:Ryan O'Neal

O'Neal was born in Los Angeles, on April 20, 1941, the elder son of actress Patricia ({{nee}} O'Callaghan) and novelist/screenwriter Charles O'Neal.{{cite news|url = https://www.latimes.com/obituaries/story/2023-12-08/ryan-oneal-dead|title = Ryan O'Neal, star of 'Love Story' and 'Paper Moon,' dies at 82|last = Nelson|first = Valerie J.|newspaper = Los Angeles Times|date = December 8, 2023|accessdate = December 10, 2023|url-access = limited|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20231222160107/https://www.latimes.com/obituaries/story/2023-12-08/ryan-oneal-dead|archivedate=December 22, 2023|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url = https://variety.com/2023/film/news/ryan-oneal-dead-love-story-paper-moon-1235831519/|title = Ryan O'Neal, 'Love Story' and 'Paper Moon' Star, Dies at 82|last = Dagan|first = Carmel|date = December 8, 2023|access-date = December 8, 2023|work = Variety}}{{cite news|url = https://apnews.com/article/ryan-oneal-dead-bbb21318db9742d0b1e5e4a51c2fa26d|title = Actor Ryan O'Neal, star of 'Love Story,' 'Paper Moon' and 'Barry Lyndon,' dies at 82|last = McCartney|first = Anthony|date = December 8, 2023|access-date = December 8, 2023|work = Associated Press News}}{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2023/12/08/1218343271/ryan-oneal-death|title=Ryan O'Neal, star of 'Peyton Place' and 'Love Story,' dies at 82|publisher=NPR|last=Bowman|first=Emma|date=December 8, 2023|accessdate=December 23, 2023}}{{efn|name = Birth|A minority of sources give O'Neal's full name as simply Patrick Ryan O'Neal.{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/08/movies/ryan-oneal-dead.html|title = Ryan O'Neal, Who Became a Star With 'Love Story,' Dies at 82|last = Harmetz|first = Aljean|authorlink = Aljean Harmetz|date = December 8, 2023|access-date = December 8, 2023|newspaper = The New York Times|url-access = limited}}{{cite news|url = https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/ryan-oneal-dead-love-story-paper-moon-1235730468/|title = Ryan O'Neal, Star of 'Love Story,' 'What's Up, Doc?' and 'Paper Moon,' Dies at 82|last = Barnes|first = Mike|date = December 8, 2023|access-date = December 8, 2023|work = The Hollywood Reporter}}}} His father was of Irish and English descent, while his mother was of paternal Irish and maternal Jewish ancestry.{{Cite news|url=https://www.jweekly.com/2014/01/03/celebrity-jews-01-02-14/|title=celebrity jews|last=Bloom|first=Nate|date=January 3, 2014|website=J.|language=en-US|access-date=February 9, 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://www.irishpost.com/news/tributes-paid-after-actor-ryan-oneal-passes-away-aged-82-264889|title=Tributes paid after actor Ryan O'Neal passes away, aged 82|last=Donaghy|first=Gerard|work=The Irish Post|date=December 10, 2023|accessdate=December 23, 2023}} His only sibling, younger brother, Kevin O'Neal (1945{{endash}}2023), was also an actor as well as a screenwriter.

O'Neal attended University High School in Los Angeles, and trained there to become a Golden Gloves boxer. During the late 1950s, his father had a job writing on a television series called Citizen Soldier, and moved the family to Munich, where O'Neal attended Munich American High School.{{cite web|url=http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800026955/bio|title=Ryan O Neal|publisher=Yahoo Movies|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090113190508/http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800026955/bio|archivedate=January 13, 2009|accessdate=December 23, 2023|url-status=dead}}

File:Ryan O'Neal and Leigh Taylor-Young.JPG in a Peyton Place publicity photo in 1967]]

