Gerry Ryan facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gerard Ryan
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Gerry Ryan pictured at the opening of the Grand Canal Theatre in March 2010, the month before his death.
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| Born |
Gerard Ryan
4 June 1956 |
| Died | 30 April 2010 (aged 53) Leeson Street, Dublin, Ireland
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| Education | St Paul's College, Raheny |
| Alma mater | Trinity College Dublin (LL.B) |
| Occupation | Broadcaster |
| Years active | 1979–2010 |
| Agent | Noel Kelly |
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Notable credit(s)
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The Gerry Ryan Show Eurovision Song Contest 1994 Secrets Ryantown Gerry Ryan Tonight Ryan Confidential Operation Transformation The Late Late Show (2008) |
| Spouse(s) | Morah Brennan (1982–2008) |
| Partner(s) | Melanie Verwoerd |
| Children | 5 |
Gerard Ryan (4 June 1956 – 30 April 2010) was an Irish presenter of radio and television employed by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). He presented The Gerry Ryan Show on radio station RTÉ 2fm each weekday morning from 1988 until hours before his sudden death. He was presented with a Jacob's Award for this show in 1990.
Ryan hosted several series of television shows, including Secrets, Gerry Ryan Tonight, Ryantown, Gerry Ryan's Hitlist, Ryan Confidential and the first three series of Operation Transformation. In 1987, he earned notoriety and the moniker "Lambo" after an unpleasant incident in Connemara. He was also noted for co-presenting, with Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, Eurovision Song Contest 1994 and, in 2008, presenting an edition of The Late Late Show, television's longest-running chat show, in place of the then regular host Pat Kenny. An autobiography, Would the Real Gerry Ryan Please Stand Up, was published in October 2008.
He married Morah Brennan in 1988 and they had five children: Lottie, Rex, Bonnie, Elliott and Babette. In 1997, Morah famously telephoned her husband's show and, under the name Norah, told half a million listeners intimate details concerning his personal household habits. Gerry and Morah announced their separation in March 2008. He soon began a relationship with the former South African Ambassador to Ireland and the then UNICEF Ireland executive director, Melanie Verwoerd.
Ryan was found dead in his Dublin home on 30 April 2010.
Contents
Early life
Ryan was born in Dublin in 1956. He described his father, Vinnie, as a "slightly eccentric" dentist from a Presbyterian background and his mother, Maureen (née Burke), as "a flamboyant woman" who came from a theatrical background and worked in the theatre. His godfather was broadcaster Eamonn Andrews. He learnt to shoot with Charles Haughey's children. He had two brothers, Michael and Vincent. He was educated at St Paul's College, Raheny. Ryan's mother died on Christmas Day 2006.
Career
Early career
Early in his career, Ryan was involved part-time in pirate radio – presenting a selection of programmes firstly for Alternative Radio Dublin (ARD) and then for Big D. When RTÉ Radio 2 (now RTÉ 2fm) was launched in 1979, Ryan joined RTÉ as a DJ where he presented a selection of speech- and music-based programmes, including Here Comes the Weekend on Friday nights and Saturday Scene on Saturday mornings, which earned him £78 per week. Ryan then moved to a night-time music show called 'Lights out' which accompanied Mark Cagney's grown-up album programme and Dave Fanning's The Rock Show as part of Radio 2's night-time line-up. The trio brought their shows on tour around Ireland. Ryan said they dressed as if they were in a band and behaved as such as well, booking into "awful hotels" and staying out late in "dodgy nightclubs". Their excessive talking has led to Ryan dubbing them "the three big-mouths on at night-time". They were good friends; Fanning was "a kind of hyperactive, Southside rock guru" and Cagney was "this obsessive, meticulous Corkman who would annotate every single millisecond of what he played on-air". The trio also started to put on live shows, some of which Ryan described as being attended by crowds of 20,000.
The Gerry Ryan Show
The Gerry Ryan Show, began in March 1988 when he was offered a three-hour morning radio slot. The G. Ryan Show, running from 09:00–12:00 on weekday mornings, consisted of interviews and phone-ins via the "Ryan Line". Each morning he would begin by discussing the headlines of that morning's newspapers. Following the news update at 10:00, Ryan would introduce that morning's Nob Nation, a satirical slot which featured impersonations of politicians and RTÉ media personnel comparable to rival station Today FM's Gift Grub. Ryan presented RTÉ 2fm's only show which was regularly among the top twenty Irish radio shows in Ireland, a show which commanded around €4–5 million for RTÉ per annum, mainly through advertising (one thirty-second advertisement during the show cost €900). This meant RTÉ would have earned €27,000 through advertising from Ryan per day.
