Alfred Ryder, a renowned actor, director, and veteran of radio, Broadway, and film, was born Alfred Jacob Corn on January 5, 1916, in New York City.
He began his acting career at the age of eight and attended the Professional Children's School in New York City.
Ryder's Broadway debut came in 1929, when he played a "lost boy" in Eva Le Gallienne's production of J.M. Barrie's "Peter Pan".
He studied acting with Benno Schneider, Robert Lewis, and Lee Strasberg.
Ryder appeared in numerous Broadway productions before World War II, including the 1939 revival of Clifford Odets's "Awake and Sing!".
During the war, he joined the Army Air Force and appeared in the U.S. Army Air Force's gala Broadway stage show "Winged Victory" in 1943.
He made his movie debut in the film version of "Winged Victory" in 1944.
After the war, Ryder continued to work in film, including director Anthony Mann's classic 1947 film noir "T-Men".
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".
Ryder had the singular honor of being cast as the understudy for Laurence Olivier in the 1958 Broadway production of John Osborne's "The Entertainer".
He also appeared in the original Broadway production of Eugène Ionesco's absurdist masterpiece "Rhinoceros" in 1960.
A noted theatrical stage director, 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 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", "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea", and "The Invaders".
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 from 1957 until 1964 and had a child with her.
Ryder was also the brother of actress Olive Deering.
