According to Penn's publicist, Ryan died at her home in Malibu Sunday.
Eileen Ryan, veteran Broadway, film and TV actress and mother to Sean Penn, died at her home in Malibu Sunday, according to a statement from Penn's rep. She was 94.
Ryan made her Broadway debut in 1953's Sing Till Tomorrow before appearing in over 60 television shows and films over her storied career, including 2002’s Eight Legged Freaks and Feast in 2005. She also starred in the film Magnolia in 1999 and alongside her son Sean in 2001's I Am Sam.
She would go on to star in several films alongside her son, including The Indian Runner, The Crossing Guard, The Pledge, The Assassination of Richard Nixon and All the King’s Men.
As far as TV goes, Ryan appeared on the Twilight Zone episode "A World of Difference" as well as The Detectives, E.R., Ally McBeal and also 1972's Ben Casey and Bonanza, where she was directed by her husband, the late Leo Penn.
He also helped direct her on episodes of Cannon, Little House on the Prairie, Marcus Welby, M.D., Matlock and in the 1988 movie Judgment in Berlin.
Her last on-screen credit was in Warren Beatty's Rules Don’t Apply in 2016.
Born Eileen Annucci, Ryan met Leo in 1957 in New York City at rehearsals for The Iceman Cometh, according to the statement. The pair moved in together within a week of meeting and married just months later. They were married for 41 years until his death in 1998 at the age of 77. The couple was parents to Sean, composer and songwriter Michael Penn and actor Christopher Penn, who died in 2006 at the age of 40.
Ryan was set to turn 95 on Sunday. No other details about her death are known at this time.
RELATED CONTENT:
