Coronation Street and Hollywood actor, martial arts teacher, equestrian and horse trainer John St Ryan has died suddenly at the age of 72.
The Burnley-born actor starred in both Emmerdale and Coronation Street before switching his sights across the pond where he would star in a number of US TV shows and films following his dramatic exit from Corrie’s cobbles, leaving the legendary Bet Lynch distraught as he went.
St Ryan’s wife Joyce wrote on Facebook: “I and our family want to let our friends know that John had a heart attack the evening of Thursday 3rd of April.
“We were with him at the hospital where the staff did everything possible but unfortunately he did not survive.”
She revealed that there will be no funeral because his body will be donated to medical research, but a “celebration” of his life will follow at some point.
She added: “We are absolutely heart broken. John wanted to aid medical research and donated his body, so there will not be a funeral.
“Later, we will arrange a celebration of his wonderful life. We are all fortunate to have known and loved this special ‘Gentleman’ as he has been described to me numerous times over the last couple of days.”
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St Ryan was cast in two episodes of Emmerdale in 1987, when the Yorkshire-based serial was still known as Emmerdale Farm.
Following this, he was briefly cast as a barman on ITV’s long-running soap Coronation Street, before returning in a more substantial role as lorry driver Charlie Whelan, appearing in 60 episodes from 1993 to 1994.
During his time on the show, Charlie had a relationship with Rovers Return landlady Bet Lynch (Julie Goodyear) when she separated from Alec Gilroy (Roy Barraclough).
But barmaid Tanya Pooley (Eva Pope) soon set her sights on him as revenge for her own sacking by Lynch and they ran away to Germany together, only for her to call it all off when they got there.
St Ryan, who is also survived by his three sons, then set his sights on Hollywood, where he had previously landed his first big role as Sean Connery’s stunt double in 1992 adventure The Medicine Man. Further appearances would follow including in Murder, She Wrote opposite Dame Angela Lansbury, the sitcom Cybil opposite Cybil Shepherd, an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and alongside Heath Ledger in Celtic drama Roar.
His final on-screen appearance was in the 2019 film Out of the Wild and his last television credit was a small role in Revolution.
Image: John Saint Ryan/Facebook
