Post by Graveyardbride on Mar 19, 2022 16:35:28 GMT -5
‘Burke Devlin’ Dead at Age 88
Mitchell Ryan (shown above drinking and smoking at the Blue Whale), who initially played the role of Burke Devlin on Dark Shadows, died Friday, March 4, at the age of 88. In a 1976 TV Guide interview, he said, “I was so drunk that year, I barely remember what it was about.”
Ryan, born January 11, 1934, appeared in the initial episode of Dark Shadows, meeting Victoria Winters at the depot and giving her a ride to town in his private car. A former convict imprisoned because Roger Collins paid Sam Evans to lie about an automobile accident, traveled the world after release for good behavior and established his own investment firm. By the time he gave Vickie a ride, he was a rich man with a grudge against the Collins family.
Ryan played the role of Devlin in 67 episodes until he was fired in June 1967 because of his drinking. He was last seen in Episode 248, which aired June 7, 1967, wherein Sam Evans insists he saw Maggie outside the window and the two wait at the cottage for the sheriff to arrive. Maggie, it turns out, had wandered to Eagle Hill Cemetery, where Barnabas finds her and angrily confines her to the coffin in the secret room.
After he was replaced on Dark Shadows by Anthony George, Ryan appeared in several films, including High Plains Drifter, Magnum Force, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Electra Glide in Blue, Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story, Lethal Weapon, Hot Shots! Part Deux, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers and Grosse Pointe Blank. In addition to his movie roles, he starred as Anthony Tonnell, a mob boss on the soap opera Santa Barbara, and the father of Greg Montgomery on the sitcom Dharma & Greg. He also appeared in several theater productions.
Upon learning of Ryan’s death, Kathryn Leigh Scott, who played the roles of Maggie Evans and Josette DuPres on Dark Shadows, said “I cherish my warm memories of his beautiful soul. I’m heartbroken.”
Sources: Bruce Haring, Deadline, March 4, 2022; Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter, March 4, 2022; the Associated Press, March 5, 2022; and Dark Shadows.
