Robert Ryan was born on November 11, 1909 in Chicago, Illinois.
On July 11, 1973 Robert Ryan passed away in New York City
from lung cancer.
In college at the Chicago's Loyola and Dartmouth, Robert
Ryan held the national collegiate boxing title for four years.
The movie that kick Robert Ryan career into high gear was
in the ring to secure a part in GOLDEN GLOVES (1940), two
years later, he was under contract to RKO.
Due to Robert Ryan's towering frame, facial complextion,
and a uncommon intensity, Ryan was able to play the tough
guy, and the heroe throughout his career working in Westerns,
war stories, and crime dramas and even the hateful villains.
Robert Ryan was unforgettable as the protagonist of THE SET-UP
in 1949, as the washed-up prizefighter debating whether or
not to take a dive during an up coming fight.
In 1973 Robert Ryan played a terminally ill political activist
Larry Slade in THE ICEMAN COMETH. Ironically, while filming,
he knew he was approaching the final stages of lung cancer,
and he passed away in July of that year.
For Ryan's portrayal of a killer in CROSSFIRE, Ryan won a
Academy Award nomination.
Robert Ryan's other notable credits include...
THE ICEMAN COMETH (1973)
EXECUTIVE ACTION (1973)
THE LOVE MACHINE (1971)
BATTLE OF THE BULGE (1965)
MEN IN WAR (1957)
I MARRIED A COMMUNIST (1949)
GOLDEN GLOVES (1944)
THE SKY'S THE LIMIT (1943)
THE TEXAS RANGERS RIDE AGAIN (1940)
