text: Born to play beautifully tortured, angry souls... Ryan was a familiar movie face for more than two decades in Hollywood's classical years, his studio ups and downs, independent detours and outlier adventures paralleling the arc of American cinema as it went from a national pastime to near collapse. A little prettier and he might have been one of the golden boys of the golden age. But there could be something a touch menacing about his face (something open and sweet too), which bunched as tight as a fist, and his towering height (he stood 6 foot 4) at times loomed like a threat. The rage boiled up in him so quickly. It made him seem dangerous. He was known for his villains, and it was the complexity of these characters, their emotional and psychological kinks, that elevated even his lesser roles. He never achieved the supernova stardom of a Gable or Bogart, and these days Ryan's glower may be more familiar than his name. Yet he was the type of next-level star and B-movie stalwart that helped make old Hollywood great.
  Filmography
  Othman, Frederick C. "Hollywood Reporter". The Middlesboro Daily News. August 23, 1943.
  UP. "Robert Ryan Isn't Sure He Can Afford Stardom". The Milwaukee Journal. November 19, 1947.
  AP. "Robert Ryan: A Friend of the Underdog". The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. September 14, 1948.
  "Robert Ryan's Advice to Would-Be Actors". The Deseret News. November 30, 1951.
  Finnigan, Joseph. "Actor Robert Ryan Set to Find His Relatives". The Palm Beach Post. July 4, 1961.
  Pack, Harvey. "Bob Ryan Shines on TV and Stage". The Toledo Blade. June 23, 1969.
  Otterburn-Hall, William. "Robert Ryan Recalls First Trip to Durango". The Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. June 6, 1970.
  Thomas, Bob. "Robert Ryan Fights Back After Tragic Two Years". The Milwaukee Journal. August 25, 1972.
  Jones, J.R. "The Actor's Letter: A Reminiscence by Film Noir Icon Robert Ryan". The Chicago Reader. October 29, 2009.
  Dargis, Manohla. "Robert Ryan's Quiet Furies". The New York Times. August 5, 2011.
  Kennedy, Harold J. No Pickle, No Performance. An Irreverent Theatrical Excursion from Tallulah to Travolta''. New York, Doubleday & Co., 1978. pp. 124–148