed by Mel Ferrer, and '' Born to Be Bad'' (1950) directed by Nicholas Ray. In 1950, the studio bought ''The Miami Story'' as a vehicle for him.

He then made the Western '' Best of the Badmen'' (1951), and costarred with John Wayne in ''Flying Leathernecks'' (1951), a World War II film directed by Ray. It was announced he was working on an original film story called ''The Alpine Slide'' about avalanches, but no film resulted.

In 1951, Ryan was reunited with ''Crossfire'' costar Robert Mitchum in '' The Racket'', directed by John Cromwell; that same year, Ray again directed him in a film noir, ''On Dangerous Ground'', with Ida Lupino. Ryan then made the film adaptation of '' Clash by Night'' (1952) with Barbara Stanwyck and Marilyn Monroe under Fritz Lang's direction. According to film critic David Thomson, "at RKO Ryan created the character of a modern neurotic such as the American screen had not dreamed of before."

His last film at RKO for a number of years was '' Beware, My Lovely'' (1952) with Lupino, made for her production company.

Post-RKO

Ryan went to MGM where he played a villain in Anthony Mann's western ''The Naked Spur'' (1953), starring James Stewart. The picture was very popular.

He appeared in '' City Beneath the Sea'' (1953) for Budd Boetticher at Universal, ''Inferno'' (1953) at Fox, and ''Alaska Seas'' (1954) at Paramount.

He was the leading man for Shirley Booth in '' About Mrs. Leslie'' (1954) and Greer Garson in '' Her Twelve Men '' (1954). The latter was made at MGM, now being run by Dore Schary, RKO's previous studio head, who cast Ryan as the head villain in ''Bad Day at Black Rock'' (1954).

He appeared in an off-Broadway production of ''Coriolanus'' (1954) directed by John Houseman.

Ryan returned to RKO for '' Escape to Burma'' (1955) with Stanwyck. More widely seen was Sam Fuller's ''House of Bamboo'' (1955) and Raoul Walsh's '' The Tall Men'' (1955), both at Fox. By now his fee was reported as $150,000 per film.

He starred in '' The Proud Ones'' (1956) at Fox, ''Back from Eternity'' (1956) at RKO, directed by John Farrow. He appeared in ''Men in War'' (1957) for Anthony Mann, made at Mann's company Security Pictures.

Television

Ryan made his television debut in 1955 as Abraham Lincoln in the ''Screen Director's Playhouse'' adaptation of Christopher Morley's story "Lincoln's Doctor's Dog." As he explained to reporters, despite financial considerations, Ryan preferred to steer clear of any commitment to a TV series:

The only money in TV is in the series, and I want to stay out of those. Sure, I might make a million or so in a series, but I'd wind up being 'Sidewinder Sam' for the rest of my life.

Ryan remained true to these convictions, appearing in many television series, but always as a guest star. He was in ''Screen Directors Playhouse'', ''Mr. Adams and Eve'', ''Goodyear Theatre'', ''Alcoa Theatre'', ''Playhouse 90'' (playing The Great Gatsby), and ''Zane Grey Theater''.

He continued to star in features, however, including ''God's Little Acre'' (1958) for Mann and Security Pictures, ''Lonelyhearts'' (1959) written and produced by Schary, ''Day of the Outlaw'' (1959) for Security Pictures, and ''Odds Against Tomorrow'' (1959) for Wise.

1960s

In the summer of 1960 Ryan starred opposite Katharine Hepburn at the American Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, Connecticut, playing Antony to Hepburn's Cleopatra.

Ryan remained in high demand throughout the 1960s: he appeared in ''Ice Palace'' (1960) with Richard Burton; a TV version of '' The Snows of Kilimanjaro'' directed by John Frankenheimer; '' The Canadians'' (1961) for Burt Kennedy; played John the Baptist in MGM's Technicolor epic ''King of Kings'' (1961) for Nicholas Ray; was the villainous Claggart in Peter Ustinov's adaptation of ''Billy Budd'' (1962) for which he was nominated for a BAFTA.2 FILM FIRMS WIN CHAPLIN CASE: Roy Export and Lopert Get U. S. Injunction Barring 'Pirated' Showings By RICHARD NASON. New York Times 24 July 1959: 14.

He also appeared in the all-star war film '' The Longest Day'' (1962), playing James M. Gavin.

Ryan returned to Broadway in the musical '' Mr. President'' (1962–63) by Lindsay and Crouse with music by Irving Berlin and directed by Joshua Logan; it ran for 263 performances.

Ryan continued to appear in TV shows such as ''Kraft Suspense Theatre

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