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 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). In his later years, Ryan continued playing significant roles in major films. Most notable of these were The Dirty Dozen, The Professionals (1966) and Sam Peckinpah's highly influential brutal western The Wild Bunch (1969). Ryan appeared several times on the Broadway stage. His credits there include Clash by Night, Mr. President and The Front Page, the comedy drama about newspapermen. He appeared in many television series as a guest star, including the role of Franklin Hoppy-Hopp in the 1964 episode "Who Chopped Down the Cherry Tree?" on the NBC medical drama about psychiatry, The Eleventh Hour. Similarly, he guest starred as Lloyd Osment in the 1964 episode "Better Than a Dead Lion" in the ABC psychiatric series, Breaking Point. In 1964, Ryan appeared with Warren Oates in the episode "No Comment" of CBS's short-lived drama about newspapers, The Reporter, starring Harry Guardino in the title role of journalist Danny Taylor. Ryan appeared five times (1956–1959) on CBS's Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater and twice (1959 and 1961) on the Zane Grey spin-off Frontier Justice. He appeared three times (1962–1964) on the western Wagon Train.
The Dirty Dozen
as Col. Everett Dasher Breed12 American military prisoners in World War II are ordered to infiltrate a well-guarded enemy...
Movie page
The Wild Bunch
as Deke ThorntonAn aging group of outlaws look for one last big score as the "traditional" American West is...
Movie page
The retelling of June 6, 1944, from the perspectives of the Germans, US, British, Canadians, and...
Movie page
King of Kings
as John the BaptistWho is Jesus, and why does he impact all he meets? He is respected and reviled, emulated and...
Movie page
Battle of the Bulge
as General GreyIn the winter of 1944, the Allied Armies stand ready to invade Germany at the coming of a New...
Movie page
On Dangerous Ground
as Jim WilsonA big-city cop is reassigned to the country after his superiors find him too angry to be an...
Movie page
Lawman
as Sabbath Marshal Cotton RyanWhile passing through the town of Bannock, a bunch of drunken cattlemen go overboard with their...
Movie page
The Outfit
as MailerA two-bit criminal takes on the Mafia to avenge his brother's death. Earl Macklin is a small...
Movie page
The Professionals
as EhrengardAn arrogant Texas millionaire hires four adventurers to rescue his kidnapped wife from a...
Movie page
Crossfire
as MontgomeryA man is murdered, apparently by one of a group of soldiers just out of the army. But which one?...
Movie page
Act of Violence
as Joe ParksonA former prisoner of war, Frank Enley is hailed as a hero in his California town. However, Frank...
Movie page
Return of the Bad Men
as Sundance KidUS Marshall Vance is assigned to rid the Oklahoma Territory of outlaws.
Movie page
The Set-Up
as StokerExpecting the usual loss, a boxing manager takes bribes from a betting gangster without telling...
Movie page
Anzio
as Gen. CarsonAmerican troops land unopposed on Italian beaches during World War II, but instead of pushing on...
Movie page
Bad Day at Black Rock
as Reno SmithOne-armed war veteran John J. Macreedy steps off a train at the sleepy little town of Black...
Movie page
The Naked Spur
as Ben VandergroatA bounty hunter trying to bring a murderer to justice is forced to accept the help of two...
Movie page
Berlin Express
as Robert LindleyIn post-war Europe, a diverse group of passengers aboard a U.S. Army train to bombed-out...
Movie page
The Tall Men
as Nathan StarkTwo brothers discharged from the Confederate Army join a businessman for a cattle drive from...
Movie page
The Iceman Cometh
as Larry SladeSet in 1912, inside a dive bar named The Last Chance Saloon, its destitute patrons eagerly await...
Movie page
Caught
as Smith OhlrigWide-eyed and poor young Leonora weds an obsessive millionaire named Ohlrig, but the marriage is...
Movie page
Beware, My Lovely
as Howard WiltonA psychopath on the run takes a job as a handyman at the house of a lonely widow.
Movie page
Flying Leathernecks
as Capt. Carl 'Griff' GriffinMajor Daniel Kirby takes command of a squadron of Marine fliers just before they are about to go...
Movie page
Lolly-Madonna XXX
as Pap GutshallIn the early 1970s, a young woman passing through rural Tennessee unintentionally gets caught in...
Movie page
Horizons West
as Dan HammondBrothers Dan and Neil Hammond return to Texas after the Civil War. Ambitious Dan turns to...
Movie page
The Racket
as Nick ScanlonThe big national crime syndicate has moved into town, partnering up with local crime boss Nick...
Movie page
The Ghost Breakers
as Intern (uncredited)After intrepid working girl Mary Carter becomes the new owner of a reputedly haunted mansion...
Movie page
Odds Against Tomorrow
as Earle SlaterAn old-time crook plans a heist. When one of his two partners is found out to be a black man...
