Patricia Ryan (February 25, 1921 - February 15, 1949) was a child and later young adult performer and an actress in old-time radio. She was taken ill during an evening broadcast and died the next day.DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 235.

Early years

Ryan's father was a

doughboy Doughboy was a popular nickname for the American infantryman during World War I. Though the origins of the term are not certain, the nickname was still in use as of the early 1940s. Examples include the 1942 song "Johnny Doughboy Found a Rose in ...

in World War I. During his time in England he met an English girl, and they married. Their daughter, Patricia, was born about six weeks before they boarded a ship to sail to the United States. She worked in vaudeville when she was 7 years old. She also sang in the choir and played on the basketball team of St. Michael's Church. Ryan had an older sister, Peggy, and a younger sister, Janice.

Radio

Ryan began working in radio when she was 4 years old. (Another source says that she "started at the age of 8.") Her best-known role was probably that of Kathleen, Henry Aldrich's girlfriend on ''

The Aldrich Family ''The Aldrich Family'', a popular radio teenage situation comedy (July 2, 1939 – April 19, 1953), was also presented in films, television and comic books. In the radio series' opening exchange, awkward teen Henry's mother called, "Hen-''reeeee ...

''. During the 1934-1935 radio season, Ryan "wrote, directed and acted in a radio play presented over CBS." Ryan's roles in other programs are shown in the table below. As a child, she was also a member of the casts of ''Our Barn'' ''

Let's Pretend ''Let's Pretend'', created and directed by Nila Mack, was a CBS radio series for children. Prior to being renamed ''Let's Pretend'', the program had a variety of titles and formats. In its most famous form, ''Let's Pretend'', the Peabody Award ...

''.

Public service

During World War II, Ryan worked two years as a nurse's aide after receiving her diploma from Misericordia Hospital in Manhattan, New York. She also was a hostess at the Stage Door Canteen. On a typical day, she worked at a hospital from 7:15 a.m. until noon, spent the afternoon on radio and visited with soldiers at the canteen in the evenings.

Film

Ryan had a screen test with

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...

in 1942.

Personal life

Ryan was married to George Robert Gibson.

Death

On February 14, 1949, Ryan was performing on a ''

Cavalcade of America ''Cavalcade of America'' is an anthology drama series that was sponsored by the DuPont Company, although it occasionally presented musicals, such as an adaptation of ''Show Boat'', and condensed biographies of popular composers. It was initially ...

'' broadcast when, as reported in a United Press wire service story, she was "stricken with a splitting headache." The UP story related: "The show had been on only a few minutes when she

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clutched her head and swayed. She was helped to a chair and two other actresses alternately read her lines. Before the program ended she had recovered enough to resume her part, but still complained of an extremely severe headache." The next morning, her husband found her dead in their apartment. Her death was attributed to a cerebral hemorrhage. Coincidentally, in the episode, "Valentine for Sophie," Ryan's character was a woman who suffered from severe headaches. In another ironic twist, Ryan had suffered an on-set injury 15 years earlier. As she was preparing for a radio program, an overhead microphone fell on her head, knocking her out. She was revived two minutes before air time and carried through, acting her part in the program despite having what she called "a slight headache." Services for Ryan were held at Walter Cooke's Chapel in New York City on February 18, 1949.

References

{{authority control 1921 births 1949 deaths American radio actresses 20th-century American actresses