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Alfred Ryder

Alfred Ryder

Alfred Ryder, the veteran actor who appeared on radio and Broadway and in the movies and TV and who also was a renowned stage director, was born Alfred Jacob Corn on January 5, 1916, in New York City. He made his professional debut as an actor at the age of eight and attended New York City's Professional Children's School. His Broadway debut came in 1929, when the 13-year-old Ryder played a "lost boy" in Eva Le Gallienne's production of J.M. Barrie's "Peter Pan". Ryder studied acting with Benno Schneider, Robert Lewis and Lee Strasberg. He appeared in the 1938 Broadway production of "Our Town" - his Broadway debut as an adult performer - as well as numerous Broadway productions before World War II, including the 1939 revival of Clifford Odets's "Awake and Sing!". For many years he was the voice of Sammy in the radio serial "Rise of the Goldbergs" Ryder joined the Army Air Force during World War II, eventually appearing in the U.S. Army Air Force's gala Broadway stage show "Winged Victory" in 1943. The following year, he made his movie debut as "PFC Alfred Ryder" in the film version of the show Winged Victory (1944)). After the war he made more films, including director Anthony Mann's classic 1947 film noir T-Men (1947). On Broadway, he appeared as Oswald in the 1948 revival of Henrik Ibsen's "Ghosts" and as Mark Antony in the 1950 production of "Julius Caesar". Also that year, he appeared as Orestes in the Broadway play "The Tower Beyond Tragedy".

Ryder had the singular honor of being cast as the understudy for Laurence Olivier in one of the legendary actor's greatest roles, that of Archie Rice, in the 1958 Broadway production of John Osborne's "The Entertainer". Olivier's Archie Rice is considered one of the greatest performances of the 20th century, and Ryder was chosen to keep the Broadway patrons in their seats in the event the great British theatrical knight couldn't go on. Ryder also appeared in the original Broadway production of Eugène Ionesco's absurdist masterpiece "Rhinoceros" in 1960.

A noted theatrical stage director with such companies as Washington, D.C.'s Arena Stage, Ryder made his Broadway directorial debut with the play "A Far Country" in 1961. He subsequently directed two more Broadway productions, "The Exercise" in 1968 and the 1971 revival of August Strindberg's "Dance of Death."

Despite his achievements on the stage, film and radio, Ryder is mostly remembered as a prolific and versatile TV character actor. He made over 100 appearances on TV, including memorable turns on Star Trek: The Original Series (1966) (he appeared as Prof. Robert Crater in the series' very first aired episode, "The Man Trap"), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964) (two appearances as the ghost of Nazi U-boat commander Capt. Gerhardt Krueger), and The Invaders (1967) (appearing as The Alien Leader). Ryder retired from screen acting in 1976 to concentrate on the stage, both as an actor and director. He died on April 16, 1995 in Englewood, NJ, at the age of 79. He was married to actress Kim Stanley, with whom he had a child, from 1957 until 1964, and he was the brother of actress Olive Deering.

From the IMDB Mini Bio for Alfred Ryder

Bogie

1980

as Mike Romanoff

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

1979

as Garedon

Sergeant Matlovich vs. the U.S. Air Force

1978

as Col. Grand

Meeting of Minds

1977

Tracks

1976

as The Man

Quincy, M.E.

1976

Charlie's Angels

1976

as Barkley

The Swiss Family Robinson

1975

Ellery Queen

1975

Switch

1975

as Nathan Monk

Escape to Witch Mountain

1975

as Astrologer

The Abduction of Saint Anne

1975

as Frank Benedict

The Specialists

1975

as Dr. Al Marsdan

W

1974

as Investigator

The Legend of Hillbilly John

1974

as O.J. Onselm

The Six Million Dollar Man

1974

as Joe Lannon

Indict and Convict

1974

as Dr. Frank Larsen

Kojak

1973

as Emile

The Stone Killer

1973

as Tony Champion

The Streets of San Francisco

1972

Search

1972

Probe

1972

as Cheyne

Cannon

1971

McCloud

1970

The D.A.: Murder One

1969

as Dr. Donald Stuart

True Grit

1969

as Goudy

Operation Heartbeat

1969

as Dr. George Corlane

Lancer

1968

Land of the Giants

1968

as Parteg

Hawaii Five-O

1968

as Harry Quon

Mannix

1967

Judd for the Defense

1967

Ironside

1967

Hotel

1967

as Capt. Yolles

The Invaders

1967

as Mr. Nexus

The Invaders

1967

as Ryder (Invader Leader)

Mission: Impossible

1966

as Colonel Valentin Yetkoff

Mission: Impossible

1966

as Colonel Borodin

Mission: Impossible

1966

as Gregor Mishenko

Felony Squad

1966

The Rat Patrol

1966

as Col. Gerschon

Star Trek

1966

as Professor Robert Crater

The F.B.I.

1965

as Otto Mann

The F.B.I.

1965

as Emmett Stone

The F.B.I.

1965

as Urban

The F.B.I.

1965

as Kessler

The Wild Wild West

1965

as Captain Philo

The Wild Wild West

1965

Laredo

1965

Profiles in Courage

1964

as Garrison

Profiles in Courage

1964

as Senator Nicholson

Invitation to a Gunfighter

1964

as Doc Barker

The Raiders

1963

as Captain Benton

The Greatest Show on Earth

1963

The Outer Limits

1963

as Edgar Price

Combat!

1962

as Heismann

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour

1962

as Attorney Johnathan Rudolph

The Virginian

1962

as Ketch

Ben Casey

1961

Bus Stop

1961

Target: The Corruptors!

1961

Dr. Kildare

1961

as Dr. Tony Stewart

87th Precinct

1961

The Defenders

1961

as Dr. Stanley Winters

The Defenders

1961

as Charley Baronne

Route 66

1960

The Witness

1960

as Pittsburgh Phil

Outlaws

1960

The Aquanauts

1960

as Nico Kofie

The Story on Page One

1959

as Lt. Mike Morris

Play of the Week

1959

One Step Beyond

1959

as John Marriott

One Step Beyond

1959

as Ted Doliver

Naked City

1958

as Carl Blakely

Naked City

1958

as John Birge

Naked City

1958

as Link Toland

Decoy

1957

as Lester Ringle

DuPont Show of the Month

1957

as Gaspard

Gunsmoke

1955

as Hank Voyles

Gunsmoke

1955

as Flint

Julius Caesar

1955

as Mark Antony

Inner Sanctum

1954

Robert Montgomery Presents

1950

Robert Montgomery Presents

1950

as Henry

Robert Montgomery Presents

1950

as Detective Avery

Studio One

1948

Studio One

1948

as Marc Antony

Studio One

1948

as Allie

The Philco Television Playhouse

1948

The Philco Television Playhouse

1948

as Philip

The Philco Television Playhouse

1948

as Van Dorn

T-Men

1947

as Tony Genaro / Tony Galvani

Winged Victory

1944

as Milhauser

The 400 Million

1939

as Additional Voice (voice)