Movie page
Day of the Outlaw
as Blaise StarrettBlaise Starrett is a rancher at odds with homesteaders when outlaws hold up the small town. The...
Movie page
Custer of the West
as MulliganBiopic of General George Armstrong Custer from his rise to prominence in the Civil War through...
Movie page
Captain Nemo and the Underwater City
as Captain NemoSurvivors of a sinking ship are rescued by Captain Nemo and his submarine crew. They are taken...
Movie page
Clash by Night
as Earl PfeifferAn embittered woman seeks escape in marriage, only to fall for her husband’s best friend.
Movie page
Men in War
as Lt. BensonIn Korea, on 6 September 1950, Lieutenant Benson's platoon finds itself isolated in enemy-held...
Movie page
The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller
as Sandy Dawson (archive footage) (uncredited)Samuel Fuller discusses his career as a filmmaker, illustrated by plenty of clips.
Movie page
The Boy with Green Hair
as Dr. EvansPeter, an orphaned boy, is adopted by Gramp Frye after his parents are killed in Europe while...
Movie page
Bombardier
as Joe ConnorsA documentary/drama about the training of bombardiers during WWII. Major Chick Davis proves to...
Movie page
House of Bamboo
as Sandy DawsonEddie Kenner is given a special assignment by the Army to get the inside story on Sandy Dawson,...
Movie page
Hour of the Gun
as Ike ClantonMarshal Wyatt Earp kills a couple of men of the Clanton-gang in a fight. In revenge Clanton's...
Movie page
The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn
as Self (archive footage)In this tribute to her frequent co-star and longtime love, Katharine Hepburn hosts a...
Movie page
Behind the Rising Sun
as Lefty O'DoyleA Japanese publisher urges his American-educated son to side with the Axis.
Movie page
Born to Be Bad
as Nick BradleyChristabel Caine has the face of angel and the heart of a swamp rat. She'll step on anyone to...
Movie page
The Great Gatsby
as Jay GatsbyAdaptation of the 1925 novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald for "Playhouse 90." A Midwesterner becomes...
Movie page
Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade
as Self (archive footage)An account of the life and work of American film director Sam Peckinpah (1925-84), a tortured...
Movie page
The Woman on Pier 13
as Bradley Collins / Frank JohnsonCommunists blackmail a shipping executive into spying for them.
Movie page
Billy Budd
as John Claggart, Master of ArmsBilly is an innocent, naive seaman in the British Navy in 1797. When the ship's sadistic...
Movie page
The Secret Fury
as David McLeanThe wedding of Ellen and David is halted by a stranger who insists that the bride is already...
Movie page
The Sky's the Limit
as Reginald FentonFlying Tiger Fred Atwell sneaks away from his famous squadron's personal appearance tour and...
Movie page
The Crooked Road
as Richard AshleyAn investigative reporter travels to a small European country with the hope of exposing its...
Movie page
Inferno
as Donald Whitley Carson IIIWhen selfish and arrogant millionaire Donald Carson fractures his leg during a desert vacation,...
Movie page
The Canadians
as Inspector William GannonWhen the Sioux come to Canada, the Canadians permit them to stay in Canada if they come...
Movie page
The Dirty Game
as General BruceA U.S. intelligence general recalls three Cold War cases of Soviet, French and Italian spies.
Movie page
Lonelyhearts
as William ShrikeBurdened by a family secret, Adam White lands a job as a newspaper advice columnist. Little does...
Movie page
Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend
as Self (from Clash by Night [1952]) (archive footage)Her story is well-known — the lonely child who yearned for affection and approval which she...
Movie page
North West Mounted Police
as Constable DumontTexas Ranger Dusty Rivers ("Isn't that a contradiction in terms?", another character asks him)...
Movie page
Back from Eternity
as Bill LonaganA South American plane loaded with an assortment of characters crash lands in a remote jungle...
Movie page
Best of the Badmen
as Jeff ClantonAfter the North defeats the South, Union Maj. Jeff Clanton heads to Missouri to provide the...
Movie page
Queen of the Mob
as JimMa Webster (Blanche Yurka) and her boys rob a bank on Christmas Eve; G-men stop them with Tommy...
Movie page
And Hope to Die
as CharleyA crook on the run hooks up with a criminal gang to commit a kidnapping. However, things don't...
Movie page
Executive Action
as FosterRogue intelligence agents, right-wing politicians, greedy capitalists, and free-lance assassins...
Movie page
Golden Gloves
as Pete WellsAn amateur boxer's girlfriend inspires him to face a ring pro entered by a gangster.
Movie page
The Iron Major
as Father Timothy 'Tim' DonovanWilliam 'Frank' Cavanaugh is a top football coach who gave up his career to enter WWI where he...
Movie page
The Woman on the Beach
as Scott BurnettA sailor suffering from post-traumatic stress becomes involved with a beautiful and enigmatic...
Movie page
Trail Street
as Allen HarperBat Masterson cleans up Liberal, Kansas.