In Germany, O'Neal was struggling at school, so his mother pulled some favors and got him a job as a stand-in on a show being shot in the area, Tales of the Vikings. O'Neal worked on it as an extra and stuntman and became interested in acting.{{cite news|title=Empire Co-star an Ex-Stunt Man|date=December 31, 1962|work=Los Angeles Times|page=B7}}{{cite news |title=The Character Finds the Actor |first=Marion |last=Purcelli |work=Chicago Tribune |date=March 9, 1963 |page=c3}} O'Neal returned to the U.S. and tried to make it as an actor. He made his first television appearance guest starring on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis episode "The Hunger Strike" in 1960. He followed this with guest slots on The Untouchables, General Electric Theater, The DuPont Show with June Allyson, Laramie, Two Faces West, Westinghouse Playhouse (several episodes), Bachelor Father, My Three Sons, Leave It to Beaver episode "Wally Goes Steady" in 1961, and The Virginian. He was under contract to Universal but they let it lapse.{{cite news|title=A Big Town Boy Finds Success in a Small Town|last=Purcelli|first=Marion|work=Chicago Tribune|date=March 6, 1966|page=h15}} From 1962 to 1963, O'Neal was a regular on NBC's Empire, a modern-day western, where he played "Tal Garrett" in support of Richard Egan.{{cite news|title=Terry Bawls With the Best|last=Chapman|first=Hank|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|date=September 9, 1962|page=n_a13}} It ran for 33 episodes. In 1963, the series was revived as Redigo, but O'Neal turned down the chance to reprise his role. When the series ended, O'Neal went back to guest-starring on shows such as Perry Mason and Wagon Train.{{cite news|title=O'Neal Will Guest|work=Los Angeles Times|date=June 9, 1964|page=C11}}

In 1964 he was cast as Rodney Harrington in the prime time serial drama Peyton Place. O'Neal said he got the role because "the studio was looking for a young Doug McClure".{{cite news|title=Ryan O'Neal-Iron Man of Television|date=March 18, 1966|work=Los Angeles Times|page=c15}} The series was a big success, making national names of its cast including O'Neal. Several were offered movie roles, including Mia Farrow, Rosemary's Baby (1968), and Barbara Parkins, Valley of the Dolls (1967), and O'Neal was keen to do films.{{cite news|title='Who Wants to See Happiness?' Asks Ryan O'Neal of Peyton Place|last=Crawford|first=Linda|work=Chicago Tribune|date=July 10, 1966|page=j13}} During the series' run O'Neal appeared in a pilot for a proposed series, European Eye (1968).{{cite news |title=Maggie Smith Captures Two Prized Movie Roles |first=Florabel |last=Muir |work=The Washington Post and Times-Herald |date=December 20, 1967 |page=C15}} He was also signed to ABC for a recording contract.{{cite news |title=Ryan O'Neal Signs |work=Los Angeles Times |date=January 18, 1965 |page=c17}} O'Neal's first lead in a feature came with The Big Bounce (1969),{{cite news |last1=Bergan |first1=Ronald |title=Ryan O'Neal obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/dec/09/ryan-oneal-obituary |access-date=December 10, 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=December 9, 2023}} based on an Elmore Leonard novel.{{cite news |last1=Espen |first1=Hal |title= 'Road Dogs': More Leonard made for Hollywood |url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-caw-elmore-leonard17-2009may17,0,1214383,full.story|access-date=December 23, 2023 |work=Los Angeles Times |date= May 17, 2009|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090522143747/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-caw-elmore-leonard17-2009may17,0,1214383,full.story|archivedate=May 22, 2009|url-status=dead}} In 1969, he appeared in a TV version of Under the Yum Yum Tree (1963).{{cite web |title=Under the Yum Yum Tree |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/476075/under-the-yum-yum-tree#credits |website=Turner Classic Movies |access-date=December 10, 2023 |language=en}}

In 1970, O'Neal played an Olympic athlete in The Games. The film had been co-written by Erich Segal, who recommended O'Neal for the lead in the romantic drama Love Story (1970), based on Segal's novel and script. A number of actors had turned down the role including Beau Bridges and Jon Voight before it was offered to O'Neal. His fee was $25,000; he said he had an offer that paid five times as much to appear in a Jerry Lewis film, but O'Neal knew that Love Story was the better prospect and selected that instead.{{cite news|title=Ryan O'Neal Has Plenty of Stories|last=Haber|first= Joyce|work=Los Angeles Times|date=December 6, 1970|page= v31}} Paramount Pictures studio head, Robert Evans, who was married to the film's female lead, Ali MacGraw, said they tested 14 other actors but no one compared to O'Neal; he said the part was "a Cary Grant role – a handsome leading man with lots of emotion."{{cite news|title=Ryan O'Neal, Ali to Play 'Love Story'|date=November 4, 1969|work=Los Angeles Times|page=e12}} "I hope the young people like it", O'Neal said before the film came out. "I don't want to go back to TV. I don't want to go back to those NAB conventions." Love Story turned out to be a box office phenomenon, making O'Neal a star and earning him nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama, although O'Neal was bitter that he was never given a percentage of the profits, unlike co-star Ali MacGraw.

