Robert Ryan

Biography: In college he excelled in sports and was especially successful as a heavyweight boxer. In his 20s he worked in a variety of jobs before training for the stage at Hollywood's Max Reinhardt Theatrical Workshop. He debuted onstage in 1939 and soon was signed to a film contract; from 1940 he appeared in small roles in numerous films. He left Hollywood in 1941-42 to appear on Broadway in Clash By Night. After service in World War Two with the Marines he began landing better screen roles, and after playing a murderer in Crossfire (1947) he was frequently called upon to play nefarious villains; however, he was both busy and versatile, and he played a wide variety of parts in a consistent screen career that lasted until the early '70s. Between film roles he appeared in a number of stage productions; in 1960 he played Antony to Katharine Hepburn's Cleopatra in the American Shakespeare Festival's Antony and Cleopatra. In 1968 he starred in the Broadway revival of The Front Page, and inIn college he excelled in sports and was especially successful as a heavyweight boxer. In his 20s he worked in a variety of jobs before training for the stage at Hollywood's Max Reinhardt Theatrical Workshop. He debuted onstage in 1939 and soon was signed to a film contract; from 1940 he appeared in small roles in numerous films. He left Hollywood in 1941-42 to appear on Broadway in Clash By Night. After service in World War Two with the Marines he began landing better screen roles, and after playing a murderer in Crossfire (1947) he was frequently called upon to play nefarious villains; however, he was both busy and versatile, and he played a wide variety of parts in a consistent screen career that lasted until the early '70s. Between film roles he appeared in a number of stage productions; in 1960 he played Antony to Katharine Hepburn's Cleopatra in the American Shakespeare Festival's Antony and Cleopatra. In 1968 he starred in the Broadway revival of The Front Page, and in 1971 he starred in the off-Broadway revival of Long Day's Journey Into Night. Privately, he was a committed activist for such liberal groups as SANE and the ACLU. He co-founded the UCLA Theater Group and founded a private school in California. He died of cancer.… Expand