Ayn Ruymen

Ayn Ruymen is an American actress and theater director born on July 18, 1947, in Brooklyn, New York City, one of six children. She grew up on Long Island, where her father, George Ruymen, worked as a building inspector for the City of New York. Ruymen began performing in theater productions in New Jersey while still a teenager, and during her early career she became a member of Actors' Equity.

In 1970, Ruymen was cast as Polly Meara in Neil Simon's The Gingerbread Lady on Broadway, appearing opposite Maureen Stapleton. The production ran from December 1970 through 1971, and critic George Oppenheimer praised Ruymen for showing great promise in what he described as a difficult role. Her performance earned her the Theatre World Award in 1971.

Ruymen relocated to Los Angeles in late 1971 to pursue film and television work. She made her feature film debut in Paul Bartel's horror film Private Parts (1972), playing a young woman who uncovers dark secrets in a Los Angeles hotel run by her aunt. That same year she appeared in an episode of the medical drama series Medical Center, and in 1973 she was cast in the television film Go Ask Alice. She later took a minor uncredited role as a nurse in Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975). From 1976 to 1977, she held a lead role on the sitcom The McLean Stevenson Show, playing the daughter of a hardware store proprietor. Her final screen appearance came in the 1993 television film Firestorm: 72 Hours in Oakland.

Also in 1993, Ruymen began directing for the Mendocino Theatre Company, starting with a production of Love Letters that featured a nightly rotating cast. In 1996 she directed Terrence McNally's A Perfect Ganesh for the company, and in August 2009 she directed an MTC production of W. Somerset Maugham's The Circle. In September 2009, Ruymen married Robert Ross, a visual artist and instructor at the Mendocino Arts Center and Oregon School of Arts and Crafts.