File:Ryan-ONeal-1970-b.jpg

In between the film's production and release, O'Neal appeared in a TV movie written by Eric Ambler, Love Hate Love (1971), which received good ratings. He also made a Western, Wild Rovers (1971) with William Holden for director Blake Edwards. Wild Rovers, badly cut by MGM, was considerably less popular than Love Story. O'Neal was going to make another film for MGM, Deadly Honeymoon (1974), from a novel by Lawrence Block.{{cite news|title=Dalton's 'Darling Girl': Dalton's 'Darling Girl'|first=A. H.|last=Weiler|work=The New York Times|date=July 11, 1971|page=D13}} However, O'Neal pulled out. Peter Bogdanovich later said MGM head Jim Aubrey was "cruel" to O'Neal.{{cite news|title=Bogdanovich Touch Turns Coincidence into Success: Turning Coincidence Into Success|last=Haber|first=Joyce|work=Los Angeles Times|date=September 16, 1973|page=o21}}

Director Nic Roeg wanted O'Neal to appear opposite Julie Christie in an adaptation of Out of Africa that was never made.{{cite news|title=The Pollack Touch|last=Maslin|first=Janet|work=The New York Times|date=December 15, 1985|page=A.54}} Instead, O'Neal starred in the screwball comedy What's Up, Doc? (1972) for Bogdanovich and opposite Barbra Streisand. The film was the third-highest-grossing film of 1972 and led to his receiving an offer to star in a movie for Stanley Kubrick, Barry Lyndon. While that film was in pre-production, O'Neal played a jewel thief in The Thief Who Came to Dinner (1972) opposite Jacqueline Bisset and Warren Oates. Then he was reunited with Bogdanovich for Paper Moon (1973) in which he starred opposite his daughter Tatum O'Neal. His performance in the film earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and he was voted by exhibitors as the second-most-popular star of 1973 in the United States, behind Clint Eastwood.{{cite book|last1=Steinberg|first1=Cobbett|title=Film Facts|year=1980|publisher=Facts on File, Inc.|location=New York|isbn=0-87196-313-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/filmfacts00cobb_mc3/page/60 60]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/filmfacts00cobb_mc3/page/60}}{{Cite web |last=Abramovitch |first=Seth |date=July 17, 2023 |title=After Her Debilitating Stroke, Tatum O'Neal Attempts to Heal a Fractured Relationship With Dad Ryan O'Neal |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/tatum-oneal-interview-life-career-dad-ryan-oneal-1235535430/ |access-date=July 23, 2023 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}

O'Neal spent over a year making Barry Lyndon (1975) for Kubrick. The resulting film, despite being nominated for seven Academy Awards, was considered a commercial disappointment and had a mixed critical reception; it won O'Neal a Harvard Lampoon Award for the Worst Actor of 1975. Reflecting in 1985, O'Neal said the film was "all right but he [Kubrick] completely changed the picture during the year he spent editing it". The film's reputation has risen in recent years but O'Neal said his career never recovered from the film's reception.{{cite news|url=http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2009/09/farrah-fawcett200909 |first=Leslie |last=Bennetts|title= Beautiful People Ugly Choices|newspaper=Vanity Fair|date=September 2009|access-date=September 1, 2016}}

O'Neal had been originally meant to star in Bogdanovich's flop musical At Long Last Love but was replaced by Burt Reynolds. However he made the screwball comedy Nickelodeon (1976) with Reynolds, Bogdanovich, and Tatum O'Neal, for a fee of $750,000. The film flopped at the box office. O'Neal followed this with a small role in the all-star war film A Bridge Too Far (1977), playing General James Gavin. O'Neal's performance as a hardened general was much criticised, although O'Neal was only a year older than Gavin at the time of the events in the film. "Can I help it if I photograph like I'm 16 and they gave me a helmet that was too big for my head?" he later said. "At least I did my own parachute jump."{{cite news|title=At the Movies|last=Flatley|first= Guy|newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 30, 1977|page= C8}} The film was the 6th most popular movie of 1977.