The defining moment of the show came in 1993, when Lavinia Kerwick rang GRS to air her feelings. For the first time it occurred to Ryan that the story was more important than the question. Since then The Ryan Show became something of a national institution as the oldest show still running on 2fm. Despite repeated reshuffles which have seen all other presenters shifted around, RTÉ have never moved The Ryan Show from its traditional slot.
British broadcaster Chris Evans credited The Gerry Ryan Show with inspiring him to return to radio broadcasting after a long absence while on a holiday in Killarney.
In October 1990, Ryan received a Jacob's Award for The Gerry Ryan Show, described at the award ceremony as "unbelievably bizarre and unprecedented – and at the same time being serious, hilarious and unpredictable".
Television career
Ryan hosted several series of television shows during his career. Secrets was a popular Saturday night show which was not well received by critics. Producer Kevin Linehan, was removed from the show to work on the Millstreet Eurovision and asked Ryan to co-present the event with Fionnuala Sweeney. They later met and Linehan informed Ryan that RTÉ had objected to his proposal. He did, however, co-present the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest alongside Cynthia Ní Mhurchú where he had the honour of introducing Riverdance as the interval act.
He had watched Michael Flatley and Jean Butler put the act together, choreographing it and rehearsing it "fifty or sixty times" and later wrote of being offered the opportunity to invest a stake of £20,000 in the act. Ryan turned it down, a decision he later admitted regretting. Ní Mhurchú later credited Ryan with telling her to not take herself too seriously. After Pat Kenny decided to stop commentating on the Contest in 1999, Ryan was the favourite to succeed him as Irish Commentator. Although the position was fulfilled by his friend Marty Whelan.
He described Ryantown as "the worst television experience I've ever had in my entire life", with producer Julie Parsons (who had previously worked on The Gay Byrne Hour) nearly having a nervous breakdown, according to Ryan. He described RTÉ as "extremely unhelpful". Ryan unsuccessfully pleaded with RTÉ to cancel midway through the series. Gerry Ryan Tonight was a chat show that aired two nights per week. Ryan describes it as "no less traumatic" as it nearly cost him his close personal friendship with the producer Ferdia McAnna.
Let Me Entertain You was an amateur talent show in 1999.
Ryan was touted to be the successor to Gay Byrne following his departure from The Late Late Show. Reports that Ryan was to be made producer as well as presenter and given a deal worth £500,000 – higher earnings than Byrne received – proved unfounded when Pat Kenny took over the role in 1999.
Later television work included Gerry Ryan's Hitlist, Ryan Confidential, and Operation Transformation. Ryan wrote in his 2008 autobiography that his critics were not as vocal any more, although he put this down to them "mostly... ignoring me". He is also noted for presenting The Late Late Show on 24 October 2008 when regular presenter Pat Kenny became bereaved.
In positive notices unusual as per his television career, Ryan received praise for his guest role, even coping well with the traditionally difficult comedian Tommy Tiernan whose appearances on the show with Kenny led to complaints. The edition of The Late Late Show that he hosted had the largest audience of any that season apart from the annual edition of The Late Late Toy Show.
The Evening Herald reported that when Tonight with Craig Doyle finished, Ryan was set to present a chat show in autumn 2010.
Autobiography
In the early part of 2008, Ryan announced that he had been contracted by Penguin to write his autobiography. The €100,000 advance paid by Penguin to Ryan was reported to be the largest ever paid for a book published in Ireland. Would the Real Gerry Ryan Please Stand Up was released to Irish readers on 16 October 2008. In January 2009, it was reported that the book had sold just over 10,000 copies.
Personal life
Family
Ryan was married for 26 years to his wife Morah, with whom he had five children, including Lottie.
When he worked for the pirate radio station Big D, Morah helped him with his programme. She helped her future husband put the music together and carry the equipment. He paid her £3 out of the £15 he earned.
In March 2008, Ryan announced he and Morah were separating and called the separation "a very painful experience".
Later in 2008, he began a relationship with the former South African Ambassador to Ireland, and later UNICEF Ireland executive director, Melanie Verwoerd.
Death
Shortly after midday on 30 April 2010, Ryan was found dead in the bedroom of his home on Leeson Street, Dublin. An inquest showed that the cause of death was cardiac arrhythmia.
Among the dignitaries to send tributes were Bono, the Clintons, Taoiseach Brian Cowen and President Mary McAleese. The day being Friday, that night's edition of The Late Late Show was promptly given over to discussion of Ryan's life and death. 10,000 people from across the country queued to sign books of condolence. His funeral took place on 6 May, and was broadcast on 2fm, the home of Ryan's radio show and a first for the predominantly youthpop-oriented station. His death also came sixteen years to the day after he hosted Eurovision 1994.
See also
- List of Eurovision Song Contest presenters
