‘Dark Shadows,’ ‘Lethal Weapon’ actor Mitchell Ryan dies at 88
Mitchell Ryan, a television, movie and stage actor with a career spanning more than six decades, has died. He was 88.
Ryan died from congestive heart failure on Friday at his Los Angeles home, his stepdaughter, Denise Freed, told the Hollywood Reporter.
He was beloved by daytime television fans for his portrayal as Burke Devlin on “Dark Shadows,” a groundbreaking, gothic soap that aired on ABC in the late 60s and early 70s. He starred in the role until 1967, when he was replaced by Anthony George.
Kathryn Leigh Scott, who also appeared on the daytime soap, mourned her costar’s death in a Facebook post on Friday.
“My sweet, beloved friend Mitch died early this morning,” she wrote. “He was a great gift in my life. I cherish my warm memories of his beautiful soul. I’m heartbroken.”
Ryan’s career kicked off in 1958 with an uncredited role in Robert Mitchum’s film “Thunder Road.” He went on to appear in “Lethal Weapon” as a general-turned heroin smuggler as well as a police officer in “Magnum Force” and “Electra Glide in Blue.” Ryan returned to the small screen as the manipulative and murderous Las Vegas businessman Anthony Tonell in the nighttime soap opera “Santa Barbara.”
In the 1990s, he had a recurring role on the sitcom “Dharma & Greg” as Greg’s wealthy, eccentric and boozy father.
Ryan’s career included dozens more television credits — including “The West Wing,” “The Drew Carey Show,” “Wings,” “Murder, She Wrote,” “Executive Suite,” “Dallas” and “Having Babies.”
As a member of the Actor’s Studio, Ryan also made appearances on Broadway in shows including “Medea” and “The Price.”
Ryan, also a writer, published “Fall of a Sparrow” in 2021. The autobiography detailed his life, lengthy career as well as his struggles with alcohol abuse and maintaining his sobriety.
“I’m blessed. I’m blessed that, 30 years a drunk, I’ve managed to live a working actor’s life to be envied. And I’ve lived a great deal of real life while I was at it. Sober for the next 30 years, I’m told that I’ve come out of it all a good and useful human being,” he wrote it the preface.
“In this cynical world of ours, read the work of a man who begins by shouting out his happiness. Because this happiness I speak of isn’t a bright sunshiny yellow. It’s been hard-fought and hard-won.”
With News Wire Services