O'Neal initially turned down a reported $3 million to star in Oliver's Story (1978), a sequel to Love Story. Instead he appeared in the car-chase film The Driver (1978), directed by Walter Hill, who had written The Thief Who Came to Dinner. This was a box office disappointment in the U.S. but, like A Bridge Too Far, did better overseas. Hill later said he "was so pleased with Ryan in the movie and I was very disappointed that people didn't particularly give him any credit for what he did. To me, he's the best he's ever been. I cannot imagine another actor."{{cite magazine|magazine=Empire|url=http://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/edgar-wright-walter-hill-discuss-driver/|date=March 13, 2017|first=Chris|last=Wright|title=Edgar Wright and Walter Hill Discuss The Driver}} O'Neal was meant to follow this with The Champ (1979), directed by Franco Zeffirelli, but decided to pull out after Zeffirelli refused to cast O'Neal's son Griffin opposite him.{{cite news|title=Ryan O'Neal: Does Father Know Best?: Ryan O'Neal|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=July 23, 1978|page= v24}} Instead he agreed to make Oliver's Story after all once the script was rewritten. However the film was a flop at the box office.{{cite web |last1=Brueggemann |first1=Tom |title=Success Isn't Guaranteed for a 'Barbie' Sequel — Some Equally Big Films Spawned Their Own Flops |url=https://www.indiewire.com/gallery/sequels-to-hit-films-flopped-box-office/blues-brothers-2000-center-dan-aykroyd-j-evan-bonifant-john-goodman-1998-universal-courtesy/ |website=IndieWire |access-date=December 10, 2023 |date=August 4, 2023}}

"What I have to do now, seriously, is win a few hearts as an actor," he said in 1978. "The way Cary Grant did. I know I've got a lot of winning to do. But I'm young enough. I'll get there..." Around this time, O'Neal was meant to star in The Bodyguard, from a Lawrence Kasdan script, opposite Diana Ross for director John Boorman. However the film fell over when Ross pulled out, and it would not be made until 1992, with Kevin Costner in O'Neal's old role.{{cite news|title=Ryan O'Neal meaner but far from macho|last=Flatley|first= Guy|work=Chicago Tribune|date=August 19, 1979|page= e8}} There was some talk he would appear in a film from Michelangelo Antonioni, Suffer or Die,{{cite news|title=Film Clips: Is O'Neal Set to 'Suffer or Die'?|last=Kilday|first=Gregg|work=Los Angeles Times|date=December 11, 1978|page= f21}} but this did not happen.

O'Neal instead played a boxer in a comedy, The Main Event, reuniting him with Streisand. He received a fee of $1 million plus a percentage of the profits. The Main Event was a sizeable hit at the box office. Also in 1979, he produced a documentary, The Contender, about a boxer he managed.{{cite news|title=O'Neal family film an indifferent Contender 'I thought it was good,' said Ryan. 'We loved it' QR|last=Godfrey|first=Jay Scott Stephen|work=The Globe and Mail|date=September 15, 1979|page=35}}

A 1980 profile of O'Neal described him:

{{cquote|Unlike most stars of the post-Hoffman era he is very handsome, especially when moustached: he has blond curly hair and a toothpaste smile: he seems to lead an interesting life. What is on screen is, er, less interesting, but still agreeable. Maybe he would really come on if he had the apprenticeship of the stars of the 30s: for he is, to underline the point, a throwback to that era. There are no nervous tics, solemnity is at bag; his is an easy, genial presence, and thank heaven for it!{{cite book|last=Shipman|first=David|title=The Great Movie Stars: The International Years|publisher=Angus and Robertson|year=1980|page=451}}}}

O'Neal was looking next to act in the lead role in the film version of The Thorn Birds to be directed by Arthur Hiller, but the book ended up being adapted as a miniseries.{{cite news|title=Ryan O'Neal: Hooked On 'Thorn Birds' And Farrah|last=Mann|first= Roderick|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=July 8, 1980|page= g1}} Instead O'Neal made a British-financed thriller, Green Ice (1981), for the most money he had ever received up front. The movie had a troublesome production (the original director quit during filming) and flopped at the box office. He had a cameo in Circle of Two, a film his daughter made with Richard Burton. O'Neal said Burton told him during filming he was "five years away from winning acceptance as a serious actor" ... [and that] .. "On the other hand, my agent, Sue Mengers says I'm right on the threshold. Split the difference, that's two and a half years. One good picture, that's all I need..."{{cite news|title=Movies: The High Adventures of 'Green Ice'|last=Mann|first=Roderick|work=Los Angeles Times|date=July 6, 1980|page= o25}}

However, in the early 1980s he focused on comedies. He received $2 million for the lead in So Fine.{{cite news|title=Movies: A 'Fine' Try For Laughs... At $12 Million|last=Taylor|first= Clarke|work=Los Angeles Times|date=March 29, 1981|page= m26}} This was followed by Partners (1982), a farce written by Francis Veber in which O'Neal played a straight cop who goes undercover as one half of a gay couple. He then played a film director loosely based on Peter Bogdanovich in Irreconcilable Differences (1984); he received no upfront fee but got a percentage of the profits.{{cite news|title=Movies: Ryan O'Neal Wants The Reconcilable Role|last=Mann|first=Roderick|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=July 1, 1984|page= t21}} It was a minor box office success. A 1984 profile called him "the Billy Martin of Hollywood, whether it's his love affair with Farrah Fawcett... his precocious actor daughter Tatum or fisticuffs with his son Griffin. He just can't seem to stay out of the news." O'Neal said he felt more like Rocky Marciano, "wondering why guys are always picking fights with me. If I'm in a good picture, they'll like me. If I'm not they'll hate me. Hey I'm mad too when I don't make good pictures."{{cite news|title=Star: Ryan's Hope: Movie Hit, Staying Fit And Famous|last=Manna |first=Sal |work=Los Angeles Times |date=May 13, 1984 |page=ad3}}

O'Neal said too many of the roles he had played were "off the beaten path for me".{{cite news|title=Movies: Ryan revives--what happened to this guy, anyway?|last=Siskel|first=Gene|work=Chicago Tribune|date=September 30, 1984|page=15}} In particular he regretted doing The Thief Who Came to Dinner, A Bridge Too Far, The Driver, So Fine, Partners, and Green Ice. He blamed this in part on having to pay alimony and child support. He also said agent Sue Mengers encouraged him to constantly work. "If I could get a good director to choose me for a picture, I was okay", he said. "But they stopped calling me in the mid-70s... I made a whole bunch of pictures that didn't make any money and people lost interest in me... Directors take me reluctantly. I feel I'm lucky to be here in the first place and they know it too. I'm a glamour boy, a Hollywood product. I have a TV background and they can point to the silly movies I've made." In 1985, O'Neal tried something different, playing an L.A. Herald Examiner sportswriter and sports columnist who also gambles far too much in Fever Pitch (1985),{{cite news |last1=Siskel |first1=Gene |title=FLAW-FILLED 'FEVER PITCH' CAPPED BY FLIP-FLOP ENDING |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-11-22-8503200744-story.html |access-date=December 10, 2023 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=November 22, 1985}} the final movie for director Richard Brooks.{{cite web |last1=Barson |first1=Michael |title=Richard Brooks {{!}} American Writer, Director & Oscar Winner {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-Brooks |website=www.britannica.com |access-date=December 10, 2023 |language=en |date=November 30, 2023}} Even less conventional was Tough Guys Don't Dance (1987) for director Norman Mailer. Both movies flopped at the box office, and received poor reviews.{{cite web |last1=Rabin |first1=Nathan |title=My Year Of Flops, The Saga Continues, Case File #107: Tough Guys Don't Dance |url=https://www.avclub.com/my-year-of-flops-the-saga-continues-case-file-107-t-1798213893 |website=The A.V. Club |access-date=December 10, 2023 |language=en |date=April 16, 2008}}

O'Neal had a supporting part in a Liza Minnelli TV special Sam Found Out: A Triple Play (1988), and also supported in the romantic comedy Chances Are (1989). He returned to TV opposite his then-partner Farrah Fawcett in Small Sacrifices (1989). He and Fawcett made a short-lived CBS series, Good Sports (1991), which lasted 15 episodes. O'Neal co starred with Katharine Hepburn in the TV movie The Man Upstairs (1992) and had a cameo in Fawcett's Man of the House (1995). He had a good role in Faithful (1996) with Cher. It was directed by Paul Mazursky who later said of O'Neal:

