HOME

Actor Ryan O’Neal dies at 82

Dec 8, 2023, 5:09 PM | Updated: Mar 23, 2024, 7:55 am

Ryan O’Neal, the heartthrob actor who went from a TV soap opera to an Oscar-nominated role in “Love Story” and delivered a wry performance opposite his charismatic 9-year-old daughter Tatum in “Paper Moon,” died Friday, his son said.

“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, a Los Angeles sportscaster, posted on Instagram.

He did not give a cause. Ryan O’Neal was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2012, a decade after he was first diagnosed with chronic leukemia. He was 82.

“My father, Ryan O’Neal, has always been my hero,” Patrick O’Neal wrote, adding, “He is a Hollywood legend. Full stop.”

O’Neal was among the biggest movie stars in the world in the 1970s, who worked with many of the era’s most celebrated directors including Peter Bogdanovich on “Paper Moon” and Stanley Kubrick on “Barry Lyndon. He often used his boyish, blond good looks to play men who hid shadowy or sinister backgrounds behind their clean-cut images.

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.

Twice divorced, O’Neal was romantically involved with Fawcett for nearly 30 years, and they had a son, Redmond, born in 1985. The couple split in 1997, but reunited a few years later. He remained by Fawcett’s side as she battled cancer, which killed her in 2009 at age 62.

With his first wife, Joanna Moore, O’Neal fathered actors Griffin O’Neal and Tatum O’Neal, his co-star in the 1973 movie “Paper Moon,” for which she won an Oscar for best supporting actress. He had son Patrick with his second wife, Leigh Taylor-Young.

Ryan O’Neal had his own best-actor Oscar nomination for the 1970 tear-jerker drama “Love Story,” co-starring Ali MacGraw, about a young couple who fall in love, marry and discover she is dying of cancer. The movie includes the memorable, but often satirized line: “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”

Charles Patrick Ryan O’Neal was born on April 20, 1941 and was the son of screenwriter Charles O’Neal and actor Patricia Callaghan O’Neal. O’Neal spent time as a lifeguard and an amateur boxer before finding his calling as a performer.

Home

Luke Combs...

Sarah Baines

Luke Combs gearing up to rock you like a hurricane, Gavin Adcock cashes in on viral fame | Music City Minute

Country superstar Luke Combs is not only “Back In The Saddle” on the radio, he is also planning to rock the faces of thousands of fans. Next year, the “Hurricane” […]

23 hours ago

(Photo by Dave Benett/Getty Images for Spotify)...

Sarah Baines

Country legend plans final bow, Shaboozey’s latest collab | Music City Minute

After decades of engaging audiences through smoke and lights, country legend Alan Jackson will be hanging up his touring hat for good. Even though retirement is on the horizon, the […]

2 days ago

LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 28:  Country singer Luke Bryan performs onstage during the 'What Makes You C...

Sarah Baines

Megan Moroney’s once-in-a-lifetime birthday gift, Luke Bryan’s putrid predicament | Music City Minute

What do you get for a gal who has everything? Well, when you have a ride-or-die friend like Kenny Chesney, the answer is simple: music and memories. Megan Moroney gave […]

3 days ago

The Hook Podcast Ep. 103 Christian Yancey...

Brailey Jones

The Hook Podcast | Christian Yancey | Ole Miss Athlete Turned Nashville Songwriter for Josh Ross & Austin Snell

Nashville songwriter Christian Yancey joins The Hook Podcast to share his journey from hurdler at Ole Miss to writing songs for artists like Josh Ross and Austin Snell. Christian talks […]

3 days ago

Darius Rucker...

Sarah Baines

Country singer asks girlfriend to ‘Hold My Hand’ for life! | Music City Minute

It has been a most excellent year for Darius Rucker. Moreover, just when he thought things could not get any better, he took the social media to share life changing […]

4 days ago

Cody Johnson...

Sarah Baines

Texas artist recovers from medical procedure, country legend isn’t ready to “Go Rest High On That Mountain” | Music City Minute

Cody Johnson has scrapped the rest of his 2025 tour dates due to health complications. Johnson posted a message to fans explaining that a lingering upper respiratory and sinus infection […]

7 days ago

Actor Ryan O’Neal dies at 82