Background
Frederick "Fritz" Niland, upon whom Young"s Private Ryan was loosely based, was born in 1920.
Frederick "Fritz" Niland, upon whom Young"s Private Ryan was loosely based, was born in 1920.
He is perhaps most recognized for his role as the elderly Private James Ryan in Steven Spielberg"s 1998 war epic Saving Private Ryan. Having starred in over 100 films and television episodes, Young"s other credits include Passions, Computer Society of India: Crime Scene Investigation and Rob Zombie"s House of 1000 Corpses. During the filming of Saving Private Ryan, Young was 67 years old, making him too young to have actually served in World World War II (unless the scenes in the Normandy American Cemetery were set in 1997).