He's sweet as sugar, and he's volatile. He's got some of that Irish stuff in him, and he can blow up a bit. One day he was doing a scene, and I said, "Bring it down a little bit," and Ryan said, "I quit! You can't say 'Bring it down' to me that loud!" I said, "If you quit, I'm going to break your nose." He started to cry. He's sort of a big baby at times, but he's a good guy, and he's very talented. He's had a strange career, but he was a monster star.

O'Neal had a supporting role in Hacks (1997) and the lead in An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1998). He had the third lead in Zero Effect (1999) and was top billed in The List (2000). He had a semi-recurring role in Bull (2001) and supporting parts in Epoch (2001), People I Know (2002) with Al Pacino, Gentleman B. (2002), and Malibu's Most Wanted (2003). O'Neal had a regular part on the TV series Miss Match (2003) with Alicia Silverstone, which ran for 18 episodes. Around this time he guest starred on shows such as Desperate Housewives and 90210. In 2009 he said that he "made a tremendous amount of money on real estate".

O'Neal was a recurring character on Fox's Bones from seasons 2 to 12, with his final episode airing in February 2017.{{cite news|url = https://www.tvinsider.com/125078/bones-says-goodbye-to-a-familiar-face/|title = 'Bones' Says Goodbye to a Familiar Face|work = TVInsider|last = Roffman|first = Marisad|date = February 15, 2017|access-date = December 8, 2023}} In 2011, Ryan and Tatum attempted to restore their broken father/daughter relationship after 25 years. Their reunion and reconciliation process was captured in the Oprah Winfrey Network series Ryan and Tatum: The O'Neals, which O'Neal produced. It ran only nine episodes, and he later said that it left their relationship in a worse state than before.{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/08/movies/ryan-oneal-dead.html|title = Ryan O'Neal, Who Became a Star With 'Love Story,' Dies at 82|last = Harmetz|first = Aljean|authorlink = Aljean Harmetz|date = December 8, 2023|access-date = December 8, 2023|newspaper = The New York Times|url-access = limited}} O'Neal could be seen in Slumber Party Slaughter (2012) and Knight of Cups (2015) in a small role.{{cite news|url = https://variety.com/2023/film/news/ryan-oneal-dead-love-story-paper-moon-1235831519/|title = Ryan O'Neal, 'Love Story' and 'Paper Moon' Star, Dies at 82|last = Dagan|first = Carmel|date = December 8, 2023|access-date = December 8, 2023|work = Variety}}{{cite news|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/12/08/ryan-oneal-dead/|title = Ryan O'Neal, Hollywood star with tempestuous life, dies at 82|last = Bernstein|first = Adam|newspaper = The Washington Post|date = December 8, 2023|access-date = December 8, 2023|url-access = limited}}

In 2016, O'Neal reunited with Love Story co-star Ali MacGraw in a staging of A. R. Gurney's play Love Letters.[https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/theater-art/2016/01/28/for-macgraw-and-neal-been-years-between-love-stories/Wvee6C387zAcF2IKgIRQDJ/story.html "For Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal, 45 years between love stories"] The Boston Globe, January 28, 2016 In February 2021, O'Neal and MacGraw were honored with stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, nearly 50 years after the release of Love Story.{{cite news |title='Love Story' stars Ali MacGraw, Ryan O'Neal honored on Hollywood's Walk of Fame |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-film-love-story-walk-of-fame/love-story-stars-ali-macgraw-ryan-oneal-honored-on-hollywoods-walk-of-fame-idUSKBN2AD01F |access-date=February 14, 2021 |work=Reuters |date=February 13, 2021}}

O'Neal married his first wife, actress Joanna Moore, in 1963. They had two children before separating in 1966. Moore eventually lost custody of their children to O'Neal as a result of her alcoholism and drug addiction.

