The definitive biography of the legendary film noir actor

THE LIVES OF ROBERT RYAN provides an inside look at the gifted, complex, intensely private man whom Martin Scorsese called “one of the greatest actors in the history of American film.” The son of a Chicago construction executive with strong ties to the Democratic machine, Ryan became a star after World War II on the strength of his menacing performance as an anti-Semitic murderer in the film noir Crossfire. Over the next quarter century he created a gallery of brooding, neurotic, and violent characters in such movies as Bad Day at Black Rock, Billy Budd, The Dirty Dozen, and The Wild Bunch. His riveting performances expose the darkest impulses of the American psyche during the Cold War.

At the same time, Ryan’s marriage to a liberal Quaker and his own sense of conscience launched him into a tireless career of peace and civil rights activism that stood in direct contrast to his screen persona. Drawing on unpublished writings and revealing interviews, film critic J.R. Jones deftly explores the many contradictory facets of Ryan’s public and private lives, and how these lives intertwined in one of the most compelling actors of a generation.

Praise for The Lives of Robert Ryan

“A masterly biography that portrays an actor devoted to his craft and dedicated to his personal convictions.” ―Richard Dickey in Library Journal

“The complex interplay between the private man, the actor, and the roles Hollywood gave him is the subject of The Lives of Robert Ryan, a sensitive and engrossing new biography by J.R. Jones, a film critic and editor for the Chicago Reader. The Lives of Robert Ryan is a worthy biography, and, above all, an opportunity to revisit the films in which the actor still lives.” ―Imogen Sara Smith in Film Quarterly

“Elegantly and with sparing opinionating, Chicago Reader film critic J.R. Jones maps the particulars of Ryan’s lives―his film roles but also his stage work, home life, political activism, and co-founding of California’s progressive Oakwood School. Jones lets Ryan’s words and those of his family and colleagues dig at the actor’s contradictions, the story behind that twinkling, black-eyed gaze.” ―Justin Stewart in Film Comment

“J.R. Jones’s meticulous, revealing book on Robert Ryan places the actor’s life and career against the turbulent politics of the Cold War and the red scare in Hollywood. Jones is especially adept in moving between the life and the work, the films and their contexts. He introduces political history throughout, in ways that are both relevant and revelatory.” ―Foster Hirsch, author of The Dark Side of the Screen: Film Noir

“The Lives of Robert Ryan is a well-written, insightful biography on an important Hollywood actor who is finally getting the attention he deserves. Ryan was a fearless liberal who embraced controversial causes during a time when most Hollywood stars remained apolitical. Even many film scholars are unaware of this aspect of Ryan’s career. This biography emphasizes it.” ―Richard B. Jewell, author of RKO Radio Pictures: A Titan is Born

“As self-effacing yet as solid and as ethically engaged as Robert Ryan himself, J.R. Jones offers a comprehensive and sensitive chronicle of one of the giants of American movie acting.” ―Jonathan Rosenbaum, author of Movie Wars

J.R. Jones on Robert Ryan

“The Actor’s Letter,” feature story on Ryan’s Chicago upbringing,
Chicago Reader, October 29, 2009.
“The Essential Robert Ryan,” on Ryan’s best screen performances,
Chicago Reader, October 29, 2009.
“The Dark Shadings of Robert Ryan: A Brief Biography,” 
Noir City, Vol. 6, No. 2, Summer 2011.
“Actor Robert Ryan was The Wild Bunch‘s Party Man,” book excerpt,
Chicago Reader, May 27, 2015

J.R. Jones on The Lives of Robert Ryan

Chicago Tonight with Eddie Arruza, WTTW Channel 11, May 28, 2015.
After Hours With Rick Kogan, WGN 720 AM, May 24, 2015.
The Arts Section with Gary Zidek, WDCB 90.9 FM, May 31, 2015.
Robert Bellissimo at the Movies, March 13, 2022.
Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival in Palm Springs, with Alan K. Rode, May 15, 2015.
“A Second Printing for Reader Film Critic J.R. Jones’s Book About Robert Ryan,” Michael Miner, Chicago Reader, Sept. 1, 2015.
Silver Screen Oasis, July 10-11, 2015.