Eileen Ryan (; 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.Kelly, Richard T. Sean Penn: His Life and Times. Canongate U.S. 2004. . 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 small 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.Oliver, Myrna (1998) for the Los Angeles Times. "Lep Penn, 77, Actor and Notable Director", obituary, archives of the South Florida Sun Sentinel (Deerfield Beach, Florida), September 12, 1998. Retrieved April 15, 2019. 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.
Death Ryan died on October 9, 2022, at her home in Malibu, California, a week before her 95th birthday.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes Ref1957Three in OneMrs. JohnsonSegment: "The Load of Wood"1986At Close RangeGrandma1988Judgment in BerlinGerta X1989Winter PeopleAnnie Wright1989ParenthoodMarilyn Buckman1991Mrs. Baker1993Benny & JoonMrs. Smail1995Woman in Shop1999Anywhere but HereLillian1999MagnoliaMary2001Jean2001I Am SamEstelle2002Eight Legged FreaksGladys2004Marie's mother2005FeastGrandma2006All the King's MenLily Littlepaugh2009Give 'Em Hell, MaloneGloria2009Mother and ChildNora2010Venus & VegasEstelle2011CollaboratorBetty2016Rules Don't ApplyFrank's Grandmother
Television Year Title Role Notes Ref1955Goodyear Television PlayhouseAlma"Mr. Dorothy Allen"1957Westinghouse Studio OneBetsy Fuller"The Defender: Parts 1 & 2"1959Alcoa Presents: One Step BeyondMrs. Horvath"Make Me Not a Witch"1960Nora Reagan"A World of Difference"1960"With Glory and Honor"1960Mrs. Sharman"Little Girl Lost"1961Mrs. Coil"Song of the Guilty Heart"1961Anna Ashmond"The Last Way Out"1961OutlawsRuth Lopez"No Luck on Friday"1961BonanzaAmanda Gates"Land Grab"1962BonanzaAbigail Jones"The Wooing of Abigail Jones"1962Ben CaseyLaura Walton"Give My Hands an Epitaph"1962Tales of Wells FargoLorry"End of a Minor God"1972BonanzaEmily"First Love"1973Marcus Welby, M.D.Shirley Cooper"Catch a Ring That Isn't There"1973Cannon"Press Pass to the Slammer"1974Little House on the PrairieMrs. Kennedy"The Voice of Tinker Jones"1986CBS Schoolbreak SpecialBag Lady"Babies Having Babies"1990Christine Cromwell"Only the Good Die Young"1992MatlockLily Wyckoff"The Picture: Part 2"1993It's Nothing PersonalTV film1996ERBarbara Dean"True Lies"1996NYPD BlueMrs. Treet"He's Not Guilty, He's My Brother"1999Ally McBealBria Tolson"In Dreams"2000ArlissMaddie Crowley"Last Call"2001CSI: Crime Scene InvestigationMrs. Rose Bennett"To Halve and to Hold"2003"Tough Love"2005Without a TraceMaura O'Connell"Transitions"2011Men of a Certain Age"And Then the Bill Comes"2011Private PracticeMarion"Something Old, Something New"2011Prime SuspectSusan Whitney"Bitch"2014Grey's AnatomyMarjorie Reed"Puzzle with a Piece Missing"2014Getting OnMrs. Roth"No Such Thing as Idealized Genitalia"
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