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Mitch Ryan

Highest Rated: 98% The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973)

Lowest Rated: 7% The Opposite Sex... and How to Live With Them (1993)

Birthday: Jan 11, 1934

Birthplace: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

A veteran character player often cast as tough military men or salt-of-the-earth small town Americans, Ryan decided to pursue an acting career after a stint in the special services entertainment unit of the US Navy during the Korean War. He briefly appeared in "Thunder Road" (1958), with Robert Mitchum and then moved to NYC to work for over twenty years on stage and TV. Alternately billed as Mitch or Mitchell Ryan, he made his stage debut in "Whisper to Me" (1960) before joining Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival in 1962. He played the title role in "Baal" and landed a key role opposite Lee Remick in the thriller "Wait Until Dark" (1966). Among his other stage credits are Eugene O'Neill's "A Moon for the Misbegotten" (1968), "Medea" (1982) and appearances with the Arena Stage in Washington, DC (1969-70). Ryan landed a regular TV gig as Burke Devlin on the Gothic daytime drama "Dark Shadows" (ABC, 1966-70). Producer Jack Webb then hired him to play one of the leads in the police drama "Chase" (NBC, 1973-74). Ryan went on to appear in several, mostly short-lived, series: "Executive Suite" (CBS, 1976-77); "Having Babies/Julie Farr, M.D." (ABC, 1978-79); "The Chisholms" (CBS, 1980), replacing Robert Preston as the patriarch; "King's Crossing" (ABC, 1982); and "High Performance" (ABC, 1983). He also made numerous appearances in TV-movies and miniseries since the early 1970s. Among his more notable vehicles are "The Entertainer" (NBC, 1976), with Jack Lemmon, "North and South" (ABC, 1985), "Robert Kennedy and His Times" (CBS, 1985), as Robert McNamara, "Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratton Story" (NBC, 1981), as Hugh Hefner, "Fatal Vision" (NBC, 1979), "Margaret Bourke White" (TNT, 1989), as General Patton, and "Gramps" (NBC, 1995), with Andy Griffith. Ryan returned to the big screen in "Monte Walsh" (1970). Throughout the 1970s, he played small supporting roles in such features as Clint Eastwood's "High Plains Drifter," Peter Yates' "The Friends of Eddie Coyle" and "Magnum Force" (all 1973). After over a decade, he returned to features as a Vietnam veteran whose drug operation is the target of investigation by Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in Richard Donner's "Lethal Weapon" (1987). He gave a strong performance as the patriarch of a mountain family in Ted Kotcheff's "Winter People" (1989) and executed a deft, but rare, comic turn in Jim Abrahams' "Hot Shots! Part Deux" (1993). Ryan offered support to Jessica Lange and Tommy Lee Jones in the late Tony Richardson's "Blue Sky" (filmed in 1990; released in 1994) and was one of the candidates in "Speechless" (also 1994). In 1995, he was featured in both "Malicious" and "Judge Dredd." Mitchell Ryan died March 4, 2022 at the age of 88.

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Highest rated movies

98% 87% The Friends of Eddie Coyle
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94% 86% High Plains Drifter
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89% 64% Monte Walsh
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83% 75% Liar Liar
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82% 86% Grosse Pointe Blank
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80% 86% Lethal Weapon
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80% 58% Blue Sky
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75% 63% Thunder Road
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69% 74% Electra Glide in Blue
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69% 78% Magnum Force
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Filmography

