Madge Ryan

 ( 1919 Births ) 

Back in Sydney, Ryan undertook further radio work. Her first role for the ABC was as Aunt Florence in a serial called Space Explorers. This led to frequent roles on ABC Radio, Lux Radio Theatre and Macquarie Radio Theatre. She also performed in long-running serial Blue Hills. She then returned to the stage, playing Birdie Hubbard in Doris Fitton 1948 production of The Little Foxes at the Independent and Melbourne's Princess Theatre.

In 1954, Ryan appeared as Pearl Cunningham in an Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust production of Ray Lawler Summer of the Seventeenth Doll. She emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1957 and starred in numerous British stage shows, including a UK tour of Summer of the Seventeenth Doll. In 1958, she then appeared on Broadway theatre in the role.

In London, Ryan established a reputation as an actress who tackled challenging roles, including misfit and villains. In 1964, she played Kath in the original London production of Joe Orton's Entertaining Mr Sloane. The Independent wrote, "as the dreadful Kath, ageing seductress and murderous landlady... Madge Ryan's cruel, cool but undeniably comic acting provoked one critic to describe her work... as 'something very close to perfection'."

In 1965, Ryan played the lead role in Mother Courage at the Old Vic, touring internationally. An international tour as Gertrude in Hamlet followed, and she also played the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, both for the Bristol Old Vic. Further stage roles included Maisie Madigan in Juno and the Paycock, Lizzie Sweeney in a 1967 London production of Philadelphia, Here I Come and Mrs Weston in Say Goodnight to Grandma.

In 1968, Ryan returned to Australia to perform in a double bill of Black Comedy and The White Liars.

Ryan played Dr. Branom in 1971 Stanley Kubrick classic feature film A Clockwork Orange, opposite Malcolm McDowell. Other film appearances included Summer Holiday (1963), Frenzy (1972), and Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978).

Ryan also appeared in television plays and serials including a 1966 BBC play of the month, Defection, playing Evdokia Petrova. The same year, she appeared in a season 5 episode ("The Better Mousetrap") of television series The Saint as Bertha Noversham, a French Riviera jewel thief.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Ryan performed in repertory theatre, including playing Madam Arkadina in The Seagull (in Exeter), Mrs Warren in Mrs. Warren's Profession and Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest (in Birmingham). She also appeared in Ring Round the Moon in Chichester. In 1975, Ryan played Rachel Lynde in a six-part television miniseries version of Anne of Avonlea.

In 1993, the year before her death, Ryan appeared in a West End stage production of Medea, opposite Diana Rigg.