Date of Birth
30 July 1936,
New York City, New York, USA
20 March 2007,
Los Angeles,
California,
USA, (stroke)
Mini Biography
Character actor John P. Ryan was born on July 30, 1936 in New York City. The son of Irish immigrant parents, Ryan graduated from Rice High School and studied English at the City College of New York, where he first developed an interest in acting. He served six years in the US Army and worked as a welfare investigator prior to pursuing an acting career. John made his film debut in the 1967 comedy "The Tiger Makes Out." He appeared in five pictures for Jack Nicholson; he's especially memorable as male nurse Spicer in "Five Easy Pieces." Manic, pale-eyed and craggy-faced, with an often intense and explosive screen presence, Ryan was frequently cast as nasty villains, hard-boiled police officers, and strict military men. John gave a strong and touching performance in a rare change-of-pace sympathetic role as Frank Davis, the bitter and regretful father of a murderous monster mutant baby in Larry Cohen's excellent "It's Alive." He also portrayed Davis in the okay sequel "It Lives Again." Other notable movie parts include the fanatical Colonel Hardcore in "Shamus," shrewd mob capo Patsy O'Neill in the witty "Cops and Robbers," evil scientist Schneider in "Futureworld," the dogged Lt. Parmental in "Breathless," vicious Irish mobster Joe Flynn in "The Cotten Club;" at his ferocious best as sadistic prison Warden Ranken in the powerful "Runaway Train," hateful fascist lunatic Glastenbury in the exciting "Avenging Force," ruthless drug kingpin Nathan White in the cruddy "Death Wish IV: The Crackdown," ramrod high school principal Mr. O'Rourke in the amusing "Three O'Clock High," and lethal robot history teacher Mr. Hardin in "Class of 1999." Among the TV shows Ryan did guest spots on are "M.A.S.H.," "The Rockford Files," "Hawaii Five-O," "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century," "Starsky & Hutch," "Kojak," "Hart to Hart," "The F.B.I.," and "Miami Vice." John had a recurring role on the TV series "Archer." In addition to his film and TV credits, Ryan also appeared in over 90 stage plays. Following his final film appearance in "Bound," John spent his later years giving acting lessons and was an advocate of spiritual healing. John P. Ryan died from a stroke at age 70 on March 20, 2007 in Los Angeles, California; he's survived by two daughters.
Trivia
Frequently cast by Bob Rafelson
Off-camera interests include counseling and spiritual healing (dream work, Reichi therapy)
Manic-eyed American Character actor sometimes billed as "John Ryan" who has played dogged cops or tough military, but is better remembered for his streamlined villains that could turn particularly vicious or lethal ("Runaway Train").
Introduced to films by Jack Nicholson, who included him in five of his projects starting with "Five Easy Pieces."
Son of Irish immigrants who graduated from Rice High School; majored in English at CCNY where he also developed an interest in acting.
rare opportunity to play a sympathetic Character in the 1970s "It's Alive" series of horror films as the father of the monster baby.
Injured in a helicopter crash on the set of "Delta Force 2" that injured 2 and killed 5 others.
He once worked as a welfare investigator.
Spent six years in the U.S. Army.
Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Actors Branch).
"It's Alive" was different from other monster stories in one way. With Dr. Frankenstein and all the versions of that Character, you never have a reconciliation between the monster and the monster-maker. In "It's Alive," not only does he who made the monster spare it, but he owns up to creating it and they reconcile.
[on horror films] Horror is a great medium. If it's done with skill and forcefulness, it's as good as film gets. It represents denied or disowned or unacknowledged darkness. That's where nightmares come out, that's where monsters are born. It's fabulous to touch things subliminally in the subconscious, things that have always been there. In a funny way, it's like American sports. If we didn't have people out there spitting their lungs out at football and hockey games, we would have a psychopathic society. It releases a lot of pent-up emotions, all kinds of feelings, and it puts people in touch with things they weren't aware of themselves.
