MONDAY MEMORIAL TVXOHOF TRIBUTE - FATHER RYAN

Few will know him by name, but the actor John O’Leary died on June 5th.  He was 93.

Los Angeles Times
June 19, 2019

May 5, 1926 - June 5, 2019
John Garret O'Leary passed away peacefully in his sleep on June 5th, 2019 in his home in Hollywood, California. John was born May 5th, 1926 in Newton, Massachusetts, the youngest son of Joseph and Marion O'Leary. He is survived by his brother Joseph Gerald O'Leary of Santa Fe, New Mexico. John's passion for acting carried him from the Newton Playhouse to the stages of New York, and finally to Hollywood. Through his long career he touched the lives of everyone around him with his easy laugh, wonderful sense of humor, and a sincere caring for everyone he befriended. He was a kind and generous soul with a gift for comedic timing who loved and respected his craft. John took care of the people around him and left this world just a little better than he found it. He will be missed and remembered with love.

To give you an idea of just how much he contributed to the greater TV Universe, take a look at this sampling of the TV shows and TV movies in which he portrayed so many citizens of various Toobworlds….

TV Movies
His TV movies include Comedy Central Thanksgiving Wiikend: Thanksgiving Island (2006); The Gene Pool (2001); Majority Rule (1992); The Haunted (1991); Sister Margaret and the Saturday Night Ladies (1987); Sins of the Father (1985); The Day the Bubble Burst (1982); Catalina C-Lab (1982); The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything (1980); Nero Wolfe (1979); No Other Love (1979); Lassie: A New Beginning (1978); Banjo Hackett: Roamin' Free (1976); and A Moon for the Misbegotten (1975).

Television
His TV credits include appearances on Idiotsitter; Baskets; Jane the Virgin; Brooklyn Nine-Nine; Getting On; Scandal; Prime Suspect; Curb Your Enthusiasm; Desperate Housewives; CSI: Crime Scene Investigation; Saving Grace; Cold Case; In Case of Emergency; My Name Is Earl; I'm with Her; Life with Bonnie; Frasier; American Dreams; Buffy the Vampire Slayer; NYPD Blue; Ally McBeal; Sunset Beach; The Jeff Foxworthy Show; Coach; Xena: Warrior Princess; Mad About You; Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman; Phenom; Morton & Hayes; Monsters; Dear John; The Wonder Years; Matlock; The Golden Girls; A Family for Joe; Night Court; Knots Landing; Anything But Love; We Got It Made; Santa Barbara; The Law and Harry McGraw; The Bronx Zoo; The Facts of Life; Hotel; It's Your Move; Cagney & Lacey; Dynasty; Murder, She Wrote; Highway to Heaven; Oh Madeline; Simon & Simon; Benson; Filthy Rich; CHiPs; Hill Street Blues; The Devlin Connection; Too Close for Comfort; Bosom Buddies; Barney Miller; Taxi; One Day at a Time; The Stockard Channing Show; Me and Maxx; House Calls; Dallas; Wonder Woman; Starsky and Hutch; The Jeffersons; Police Story; Harry O; and Car 54, Where Are You?

John O’Leary gave yeoman service to Earth Prime-Time and never in such a way to conflict with the overview of Toobworld.  He blended in so well that we never had to consider theories to disable Zonks because he played too many characters who looked alike in the same series, let alone across the spectrum of TV genres.  (But do you really need one? You do?  Fine.  Every character played by John O’Leary in TV shows set in the present times was an alien from a world which had to depend on cloning to augment their population.  Happy now?)

But there were three separate roles he played in TV sitcoms which could be considered the same character.  He only played these roles in a single episode for each series, but that certainly doesn’t qualify him.  The rules stipulate that he should appear in three different shows, not how many times he played the role.

Taxi
- On the Job: Part 1 (1981)
... The Priest

Night Court
- The Cop and the Lady (1989)
... Father Ryan

In Case of Emergency
- Oh, Henry! (2007)
 ... Priest

It will be the contention of Toobworld Central that Mr. O’Leary was playing the same priest in all three episodes.  His name was Father Ryan and he had a gambling addiction which left him holding a 3C debt to Lou-Lou Pantusso the bookie.  Thanks to Tony Banta, Lou-Lou absolved him of the debt in exchange for his watch.

As the years passed, Father Ryan became too fanatic in his faith and took away the TV set belonging to some nuns because they used it to watch Fred Dryer as 'Hunter'.  He was even willing to go to jail over his principles… until Judge Harry Stone reminded him that Notre Dame would be playing that weekend.  Then he couldn’t return it fast enough.

Unfortunately I’ve never seen the other episode and it’s not available from YouTube or Daily Motion.  So I’m not sure how Father Ryan got mixed up with motley group of “friends”.  But here’s the IMDb plot summary:

Jason makes plans to throw his uncle under the bus to avoid a prison sentence. Meanwhile, Harry fools around with Jason's mother and Sherman finds solace in the arms of a stripper.  

I have no clue which of those sub-plots would work best for Father Ryan.  But if I had to guess?  Either Sherman runs into Father Ryan at the strip club, or maybe Jason turns to him for advice on his quandary.

He may have been born in New York City, but either way that was where he was assigned to a parish.  However, 18 years after we last saw him, Father Ryan was seen in Los Angeles.  This doesn’t disqualify him from being the same padre. Interacting with the main characters of that show only happened the once, so he could have been there  on vacation.  And if he was, say, the chaplain at the hospital where much of the action took place, well… it had been 18 years.  He may have moved during that time.  Not out of the realm of possibility.  Lieutenant Columbo moved to Los Angeles from New York.  So did the ‘Tonight’ show….

John O’Leary also played a priest in an episode of ‘Murder, She Wrote’, but I’m chalking that tele-padre up to a case of double vision.  Perhaps he had doppelganger.

As thanks for John O’Leary’s contributions to the world of the Toob, we induct Father Ryan into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame….