Tim Ryan, a former Honolulu Star-Bulletin reporter who also reported on Hawaii’s film and television industry for Variety, died June 20 in West Seattle, Washington after a long illness. He was 80.
Ryan was the Star-Bulletin’s senior entertainment writer from 1984 to 2006 and reported on film and television productions in Hawaii and on local and visiting celebrities.
After leaving the newspaper, Ryan became the Hawaii film and television correspondent for Variety, and also wrote for the Hollywood Reporter, People, Newsweek, and Islands magazine, where he was a contributing editor.
For Variety, Ryan wrote about the Maui Film Festival, the Hawaii Film Festival, and the boom in filming with shows like “Lost” and “North Shore” shooting in the Aloha state. He also wrote obituaries for Hawaiian music figures such as Don Ho’s mother, Jerry Byrd and Del Courtney as well as “Hawaii Five-O” actor Kam Fong.
Ryan was born in Hollywood. His father was Timothy Thomas Ryan, whose long entertainment career included acting in “From Here to Eternity,” the 1953 film classic about military life in Hawaii before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Ryan was an avid surfer in Hawaii and later in Washington after moving to the mainland in 2013. He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Nancy Wilcox, and daughter Carly, both of West Seattle. They will spread Ryan’s ashes at his favorite surf spots.
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