Roderick T. Ryan, 83; got honorary Oscar for his work in film technology

Photographer Roderick T. Ryan, 83, who received an honorary Oscar for technological contributions to the film industry that included creating a film processor for use in special effects, died Oct. 11.

He died of Lewy body disease, a progressive neurological disorder, at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, said Tom Ryan, the eldest of his five children.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized Ryan in 2000 with the Gordon E. Sawyer Award, named for the late motion picture sound director. Previously, the academy had given Ryan a technical award for developing a special effects optical film processor.

Ryan, a longtime resident of Encino, spent 40 years in the Hollywood office of Eastman Kodak Co., retiring as regional director of engineering services in 1986.

During World War II, he started his photography career in the Navy. After the war, he was among those who photographed the 1946 atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll.

Born in Philadelphia in 1924, Ryan earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from USC in the 1950s.

The thesis he wrote to earn a doctorate in communications in 1966 from the university became the book “A History of Motion Picture Color Technology” (1977).

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