His second marriage was to actress and his Peyton Place co-star Leigh Taylor-Young, with whom he had a son. They remained friends after divorcing in 1973. "I could speak to parts of Ryan like temper and volatility and reactivity, but I deeply know his goodness", Taylor-Young said.{{Cite web |last=Monaghan |first=John |date=April 12, 2016 |title='Love Letters' star Ryan O'Neal has Motor City memories |url=https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/arts/2016/04/12/ryan-oneal-detroit-memories/82814248/ |access-date=November 5, 2019 |website=freep}}

O'Neal was in a relationship with actress Farrah Fawcett from 1979 to 1997. The relationship was tumultuous due to his infidelity and volatile behavior. O'Neal and Fawcett reunited in 2001 and were together until her death in 2009.

"I got married at 21, and I was not a real mature 21," said O'Neal. "My first child was born when I was 22. I was a man's man; I didn't discover women until I was married, and then it was too late." He had romances with Ursula Andress, Bianca Jagger, Anouk Aimée, Jacqueline Bisset, Barbra Streisand, Joan Collins, Diana Ross, and Anjelica Huston.{{cite news|title=Ryan O'Neal: A Love-Hate Story|last=Lee|first= Grant|newspaper= Los Angeles Times |date=August 28, 1977|page= q1}} According to his daughter Tatum O'Neal, he also had an affair with Melanie Griffith.{{Cite web|url=https://people.com/archive/restricted-the-chaos-kid-vol-63-no-17/|title=RESTRICTED: The Chaos Kid|website=PEOPLE.com|language=en|access-date=July 14, 2019}} In her 2014 memoir, Anjelica Huston claimed that O'Neal physically abused her.{{cite web|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/11/09/all-eyes-on-anjelica-huston-the-legendary-actress-on-love-abuse-and-jack-nicholson.html |title=All Eyes on Anjelica Huston: The Legendary Actress on Love, Abuse, and Jack Nicholson |first=Alex |last=Suskind |date=November 9, 2014 |work=The Daily Beast}}

O'Neal had four children: Tatum O'Neal and Griffin O'Neal with Moore, Patrick O'Neal with Taylor-Young, and Redmond James Fawcett O'Neal with Fawcett.{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/09/us/redmond-oneal-los-angeles-alleged-crime-spree/index.html |title=Son of Ryan O'Neal, Farrah Fawcett accused of crime spree in Los Angeles |first1=Nicole |last1=Chavez |first2=Jennifer |last2=Selva |date=June 9, 2018 |publisher=CNN}}

For several years, O'Neal was estranged from his three elder children. "I'm a hopeless father. I don't know why. I don't think I was supposed to be a father. Just look around at my work—they're either in jail or they should be," he told Vanity Fair. In her autobiography, A Paper Life, Tatum wrote that she had suffered physical and emotional abuse as a result of her father's drug abuse. Griffin O'Neal also suggested their family's problems stemmed from Ryan. "My father gave me cocaine when I was 11 and insisted I take it," he said. Griffin added, "He was a very abusive, narcissistic psychopath. He gets so mad he can't control anything he's doing."

In 2007, O'Neal was arrested for shooting at Griffin, which he claimed was in self-defense; the charges were dropped.{{Cite web|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/actor-ryan-oneal-claims-self-defense-in-shooting-at-son/|title=Actor Ryan O'Neal claims self-defense in shooting at son|date=February 5, 2007|website=The Seattle Times}} O'Neal refused to allow Griffin to attend Fawcett's funeral in 2009.{{Cite web|url=https://parade.com/16816/parade/ryan-oneal-banned-griffin-oneal-from-farrahs-funeral/|title=Griffin O'Neal: Dad Banned Me From Farrah's Funeral|date=August 5, 2009|website=Parade}} He hit on Tatum at Fawcett's funeral, not recognizing her as his daughter.{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/03/ryan-oneal-i-hit-on-my-da_n_249668.html|title=Ryan O'Neal: I Hit On My Daughter Tatum At Farrah's Funeral|date=September 3, 2009|website=Huffington Post}}{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/tv-on-own-ryan-and-tatums-paper-gloom/2011/06/16/AGCDJVZH_story.html|last=Stuever|first=Hank|title=On OWN, 'Ryan & Tatum's' paper gloom|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=June 17, 2011}}

In 2011, Tatum published a book with her father and appeared with him on the TV show Ryan and Tatum: the O'Neals. In August of that year, O'Neal, Tatum, and Patrick attended Redmond's court appearance on firearms and drug charges.MacIntyre, April, "Ryan O'Neal and Tatum O'Neal talk Redmond O'Neal", Access Hollywood, August 4, 2011; accessed October 6, 2014.

