Ryan also starred on the long-running TV Western series Gunsmoke during its 20th and final season as Miss Hannah (Cobb).

Ryan played the role of Rosie Carlson in the soap opera Days of Our Lives (1976–1979) and Sister Agatha in General Hospital in 1989.

She appeared in many feature films, including Big Wednesday (1978), as Frank and Jesse James' mother in The Long Riders (1980), Take This Job and Shove It (1981), Pale Rider (1985), Chances Are (1989), and a cameo appearance in 1981's Stripes, as a cab fare to Bill Murray as the cabbie, in the opening scenes of the film.

Ryan made many guest appearances on TV shows, including Batman (episode 43), Adam-12, The Brady Bunch, CHiPs, The Dukes of Hazzard, Quantum Leap, Night Court, Taxi, Baywatch, and The Commish.

She was cremated and her ashes buried in 2004 in the family plot, alongside her mother Mary, at the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Hayward, California.