Eileen Ryan

Eileen Ryan
Born
Eileen Annucci

(1927-10-16)October 16, 1927
New York City, U.S.
DiedOctober 9, 2022(2022-10-09) (aged 94)
OccupationActress
Years active1955–2016
Spouse
(m. 1957; died 1998)
Children

Eileen Ryan (née Annucci; October 16, 1927 – October 9, 2022) was an American actress. The wife of actor and director Leo Penn, she was the mother of actors Sean Penn and Chris Penn, and of singer Michael Penn.

Life and career

Ryan was born in the Bronx on October 16, 1927. Her father, William, was Italian American and worked as a lawyer and a dentist; her mother, Rose Isabel (née Ryan), was Irish American and employed as a nurse, with her maiden name later chosen by Eileen to be part of her stage name. Ryan studied at New York University, graduating with a bachelor's degree.

Career

Ryan debuted on Broadway in 1953, in the play Sing Till Tomorrow. Five years later, she featured in another Broadway production, Comes a Day. Both plays were ultimately short-lived. She began to reduce her involvement in acting in order to look after her young family, which later relocated to the West Coast. During the 1960s and 1970s, Ryan periodically had roles in television shows, such as The Twilight Zone, Bonanza, and others directed by her husband Leo Penn.

Ryan resumed acting on a more frequent basis in 1986, when she appeared with her sons Sean and Chris in At Close Range as the brothers' grandmother. She subsequently featured as the mother of Sean Penn's character in Judgment in Berlin (1988), which was directed by her husband. She also starred in Parenthood a year later opposite Jason Robards – whose withdrawal from his role in The Iceman Cometh over three decades earlier enabled Ryan to meet her future husband – before making an appearance in The Crossing Guard (1995), which her son Sean directed. Two years later, she went back to the stage in the play Remembrance, acting alongside her husband in a production by Sean Penn at the Odyssey Theater. Her final role was in the 2016 film Rules Don't Apply.

Personal life

Ryan married Leo Penn in 1957. They met the year before while she was performing in The Iceman Cometh at the Circle in the Square Theatre. At the time, he was an actor and active union member, who was blacklisted from the late 1940s to the late 1950s. They remained married for over 40 years until his death in 1998. Together, they had three children. One of them, Chris, predeceased her in 2006.

Ryan died on October 9, 2022, at her home in Malibu, California, at the age of 94.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes Ref
1957 Three in One Mrs. Johnson Segment: "The Load of Wood"
1986 At Close Range Grandma
1988 Judgment in Berlin Gerta X
1989 Winter People Annie Wright
1989 Parenthood Marilyn Buckman
1991 The Indian Runner Mrs. Baker
1993 Benny & Joon Mrs. Smail
1995 The Crossing Guard Woman in Shop
1999 Anywhere but Here Lillian
1999 Magnolia Mary
2001 The Pledge Jean
2001 I Am Sam Estelle
2002 Eight Legged Freaks Gladys
2004 The Assassination of Richard Nixon Marie's mother
2005 Feast Grandma
2006 All the King's Men Lily Littlepaugh
2009 Give 'Em Hell, Malone Gloria
2009 Mother and Child Nora
2010 Venus & Vegas Estelle
2011 Collaborator Betty
2016 Rules Don't Apply Frank's Grandmother

Television

Year Title Role Notes Ref
1955 Goodyear Television Playhouse Alma "Mr. Dorothy Allen"
1957 Westinghouse Studio One Betsy Fuller "The Defender: Parts 1 & 2"
1959 Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond Mrs. Horvath "Make Me Not a Witch"
1960 The Twilight Zone Nora Reagan "A World of Difference"
1960 The Robert Herridge Theater "With Glory and Honor"
1960 The Detectives Mrs. Sharman "Little Girl Lost"
1961 The Detectives Mrs. Coil "Song of the Guilty Heart"
1961 The Asphalt Jungle Anna Ashmond "The Last Way Out"
1961 Outlaws Ruth Lopez "No Luck on Friday"
1961 Bonanza Amanda Gates "Land Grab"
1962 Bonanza Abigail Jones "The Wooing of Abigail Jones"
1962 Ben Casey Laura Walton "Give My Hands an Epitaph"
1962 Tales of Wells Fargo Lorry "End of a Minor God"
1972 Bonanza Emily "First Love"
1973 Marcus Welby, M.D. Shirley Cooper "Catch a Ring That Isn't There"
1973 Cannon "Press Pass to the Slammer"
1974 Little House on the Prairie Mrs. Kennedy "The Voice of Tinker Jones"
1986 CBS Schoolbreak Special Bag Lady "Babies Having Babies"
1990 Christine Cromwell "Only the Good Die Young"
1992 Matlock Lily Wyckoff "The Picture: Part 2"
1993 It's Nothing Personal TV film
1996 ER Barbara Dean "True Lies"
1996 NYPD Blue Mrs. Treet "He's Not Guilty, He's My Brother"
1999 Ally McBeal Bria Tolson "In Dreams"
2000 Arliss Maddie Crowley "Last Call"
2001 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Mrs. Rose Bennett "To Halve and to Hold"
2003 The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire "Tough Love"
2005 Without a Trace Maura O'Connell "Transitions"
2011 Men of a Certain Age "And Then the Bill Comes"
2011 Private Practice Marion "Something Old, Something New"
2011 Prime Suspect Susan Whitney "Bitch"
2014 Grey's Anatomy Marjorie Reed "Puzzle with a Piece Missing"
2014 Getting On Mrs. Roth "No Such Thing as Idealized Genitalia"

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