Redmond struggled with drug addiction for most of his adult life. In 2008, O'Neal and Redmond were arrested for drug possession in their Malibu home.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/actor-ryan-o-neal-arrested-son-drug-possession-article-1.326010|title=Actor Ryan O'Neal arrested with son for drug possession|last=Dillon|first=Nancy|date=September 18, 2008|website=New York Daily News}} In 2015, Redmond's probation was revoked and he was sentenced to three years in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. In 2018, Redmond was arrested and charged with attempted murder, robbery, assault and drug possession after he allegedly tried to rob a convenience store in Santa Monica. In an interview from jail he blamed his struggles on his parents.{{Cite web|url=https://people.com/movies/redmond-oneal-blames-arrest-on-famous-parents/|title=Redmond O'Neal Blames Arrest on Parents Ryan and Farrah Fawcett: 'I Never Wanted Attention'|last=Fernandez|first=Alexia|date=May 31, 2018|website=People}}

In 2001, O'Neal was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML).{{cite news| title=Actor O'Neal Has Cancer|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/showbiz/1309994.stm|date=May 3, 2001|publisher=BBC News|access-date=May 26, 2009 }} After struggling with leukemia, O'Neal was frequently seen at Fawcett's side when she was battling cancer. He told People magazine, "It's a love story. I just don't know how to play this one. I won't know this world without her. Cancer is an insidious enemy."{{cite web|last=Bryant|first=Adam|url=http://www.tvguide.com/News/Ryan-ONeal-Fawcett-1005843.aspx|title=Ryan O'Neal: Watching Farrah Battle Cancer Is Like "Being Stabbed in the Heart"|work=TV Guide|date=May 7, 2009|access-date=May 7, 2009}} In April 2012, O'Neal stated he had been diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer.{{cite news |last1=Marikar |first1=Sheila |url=https://news.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/ryan-oneals-peculiar-cancer-prognosis-164044042--abc-news-movies.html |title=Ryan O'Neal's 'Peculiar' Cancer Prognosis |access-date=June 26, 2014 |work=ABC News Blogs |date=April 16, 2012 |via=Yahoo! News}} He later stated it was stage 2.{{cite web |first1=Gael |last1=Fashingbauer Cooper |first2=Jane |last2=Kellogg |title=Ryan O'Neal now says his prostate cancer is stage 2, not stage 4 |website=Today |date=April 16, 2012 |url=https://www.today.com/news/ryan-oneal-now-says-his-prostate-cancer-stage-2-not-718072 |access-date=December 22, 2022}}

O'Neal died at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California, on December 8, 2023, at the age of 82.{{cite news|url = https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/ryan-oneal-dead-love-story-paper-moon-1235730468/|title = Ryan O'Neal, Star of 'Love Story,' 'What's Up, Doc?' and 'Paper Moon,' Dies at 82|last = Barnes|first = Mike|date = December 8, 2023|access-date = December 8, 2023|work = The Hollywood Reporter}} His cause of death was congestive heart failure, with cardiomyopathy listed as a contributing factor.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2023/12/ryan-oneal-cause-death-revealed-1235681370/|title=Ryan O'Neal Cause Of Death Revealed|first=Bruce|last=Haring|website=Deadline|date=December 23, 2023|access-date=December 23, 2023}} O'Neal was interred next to Fawcett at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park and Mortuary.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2023/12/ryan-oneal-buried-next-to-longtime-love-farrah-fawcett-1235681532/|title=Ryan O'Neal Buried Next To Longtime Love Farrah Fawcett|first=Caroline|last=Frost|date=December 24, 2023 |website=Deadline|access-date=January 2, 2024}}

{{More citations needed|section|date=December 2023}}

Based on various sources.{{clarify|date=December 2023}}

{{Notelist}}

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• {{Official website|https://www.ryanoneal.com/}}
• {{IMDb name|641939}}
• {{TCMDb name|143561{{!}}137044}}
• {{Discogs artist|Ryan O'Neal (2)}}

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Category:1941 births

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