Eileen Ryan, mother of veteran actress and musician and songwriter Michael Penn and actors Sean Penn and Christopher Penn, died at their home last Sunday at the age of 94, their reps tell TheWrap.
Born in New York City in 1927, Ryan married actor and director Leo Penn in 1957 after meeting at a rehearsal for “The Iceman Cometh”, staying together until Penn’s death in 1998. In her nearly 60-year career in television, Ryan has appeared in small roles in episodes of various well-known television shows, including the “Twilight Zone” episode “A World of Difference”, where she plays the ex-wife of a businessman who finds out That his life is actually a role in a TV show, and he’s actually a failed actor on the verge of bankruptcy.
Ryan made cameos in shows including “Bonanza,” “Little House on the Prairie,” “Matlock,” “CSI:,” “Without a Trace” and “Grey’s Anatomy.” His last role was in an episode of the HBO series “Getting On” in 2014.
On the big screen, Ryan shared scenes with his sons Sean and Chris in the 1986 film “At Close Range”, with Shawn and Chris playing the role of the grandmother of a family of criminals, playing two brothers who are trying to make ends meet. Want to join useless family business. Ryan also appeared with Sean in the 1988 play “Judgment at Berlin”, which was directed and co-written by Leo Penn and starred Martin Sheen. In addition, she had a few roles in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Magnolia” and the 1995 film “The Crossing Guard”, which Penn directed.
A cause of death was not immediately provided.