Sheila Ryan

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American actress (1921–1975)

title: "Sheila Ryan" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1921-births", "1975-deaths", "american-film-actresses", "american-television-actresses", "deaths-from-lung-cancer-in-california", "actresses-from-topeka,-kansas", "20th-century-studios-contract-players", "20th-century-american-actresses"] description: "American actress (1921–1975)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheila_Ryan" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American actress (1921–1975) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

FieldValue
nameSheila Ryan
imageSheila Ryan - 1941.jpg
captionRyan in 1941
birth_nameKatherine Elizabeth McLaughlin
birth_date
birth_placeTopeka, Kansas, U.S.
death_date
death_placeWoodland Hills, Los Angeles, U.S.
occupationActress
years active1939–1968
spouse{{ubl
{{marriageAllan Lane
children1
::

| name = Sheila Ryan | image = Sheila Ryan - 1941.jpg | imagesize = | caption = Ryan in 1941 | birth_name = Katherine Elizabeth McLaughlin | birth_date = | birth_place = Topeka, Kansas, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, U.S. | occupation = Actress | years active = 1939–1968 | spouse = {{ubl | | Edward Norris (1950s) | | children = 1

Sheila Ryan (born Katherine Elizabeth McLaughlin, June 8, 1921 – November 4, 1975) was an American actress who appeared in more than 60 movies.

Career

Born in Topeka, Kansas,

At age 19, Ryan was selected by a group of Hollywood directors as one of 13 "baby stars of 1940." She was signed by 20th Century Fox in 1940 and was credited in her early films as Bettie McLaughlin. Adopting the name Sheila Ryan, she starred in the crime drama Dressed to Kill the following year.

Ryan appeared in other memorable films, including two Laurel and Hardy movies, Great Guns (1941) and A-Haunting We Will Go (1942), and the Busby Berkeley musical The Gang's All Here (1943). Ryan also was featured in several Charlie Chan and Michael Shayne mysteries. By the late 1940s, however, her career waned and she began appearing mostly in B movies, especially low-budget westerns.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Sheila_Ryan2.jpg" caption="Sheila Ryan pin-up from Yank, The Army Weekly, July 1945]]She worked with [[Gene Autry]], co-starring in several of his films, including ''The Cowboys and the Indians'' (1949), and ''Mule Train'' (1950) as well as with [[Roy Rogers]] in films like ''[[Song of Texas]]''."] ::

She also had roles in several television shows such as The Lone Ranger, notably the Pete-and-Pedro episode (#7 in 1949) and another entitled "The Whimsical Bandit" in 1950.

Ryan retired from acting in 1968.

Physical characteristics

Ryan had brown hair, was 5 feet, 2 inches tall, and weighed 107 pounds. A 1940 newspaper story included her in a group of actresses "whose alluring curves alone might have disqualified them from screen careers not so long ago," in the words of Travis Banton, a Hollywood stylist.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Sheila_Ryan_pin-up_from_Yank,_The_Army_Weekly,_July_1945.jpg" caption="Sheila Ryan pin-up from Yank, The Army Weekly, July 1945"] ::

Personal life

Ryan married actor Allan Lane in 1945, but divorced him a year later. Later, she and actor Eddie Norris married, but they had problems in 1948.

While working with Autry, Ryan met actor Pat Buttram. They married in 1952 and remained together until her death in 1975. They had a daughter, Kathleen Buttram, nicknamed Kerry.

Ryan died November 4, 1975, in the Motion Picture Hospital in Woodland Hills, California from lung disease. She was 54 years old. Their daughter Kerry Buttram-Galgano died of cancer in 2007.

Partial filmography

References

References

  1. (December 1940). "Television Starlet". Radio and Television Mirror.
  2. (October 19, 1940). "Directors Favor Brunettes". Arizona Republic.
  3. (October 6, 1940). "Curves Are Back In Style; Women Healthier & Happier".
  4. (January 18, 1946). "Sheila Ryan Separates". The Monroe News-Star.
  5. (June 17, 1948). "Sheila Ryan, Mate Drop Divorce Plan". The San Bernardino County Sun.
  6. (November 5, 1975). "Sheila Ryan Buttram WWII Pinup Beauty Dies". The Cumberland News.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

1921-births1975-deathsamerican-film-actressesamerican-television-actressesdeaths-from-lung-cancer-in-californiaactresses-from-topeka,-kansas20th-century-studios-contract-players20th-century-american-actresses