Ryan O’Neal is dead at age 82.
He burst onto the scene with TV’s “Peyton Place” opposite Mia Farrow in the mid 60s. In 1970, he and Ali McGraw became the It couple in the nuge hit, “Love Story.”
Over the years, O’Neal was in the tabloids as much as he was on the screen. His movies included “Paper Moon,””The Main Event,” “Chances Are,” and others.
But his real fame came when he married “Charlie’s Angels” star Farrah Fawcett. This was after a tempestuous relationship with Anjelica Huston. Her sister wrote in a memoir that they had to call Jack Nicholson to save them from a bad situation.
O’Neal and Fawcett fought like cats and dogs until they were broke up. He had trouble with alcohol and other demons. His daughter, Tatum, from his first marriage, who co-starred with him in “Paper Moon,” won an Oscar for that film. He raised her as if she were an adult, exposing her to sex and drugs and rock and roll.
O’Neal had other tragedies. His son Griffin had a boating accident in 1986 with GianCarlo Coppola, son of director Francis, resulting in Coppola’s death. Alcoholism and substance abuse have been a theme in the O’Neal family since the 60s.
When you look at Ryan O’Neal in a movie like “What’s Up Doc?” you see all the potential recognized by director Peter Bogdanovich. He was an immediate hit and held on for more than a decade. But the drugs, Studio 54, escapades with various women, wrecked him.
O’Neal’s son, Patrick, posted this to Instagram. It’s pugilistic, just like Ryan.
