Mitchell Ryan, an actor with more than fifty years of acting credits, has sadly passed away at age 88. Many horror fans will recognize the actor for having played Dr. Terence Wynn in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, the follow-up to Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers. While these films are now considered non-canon, they were quite huge at the time of their release. In fact, Mitchell Ryan’s character Dr. Terence Wynn was revealed to have been the main driving force behind Michael Myers, having orchestrated the Cult of Thorn which created him.
As such, he should be considered quite the icon for the Halloween film franchise and the horror genre overall. In fact, he played in 107 episodes of the classic gothic horror soap opera Dark Shadows. The actor played the character Burke Devlin, a role he played up until 1967. It goes to show just how long Mitchell Ryan was part of the industry. And, as noted by Deadline, SAG-AFTRA national executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland added a statement to wish the actor goodbye.
Here’s how the statement read:
“We are deeply saddened to say goodbye to Mitch, who was an active and proud member of Screen Actors Guild for decades. He inspired many to union service and loved the craft of acting, helping to create many of the performer programs at the then-Screen Actors Guild Foundation. We are grateful and better as a union for his dedication.”
A few of the actor’s other credits, which went far beyond the horror genre, included appearances in Lethal Weapon, High Plains Drifter, Judge Dredd, The Devil’s Own, and Liar Liar to name a few. Indeed, Mitchell Ryan has been a fantastic part for a wide variety of genres and iconic films, television shows, and stage productions. He’ll definitely be missed.