Movie page
The Notorious Lone Wolf
as Plainclothesman (uncredited)Ex-thief Lone Wolf and his valet don turbans to solve a museum jewel theft.
Movie page
Tender Comrade
as Chris JonesJo Jones, a young defense plant worker whose husband is in the military during World War II,...
Movie page
The Texas Rangers Ride Again
as Eddie (uncredited)With thousands of cattle being rustled from White Sage ranch the 1930's Texas Rangers are called...
Movie page
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down The Line
as Self (archive footage)Born Ruby Stevens, she was orphaned when she was four. A chance audition led to a chorus job. By...
Movie page
The Proud Ones
as Marshal Cass SilverRobert Ryan plays an aging sheriff responsible for law and order in a frontier cattle town....
Movie page
The Man Without a Country
as Lt. Cmdr. VaughanAt his court-martial, an American Army officer renounces his country. For his punishment he is...
Movie page
God's Little Acre
as Ty Ty WaldenIn the 1950s, a poor Georgia cotton farmer and his sons search for the gold presumably buried on...
Movie page
Alaska Seas
as Matt KellyA crooked salmon fisherman tries to steal his best friend's fiancée and put him out of business.
Movie page
A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die
as New Mexico Gov. Lem CarterA famous gunman decides to change his life around and turn himself in when amnesty is declared...
Movie page
Ice Palace
as Thor StormAlaska: America's last great wilderness frontier. A land of primitive grandeur, of glaciers,...
Movie page
Simon and Garfunkel: Songs of America
as Self - Host“Songs of America” shows the two on stage, in the studio and on a concert tour across a...
Movie page
About Mrs. Leslie
as George LeslieA lonely, unhappy owner of a Beverly Hills boarding house reflects on her lonely, unhappy life...
Movie page
Hard, Fast and Beautiful
as Seabright Tennis Match Spectator (uncredited)When most people look at Florence Farley, they see a pretty teenager. But when Milly Farley...
Movie page
Gangway for Tomorrow
as Joe DunhamFive defense workers on their way to the munitions factory tell their stories: a refugee from...
Movie page
City Beneath the Sea
as Brad CarltonTwo adventures dive for treasure off the coast of Jamaica.
Movie page
The Busy Body
as Charley BarkerSid Caesar is a bumbling gopher to a mob boss who must recover a fortune in cash stowed in the...
Movie page
Marine Raiders
as Capt. Dan CraigA Marine major (Pat O'Brien) looks out for his captain (Robert Ryan) on Guadalcanal and in...
Movie page
The Love Machine
as Gregory 'Greg' AustinAn ambitious TV newscaster has an affair with the wife of a network executive to get a promotion.
Movie page
The Inheritance
as Narrator (voice)The Inheritance shows what life was really like for immigrants and working Americans from the...
Movie page
Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire
as Self (archive footage)Actress Sally Field looks at the dramatic life and successful career of the superb actress...
Movie page
Her Twelve Men
as Joe HargraveAn inexperienced female teacher is hired at a private elite school for boys where she raises a...
Movie page
Escape to Burma
as Jim BrecanA fugitive in British Burma hides on a tea plantation, thanks to a mutual attraction with owner...
Movie page
The House Without a Name
as uncreditedThe House Without a Name is a 1956 short documentary film written and produced by Valentine...
Movie page
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
as Harry WaltersA writer reflects on his life as he lies dying from an infection after a safari in the shadow of...
Movie page
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
as SelfThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight...
TV Show page
What's My Line?
as Self - Mystery GuestFour panelists must determine guests' occupations - and, in the case of famous guests, while...
TV Show page
What's My Line?
as Self - PanelistFour panelists must determine guests' occupations - and, in the case of famous guests, while...
TV Show page
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
as Matt JessopDick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, sometimes simply called Zane Grey Theatre, is an American...
TV Show page
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
as Cob OakleyDick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, sometimes simply called Zane Grey Theatre, is an American...
TV Show page
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
as Sheriff Amos ParneyDick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, sometimes simply called Zane Grey Theatre, is an American...
TV Show page
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
as Captain William KraigDick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, sometimes simply called Zane Grey Theatre, is an American...
TV Show page
Kraft Suspense Theatre
as Thomas BollingtonKraft Suspense Theatre is an American anthology series that was telecast from 1963 to 1965 on...
TV Show page
The Oscars
as SelfAn annual American awards ceremony honoring cinematic achievements in the film industry. The...
TV Show page
Alcoa Theatre
as TrilbridgeAlcoa Theatre is a half-hour American anthology series telecast on NBC at 9:30 pm on alternate...
TV Show page
Alcoa Theatre
as Mike RipettiAlcoa Theatre is a half-hour American anthology series telecast on NBC at 9:30 pm on alternate...
TV Show page
The David Susskind Show
as SelfThe David Susskind Show is an American television talk show hosted by David Susskind. The...
TV Show page