KiMi Robinson
Ryan O’Neal, Hollywood’s leading man in the 1970s who earned an Academy Award nomination for playing Oliver in the tearjerker romance “Love Story,” has died. He was 82.
His son, sportscaster Patrick O’Neal, shared the news in a series of Instagram posts on Friday.
“So this is the toughest thing I’ve ever had to say but here we go. My dad passed away peacefully today, with his loving team by his side supporting him and loving him as he would us,” Patrick O’Neal wrote in the caption of a photo of a sunset.
Ryan O’Neal became “an international movie star” with 1970’s “Love Story,” his son wrote. It was “a decade he absolutely crushed” with roles in films such as “What’s Up, Doc?” “Paper Moon,” “Barry Lyndon,” “A Bridge Too Far,” “The Main Event” and “and The Driver,” Patrick O’Neal said.
“He is a Hollywood legend. Full stop,” he added.
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Daughter Tatum O’Neal shared in a statement to People magazine that she feels a “great sorrow with my father’s passing.
She added, “He meant the world to me. I loved him very much and know he loved me too. I’ll miss him forever. and I feel very lucky that we ended on such good terms.”
Tatum and her brother Griffin O’Neal are Ryan O’Neal’s children with his ex-wife, the late actress Joanna Moore. Patrick O’Neal is Ryan O’Neal’s son with his other ex-wife, Leigh Taylor-Young. He also shared son Redmond O’Neal with Farrah Fawcett.
A cause of death was not given. USA TODAY has reached out to a representative for Ryan O’Neal for more information.
Ryan O’Neal starred in soap opera “Peyton Place” and got his big break in ‘Love Story’
Ryan O’Neal came on to the scene with his lead role in the 1960s soap opera “Peyton Place,” but it was starring in “Love Story” with Ali MacGraw that catapulted him into an in-demand movie star.
Hollywood came knocking on his door with more leading man roles.
O’Neal performed opposite Barbra Streisand in director Peter Bogdanovich’s 1972 screwball comedy “What’s Up, Doc?” then starred in Bogdanovich’s 1973 con artist comedy, “Paper Moon,” with daughter Tatum O’Neal. Though he earned a Golden Globe nomination for his role, his daughter went on to become the youngest person to win an Oscar at 10 years old. In 1974, she earned an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as Addie Loggins.
His former “What’s Up Doc?” costar remembered O’Neal in an Instagram post shortly after news of his death became public.
“So sad to hear the news of Ryan O’Neal’s passing,” Streisand wrote in a caption of a photo of the two of them on the set of Bogdanovich’s film.
“He was funny and charming, and he will be remembered,” she added.
O’Neal’s status in Hollywood was cemented in 2021, when he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame next to his longtime love, “Charlie’s Angels” star Farrah Fawcett, who died of cancer in June 2009. He was honored alongside “Love Story” costar MacGraw during the “double star ceremony” on the 50th anniversary of the film, which Hollywood Walk of Fame producer Ana Martinez called “one of the most iconic romantic films in cinema history.”
O’Neal maintained a steady television acting career into his 70s in the 2010s, appearing for stints on “Bones” and “Desperate Housewives,” but his longtime relationship with Farrah Fawcett and his tumultuous family life kept him in news.
The actor had at times strained relationships with three of his children, including estrangement from his daughter, squabbles with son Griffin and a drug-related arrest sparked by a probation check of his son Redmond. The personal drama often overshadowed his later career, although his attempts to reconcile with Tatum O’Neal were turned into a short-lived reality series, “Ryan and Tatum: The O’Neals.”
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Ryan O’Neal and longtime love Farrah Fawcett are ‘together again’
In an Instagram post, Patrick O’Neal mused that his father will be “together again” with Fawcett.
“He has bragging rights in Heaven. Especially when it comes to Farrah. Everyone had the poster, he had the real McCoy. And now they meet again. Farrah and Ryan,” Patrick O’Neal wrote. “He has missed her terribly. What an embrace that must be. Together again.”
Ryan O’Neal and Fawcett met through her then-husband, Lee Majors, in 1979 and split in 1997. “After a relationship with a younger woman, midlife fears of growing older, and his own leukemia diagnosis in 2001, Ryan eventually realized that he had cast aside his true soulmate, and he and Farrah started a new life together,” reads a summary of the couple’s love story on O’Neal’s website.
His website reads, “When Farrah was diagnosed with cancer in 2006, Ryan stood by her side through grueling treatment, and ultimately faced the heartbreaking discovery that even love could not save her.
Ryan O’Neal detailed the ups and downs of their relationship in his 2012 memoir, “Both of Us: My Life with Farrah.”
In February, O’Neal dedicated a Valentine’s Day post to Fawcett and shared a photo of a single rose on her Hollywood Walk of Fame star.
“My forever Valentine… 🌹,” he captioned the image.
Contributing: Anthony McCartney, Associated Press
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