John P. Ryan
American actor (1936–2007)
- Born July 30, 1936
- 4 movies
John P. Ryan (30 July 1936 to 20 March 2007) was an American character actor with a gift for menace, best known for sweating, snarling turns as crooked cops, hard men and military officers. Born in New York City to Irish immigrant parents and trained at the Actors Studio, he came to film through his friend Jack Nicholson and appeared with him in five films, from Five Easy Pieces to Hoffa. One of his best-known roles was the sadistic warden Ranken in Runaway Train (1985), and his last was a mobster in the Wachowskis' Bound (1996).
John P. Ryan appears in 4 films in The Rerun, from 1970 to 1996. Most of that work is in thriller, crime and romance. Frequent collaborators in The Rerun: Bob Rafelson (2), Jack Nicholson (2).
Known for
- Runaway Train (1985). Worked with Andrei Konchalovsky on the 1985 action drama.
- Bound (1996). A role in the Wachowskis’ 1996 crime thriller.
- Five Easy Pieces (1970). An early film with Bob Rafelson and Jack Nicholson.
- The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981). Reunited with Rafelson and Nicholson on the 1981 thriller.
Career
Ryan studied English at the City College of New York and acted on stage before film, including The Lion in Winter at the 1966 Williamstown Theatre Festival and Broadway productions of Daphne in Cottage D and Medea. Nicholson encouraged him toward the screen, and he appeared opposite him in Five Easy Pieces (1970), The King of Marvin Gardens, The Missouri Breaks, The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981) and Hoffa.
He was usually a supporting player, with a rare lead as the anguished father in Larry Cohen’s horror film It’s Alive and its sequel. Directors including Bob Rafelson, Arthur Penn, Philip Kaufman and Francis Ford Coppola used him, and his credits include Dillinger, The Right Stuff, The Cotton Club, Three O’Clock High and Best of the Best. In Andrei Konchalovsky’s Runaway Train he hunts escaped convicts across the Alaskan wilds. His final film role was Mickey Malnato in Bound.
Where to start
- Runaway Train (1985): his signature villain, all fury and obsession.
- Bound (1996): a sharp noir debut from the Wachowskis, and his last screen role.
- Five Easy Pieces (1970): the first of his films with Nicholson, in Rafelson’s character study.
- The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981): Rafelson’s steamy remake of the James M. Cain story.
Movies
Quick answers
- What movies and TV shows has John P. Ryan been in?
- John P. Ryan appears in Bound (1996), Runaway Train (1985), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981) and Five Easy Pieces (1970) on The Remote.
- When was John P. Ryan born?
- John P. Ryan was born on 30 July 1936.
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