John P. Ryan

John P. Ryan (July 30, 1936 – March 20, 2007) was an American actor born in New York City to Irish immigrant parents. He attended Rice High School in Harlem before pursuing higher education at the City College of New York, where he studied English. He trained as an actor at the Actors Studio, of which he remained a life member throughout his career. He was also a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Ryan's stage work spanned both regional and Broadway productions. At the 1966 Williamstown Theatre Festival, he took on the role of King Henry in The Lion in Winter and Mr. DePinna in You Can't Take It with You. His Broadway career extended from 1963 to 1973 and included appearances in Medea, The Love Suicide at Schofield Barracks, Yerma, The Lady of the Camellias, and Daphne in Cottage D.

His transition into film came at the encouragement of his friend Jack Nicholson, alongside whom Ryan appeared in five productions: Five Easy Pieces (1970), The King of Marvin Gardens (1973), The Missouri Breaks (1976), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981), and Hoffa (1992). While Ryan most often took on supporting and character parts — frequently cast as villains, law enforcement figures, and military officers — he carried leading roles in the Larry Cohen horror film It's Alive and its sequel It Lives Again. Among his other notable film credits were Dillinger (1973), Futureworld (1976), Breathless (1983), The Right Stuff (1983), The Cotton Club (1984), Three O'Clock High (1987), Best of the Best (1989), and Runaway Train (1985), in which he played prison warden Ranken. His final screen role was as mobster Mickey Malnato in Bound (1996), the directorial debut of the Wachowskis. Over the course of his career, Ryan worked with directors including Bob Rafelson, Francis Ford Coppola, Andrei Konchalovsky, Arthur Penn, and Philip Kaufman.

In May 1989, while filming Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection in the Philippines, Ryan was involved in a helicopter crash on set. The aircraft veered left after takeoff and fell into a forty-foot ravine, killing four people onboard and hospitalizing approximately ten others, including Ryan.

In his personal life, Ryan was married to actress Maya Kenin and became stepfather to Alexa Kenin (1962–1985). He had two daughters. Ryan died of a stroke in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 70, and was buried at Genola Rural Cemetery in East Northport, New York.