Ryan O'Neal

Ryan O’Neal (born Charles Patrick Ryan O’Neal) was an Oscar-nominated actor best known for starring in Love Story, Paper Moon and Barry Lyndon, as well as for his decades-long relationship with Farrah Fawcett. O’Neal was born in Los Angeles, and raised in a show business family. He attended University High School in Los Angeles and later briefly lived in Munich, Germany, where he attended Munich American High School. Before pursuing acting full-time, he trained as an amateur boxer and competed in Golden Gloves events.

O’Neal began his acting career in the early 1960s and rose to fame as Rodney Harrington on the primetime soap Peyton Place. His breakthrough film role came with 1970’s Love Story, which became a major box-office hit and earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. His performance in the role helped to raise his public profile, and he quickly became one of Hollywood’s biggest stars of the ’70s.

His notable credits include What’s Up, Doc? (1972), Paper Moon (1973), Barry Lyndon (1975), A Bridge Too Far (1977), The Driver (1978) and Zero Effect (1998). For his role as Moses Pray in Paper Moon, he earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. He also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2021.

O’Neal was married to Joanna Moore from 1963 to 1967. The pair welcomed daughter Tatum O’Neal in 1963 and son Griffin O’Neal in 1964. He was later married to Leigh Taylor-Young from 1967 to 1973, and they shared a son, Patrick O’Neal (born in 1967). His most famous relationship was with Farrah Fawcett, with whom he was involved on and off from 1979 until her death in 2009. The couple shared son Redmond O’Neal (born in 1985).

O’Neal died on December 8, 2023, at age 82 from congestive heart failure.