Ryan O’Neal, the actor known for leading roles in films like Love Story and What’s Up, Doc?, died on Friday, December 8th. He was 82.
His son Patrick shared the news in a lengthy Instagram post, writing: “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.”
Charles Patrick Ryan O’Neal was born in Los Angeles on April 20th, 1941, to parents both in the entertainment business. He trained to be an amateur boxer throughout his adolescence, until his mother got him a job as a stuntman and extra on the short-lived TV series Tales of the Vikings.
After a handful of smaller TV roles — including a recurring role on NBC’s Empire — O’Neal earned his big break in 1964, when he was cast as Rodney Harrington in the prime time soap opera Peyton Place. Eager to pivot to film, O’Neal took a lowball offer to star opposite Ali MacGraw in Arthur Hiller and Erich Segal’s 1970 romance flick Love Story. A box office smash, the movie made O’Neal a star, and earned him both an Oscar and Golden Globe nomination.
In 1972, O’Neal starred with Barbra Streisand in Peter Bogdanovich’s screwball comedy What’s Up, Doc?. The following year, O’Neal and Bogdanovich reunited for the road comedy Paper Moon, which also starred O’Neal’s then-10-year-old daughter, Tatum. Paper Moon earned O’Neal another Golden Globe nomination, and made Tatum the youngest-ever actor to win an Oscar. In 1975, O’Neal also appeared in Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lydon.
O’Neal’s later film roles included the Love Story sequel Oliver’s Story (1978), Richard Brooks’ Fever Pitch (1985); Normal Mailer’s Tough Guys Don’t Dance (1987), and Terrence Malick’s Knight of Cups (2015). He also returned to TV with one-off appearances in shows like Desperate Housewives and 90210, as well as recurring roles in Miss Match and Bones.
O’Neal’s romantic and familial relationships were often tumultuous, in part due to his temper, his infidelity, and his substance use. He had two marriages, to actresses Joanna Moore and Leigh Taylor-Young. But his most high profile relationship was that with Farrah Fawcett, whom he dated from 1979 to 1997. However, he reunited with Fawcett after he was diagnosed with leukemia in 2001, and they remained together until Fawcett’s death in 2009.
O’Neal was also estranged from three of his four children for several years, including Patrick and Tatum, the latter of whom accused him of physical and emotional abuse due to his drug use. They reconciled for a book and TV show, Ryan and Tatum: the O’Neals. “As a human being, my father was as generous as they come,” Patrick added in his Instagram post Friday. “As my father, he was second to none.”