Ryan O'Neal

Ryan O'Neal (born Charles Patrick Ryan O'Neal; April 20, 1941) is an Academy Award- and Golden Globe-nominated American actor.

Early life

O'Neal was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Patricia (née O'Callaghan), who had an acting career in the 1930s, and Charles O'Neal, a Hollywood movie screenwriter who had also acted. His brother, Kevin, is an actor and screenwriter. His maternal grandfather was Irish and his maternal grandmother was Russian. He spent part of his childhood abroad, including Germany. He attended University High School and became a Golden Gloves contender after training to be a boxer.

Career

In 1962—1963, O'Neal was a series regular in the NBC Western drama television series Empire. He played 21-year-old rancher's son Tal Garrett; his co-stars included Richard Egan and Terry Moore. On October 3, 1962, a week after the premiere of Empire, O'Neal guest starred in the premiere episode of the ABC series Our Man Higgins starring Stanley Holloway.

O'Neal first became famous from the prime time ABC soap opera Peyton Place. His role in Love Story gained him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Former Vice President of the United States Al Gore later claimed that O'Neal's character of Oliver in the film was modeled after Gore. Further starring roles have been the screwball comedy What's Up, Doc?, Paper Moon (co-starring his daughter, Oscar-winner Tatum O'Neal), the Stanley Kubrick directed Barry Lyndon, the Love Story sequel, Oliver's Story, and the Walter Hill car chase movie The Driver.

He starred in a series of films directed by Peter Bogdanovich (he even played a character loosely based on Bogdonavich in "Irreconcilable Differences") and was the second highest grossing movie star in 1972. However his film career had faded by the end of the decade. He has also appeared in several television series including Bones— and the short-lived 1991 CBS series Good Sports with girlfriend Farrah Fawcett.

Personal life

O'Neal has been in a long-term (off and on again) relationship with actress Farrah Fawcett. He also dated Diana Ross for some time. He was previously married to actresses Joanna Cook Moore and Leigh Taylor-Young. He has four children: Tatum O'Neal and Griffin O'Neal (with Moore), Patrick O'Neal (with Taylor-Young) and Redmond O'Neal (with Fawcett).

In 2001 he was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). As of 2006, it is in remission. After struggling with leukemia, O'Neal was frequently seen at the side of his former companion, Farrah Fawcett, during her own bout with cancer.

Incidents and arrests

2007

O'Neal was arrested for allegedly assaulting his son, Griffin, in Malibu, California, police said on February 4, 2007. O'Neal was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and negligent discharge of a firearm and released on $50,000 bond.

According to O'Neal's manager, Neil Hassman, the incident occurred when Griffin O'Neal threatened Ryan O'Neal with a fireplace poker. It was reported at the same time that this confrontation left a 22-year-old woman with injuries unrelated to the firing of the handgun; the origins of her injury and the responsible party had not been identified as of February 5. The 22-year-old woman was later confirmed as JoAnne Berry, Griffin O'Neal's girlfriend.

O'Neal in an interview with the Los Angeles Times charged that his son grazed him "four or five times" with the fireplace poker and that when he ducked to avoid the swinging weapon, Griffin "hit his own girlfriend in the head." O'Neal adds that he got "nervous" because of the woman's pregnancy. "I fled to my room," he says, "and I got my gun." When Griffin pursued him anew, says Ryan, he fired his gun "into the banister" to scare Griffin into fleeing. This is not the first time O'Neal has been accused of assaulting his son Griffin; rumors have circulated concerning O'Neal's temper with his children for some time, gaining some traction with allegations made by his daughter Tatum. In the early 1980s a fight between Ryan and Griffin O'Neal over the latter's drug use left the younger man with two teeth missing.

Complicating matters, a separate report claimed that the cause of the altercation was that Griffin had chained his half-brother Redmond to a staircase in the belief the younger man intended to buy illegal drugs, and that Ryan, discovering the chain on his return from a dinner in honor of Farrah Fawcett, flew into a rage in which he (rather than Griffin) began waving the poker. According to this scenario – sourced to "unidentified law-enforcement officials" – Ryan may have been responsible for the injuries to Miss Berry. Prosecutors declined to charge Ryan O’Neal with assault with a deadly weapon, as of May 25, 2007.

2008

O'Neal and son Redmond O'Neal were arrested Wednesday, September 17th, 2008, after authorities said they found Methamphetamine at the actor's Malibu home during a routine probation check on O'Neal's son who is serving three years of probation after pleading guilty in June to drug possession charges.

Award nominations

• 1970 - Academy Award for Best Actor for Love Story
• 1971 - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama Film for Love Story
• 1974 - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy Film for Paper Moon

Filmography

• This Rugged Land (1962)
• The Big Bounce (1969)
• The Games (1970)
• Love Story (1970)
• The Moviemakers (1971) (short subject)
• Wild Rovers (1971)
• What's Up, Doc? (1972)
• The Thief Who Came to Dinner (1973)
• Paper Moon (1973)
• Barry Lyndon (1975)
• Nickelodeon (1976)
• A Bridge Too Far (1977)
• The Driver (1978)
• Oliver's Story (1978)
• The Main Event (1979)
• So Fine (1981)
• Green Ice (1981)
• Partners (1982)
• Irreconcilable Differences (1984)
• Fever Pitch (1985)
• Tough Guys Don't Dance (1987)
• Small Sacrifices (1989)
• Chances Are (1989)
• Faithful (1996)
• Hacks (1997)
• Zero Effect (1998)
• An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1998)
• Coming Soon (1999)
• Gentleman B. (2000)
• The List (2000)
• People I Know (2002)
• Malibu's Most Wanted (2003)
• Bones (TV series) (2007, 2008)

Television

Good Sports with Farrah Fawcett, cancelled after 9 episodes

Bull, TNT Drama about Wall Street Brokers. O'Neal played Robert Roberts II, father of Robert "Ditto" Roberts III. The series was cancelled after 2 seasons.

Notes

External links

• Ryan O'Neal at the Internet Movie Database