Available May 11, 2015, from Wesleyan Publishers
The Lives of Robert Ryan
By J.R. Jones
Robert Ryan etched a memorable gallery of film characters throughout a thirty-year career. In a diverse array of films from World War II dramas to film noir, from westerns to his final memorable role in Eugene O'Neill's tragic drama, The Iceman Cometh, Ryan revealed himself to be a gifted actor, and one whom Martin Scorsese has called "one of the greatest actors in the history of American film".
Ryan, the son of a Chicago construction executive with Democratic political ties, served during World War II as a drill sergeant and boxing champion. Following the War, Ryan became a star on the strength of his menacing performance as an anti-Semitic murderer, Montgomery, in Edward Dmytryk's classic film noir, Crossfire.
Over the next quarter century he created a gallery of brooding, neurotic and violent characters in such movies asBad Day at Black Rock, The Naked Spur, Billy Budd, The Professionals, and The Wild Bunch. His riveting performances exposed the darkest impulses of the American psyche during the Cold War.
An intensely private man, he married Jessica Cadwalader, a Quaker, in 1939 and their long marriage--which only ended with his untimely death in 1973--was a source of support and strength to him. Growing up amidst politics and with his own sense of conscience, he became an advocate and champion for peace and civil rights that was in direct contrast to his screen persona.Drawing on unpublished writings and revealing interviews, author J.R. Jones deftly explores the many contradictory facets of Robert Ryan's public and private lives, and how these lives intertwined in one of the most compelling actors of his generation..
