Quick Facts
Biography
Eileen Ryan (née Annucci; born October 16, 1928) is an American actress who has appeared in a number of movies and TV series. She is the widow of actor and director Leo Penn, and mother of actors Sean Penn and Chris Penn and singer Michael Penn.
Life and career
Ryan was born Eileen Annucci in New York City, the daughter of Rose Isabel (née Ryan), 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.
She was married to Leo Penn, an actor and active union member, who was once blacklisted, from 1957. They were married until his death in 1998. Ryan appeared with her sons Sean and Chris in the 1986 film At Close Range, as their grandmother. She also made an appearance in The Crossing Guard, which Sean directed. While Madonna was married to Sean, she told the press "My mother-in-law is the only woman I've ever met whom I find truly intimidating."
Filmography
Movies
- Collaborator (2011) as Betty
- Mother and Child (2010) as Nora
- All the King's Men (2006) as Lily Littlepaugh
- Zodiac Killer (2005) as Venice Beach Victim
- Feast (2005) as Grandma
- Eight Legged Freaks (2002) as Gladys
- I Am Sam (2001) as Estelle
- Magnolia (1999) as Mary
- Anywhere but Here (1999) as Lillian
- Benny & Joon (1993) as Mrs. Smail
- Parenthood (1989) as Marilyn Buckman
- At Close Range (1986) as Grandmother of Brad Whitewood Jr.
Television
- Project Greenlight 3 (as herself)
- Without a Trace
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
- NYPD Blue
- ER
- Matlock
- Little House on the Prairie
- Bonanza
- The Twilight Zone