Eileen Ryan

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. Ryan studied at New York University, graduating with a bachelor's degree. 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. She subsequently featured as the mother of Sean Penn's character in Judgment in Berlin (1988), which was directed by her husband. 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. They met the year before while she was performing in The Iceman Cometh at the Circle in the Square Theatre. They remained married for over 40 years until his death in 1998.

Filmography

Film