Movies

Credit
No Score Yet No Score Yet Making Contact Hunter (Character) - 1999
No Score Yet No Score Yet Life of the Party: The Pamela Harriman Story Averell Harriman (Character) - 1998
83% 75% Liar Liar Mr. Allan (Character) $181.4M 1997
82% 86% Grosse Pointe Blank Mr. Bart Newberry (Character) $28.1M 1997
37% 41% The Devil's Own Chief Jim Kelly (Character) - 1997
No Score Yet 69% A Face to Die For Joe Thomas (Character) - 1996
8% 36% Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers Dr. Terence Wynn (Character) $14.7M 1995
No Score Yet No Score Yet Gramps Oliver (Character) - 1995
10% 34% Speechless Wannamaker (Character) $19.6M 1994
80% 58% Blue Sky Ray Stevens (Character) $2.5M 1994
7% 29% The Opposite Sex... and How to Live With Them Kenneth Davenport (Character) $525.0K 1993
No Score Yet 79% Star Harrison Barclay (Character) - 1993
14% 24% Aces: Iron Eagle III Simms (Character) $2.5M 1992
No Score Yet 33% Deadly Game Unknown (Character) - 1991
No Score Yet 14% Judgment Dave Davis (Character) - 1990
No Score Yet 68% The Ryan White Story Tom (Character) - 1989
20% 52% Winter People Drury Campbell (Character) $1.3M 1989
No Score Yet No Score Yet Margaret Bourke-White Patton (Character) - 1989
No Score Yet No Score Yet Target: Favorite Son Unknown (Character) - 1988
80% 86% Lethal Weapon General Peter McAllister (Character) $61.0M 1987
No Score Yet No Score Yet Northstar Col. Even Marshall (Character) - 1986
No Score Yet No Score Yet Hostage Flight Capt. Malone (Character) - 1985
No Score Yet 95% Fatal Vision Paul Strombaugh (Character) - 1984
No Score Yet No Score Yet Uncommon Valor Chief Tom Riordan (Character) - 1983
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Monkey Mission Keyes (Character) - 1981
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Five of Me Dr. Ralph B. Allison (Character) - 1981
No Score Yet No Score Yet Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story Hugh Hefner (Character) - 1981
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Choice Jerry Clements (Character) - 1981
No Score Yet 74% Of Mice and Men Slim (Character) - 1981
No Score Yet 80% Angel City Silas Creedy (Character) - 1980
No Score Yet No Score Yet Escape From Bogen County Ambler Bowman (Character) - 1977
No Score Yet 40% Peter Lundy and the Medicine Hat Stallion Jethro Lundy (Character) - 1977
No Score Yet No Score Yet Christmas Coal Mine Miracle Mathew Sullivan (Character) - 1977
29% 45% Two Minute Warning The Priest (Character) - 1976
No Score Yet 40% A Reflection of Fear Inspector McKenna (Character) - 1973
69% 74% Electra Glide in Blue Harve Poole (Character) - 1973
94% 86% High Plains Drifter Dave Drake (Character) - 1973
69% 78% Magnum Force Officer Charlie McCoy (Character) - 1973
98% 87% The Friends of Eddie Coyle Waters (Character) - 1973
No Score Yet No Score Yet Crime Knows No Age Capt. Chase Reddick (Character) - 1973
No Score Yet No Score Yet Chase Capt. Chase Reddick (Character) - 1973
No Score Yet No Score Yet Casino on Wheels Capt. Chase Reddick (Character) - 1973
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Honkers Lowell (Character) - 1972
20% 54% The Hunting Party Doc Harrison (Character) - 1971
No Score Yet 5% Chandler Kincaid (Character) - 1971
No Score Yet No Score Yet Glory Boy Sgt. Martin Flood (Character) - 1971
No Score Yet No Score Yet My Old Man's Place Sgt. Martin Flood (Character) - 1971
89% 64% Monte Walsh Shorty Austin (Character) - 1970
75% 63% Thunder Road Jed Moultrie (uncredited) (Character) $146.0K 1958

TV

Credit
No Score Yet 90% The Mentalist Unknown (Guest Star) 2013
No Score Yet 68% One Tree Hill Unknown (Guest Star) 2010
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Drew Carey Show Unknown (Guest Star) 2004
No Score Yet No Score Yet Dharma & Greg Edward Montgomery (Character) 1997-2002
No Score Yet No Score Yet Aftershock: Earthquake in New York Unknown (Character) 1999
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Practice Unknown (Guest Star) 1997
44% No Score Yet Spy Game Unknown (Guest Star) 1997
67% No Score Yet Dark Skies Unknown (Guest Star) 1997
No Score Yet No Score Yet Wings Unknown (Guest Star) 1996
No Score Yet No Score Yet Champs Unknown (Guest Star) 1996
No Score Yet 89% Murder, She Wrote Senator Brent Renwyck (Guest Star) 1985 1987 1991 1995
No Score Yet No Score Yet Walker, Texas Ranger Unknown (Guest Star) 1994
83% 95% NYPD Blue Jack Hanlan (Guest Star) 1993
No Score Yet No Score Yet Civil Wars Judge Kosarin (Guest Star) 1992
No Score Yet No Score Yet Matlock Unknown (Guest Star) 1991
No Score Yet No Score Yet Hunter Tom Reed (Guest Star) 1991
No Score Yet 94% The Golden Girls Rex Huntington (Guest Star) 1991
No Score Yet No Score Yet Who's the Boss? Unknown (Guest Star) 1990
No Score Yet No Score Yet Jake and the Fatman Unknown (Guest Star) 1989-1990
No Score Yet No Score Yet Mission: Impossible Unknown (Guest Star) 1989
92% 90% Star Trek: The Next Generation Kyle Riker (Guest Star) 1989
No Score Yet 75% North and South Tillet Main (Guest Star) 1985
No Score Yet 71% The A-Team Ike Hagen (Guest Star) 1985
No Score Yet No Score Yet Riptide Unknown (Character) 1985
No Score Yet No Score Yet Robert Kennedy and His Times Unknown (Character) 1985
No Score Yet No Score Yet Hotel Unknown (Guest Star) 1984
No Score Yet No Score Yet Hart to Hart Unknown (Guest Star) 1983
No Score Yet No Score Yet Executive Suite Unknown (Character) 1976-1977
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Blue Knight Unknown (Guest Star) 1976
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Rockford Files Colonel Hopkins (Guest Star) 1975
No Score Yet No Score Yet Barnaby Jones Unknown (Guest Star) 1975
No Score Yet No Score Yet Cannon Alexander Roper (Guest Star) 1971-1972 1975
No Score Yet No Score Yet Chase Capt. Chase Reddick (Character) 1973-1974
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Streets of San Francisco Abel Hoffman (Guest Star) 1973
No Score Yet No Score Yet Dark Shadows Burke Devlin (Character) 1966 1968-1971
No Score Yet No Score Yet The High Chaparral Unknown (Guest Star) 1970
No Score Yet No Score Yet Dark Shadows: The Beginning Burke Devlin (Character) 1966-1967