Eileen Ryan


Eileen Ryan is an American actress. She is the widow of actor and director Leo Penn, and the mother of actors Sean Penn and Chris Penn and singer Michael Penn.

Life and career

Ryan was born in New York City, the daughter of Rose Isabel, a nurse, and Amerigo Giuseppe Annucci, a dentist. Ryan's mother was an Irish American native of Plattsburgh, New York, and her father was Italian American. In 1957 she married Leo Penn, an actor and active union member, who was blacklisted from the late 1940s to the late 1950s. The couple remained together for over 40 years, until Leo's death in 1998.
Ryan appears with her sons Sean and Chris in the 1986 film At Close Range, portraying the brothers' grandmother. She also makes an appearance in The Crossing Guard, which Sean directed. On Broadway, Ryan portrayed Evie in Sing Till Tomorrow and Lorraine in Comes a Day.

Filmography

Film

Television