Mitchell Ryan

Mitchell Ryan (January 11, 1934 – March 4, 2022) was an American actor born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. His father worked as a salesman and his mother was a writer. Before pursuing a career in acting, Ryan served in the United States Navy during the Korean War. He went on to accumulate six decades of screen and stage credits, becoming a life member of the Actors Studio.

Ryan's Broadway career spanned from 1966 to 1982 and included appearances in Wait Until Dark, Medea, The Sudden & Accidental Re-Education of Horse Johnson, and a starring role in The Price. His off-Broadway work included productions of Antony and Cleopatra in 1963 and a 1979 staging of The Price.

On television, Ryan first gained wide recognition as Burke Devlin on the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows in the 1960s. He remained with the show until June 1967, when he was dismissed due to his alcoholism and replaced by Anthony George. He subsequently took on a series of leading and recurring television roles, portraying Chase Reddick on the crime drama Chase from 1973 to 1974, Dan Walling on Executive Suite from 1976 to 1977, and Blake Simmons on Julie Farr, M.D. from 1978 to 1979, the latter pairing him with actress Susan Sullivan. Ryan played Cooper Hawkins on The Chisholms in 1980 and Sam Garrett on King's Crossing in 1982. In 1985, he portrayed Tillet Main, the patriarch of the Main family, in the first North and South miniseries. He appeared as Kyle Riker, the father of Commander William Riker, in the Star Trek: The Next Generation second-season episode "The Icarus Factor," a role that came after he had been considered for the part of Captain Jean-Luc Picard. From 1997 to 2002, Ryan played Edward Montgomery, the father of Greg Montgomery, on the comedy series Dharma & Greg, reuniting him with Susan Sullivan.

Ryan's film work included Magnum Force, in which he played Charlie McCoy, a motorcycle patrolman and close friend of Harry Callahan, and the 1987 action film Lethal Weapon, in which he portrayed the villain General Peter McAllister. His other film credits included Electra Glide in Blue, Grosse Pointe Blank, Liar Liar, Hot Shots! Part Deux, Judge Dredd, and Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, in which he played Dr. Terence Wynn. Ryan also served as president of the Screen Actors Guild Foundation.

In his personal life, Ryan married Lynda Morse in 1972, and the couple had a son before divorcing in 1982. He later married Barbara Albertine in 1998, and together they had two children. Ryan died of heart failure at his home in Los Angeles, California, on March 4, 2022, at the age of 88. He was survived by his wife, three children, and five grandchildren.