Ryan O’Neal, ‘Love Story’ and ‘Paper Moon’ Star, Dead at 82

Ryan O’Neal, an Oscar-nominated actor who starred in the classic 1970s films, including What’s Up, Doc, Paper Moon, and Barry Lyndon, has passed away at the age of 82. His son Patrick O’Neal, a sportscaster with Bally Sports West in Los Angeles, announced on Instagram that his father had passed away on Friday. O’Neal was diagnosed with chronic leukemia in 2001 and then with prostate cancer in 2012.

“Ryan was a very generous man who has always been there to help his loved ones for decade upon decade, Patrick wrote. “Those same people are heartbroken today and will be for a long time.” My everlasting thanks to his team.

“This is just so hard for us. Ryan made such an impact and this will be difficult without him. This is and will be a huge void in our lives. And his dogs Mozart and Raven, who he loved dearly, are missing him very much. They were inseparable.”

“I will share my father’s legacy forever,” he continued. “I will not be deterred from outside voices that say negative things. If you choose to talk s- about my dad, even though you have no clue what you are talking about, you will get called out. If you go that route, I recommend you take a good look in the mirror first.”

“My dad was 82, and lived a kick ass life. I hope the first thing he brags about in Heaven is how he sparred 2 rounds with Joe Frazier in 1966, on national TV, with Muhammad Ali doing the commentary, and went toe to toe with Smokin’ Joe. YouTube has it and trust me, it’s so awesome. Ryan by a majority decision. He loved boxing. And hitting the bag. My dad is a proud member of the West Coast Boxing Hall of Fame.”

He added, “Ryan never bragged. But he has bragging rights in Heaven. Especially when it comes to Farrah. Everyone had the poster, he had the real McCoy. And now they meet again. Farrah and Ryan. He has missed her terribly. What an embrace that must be. Together again. I’ll miss you dad. I love you. We love you. No one told a story better than Ryan O’Neal.”

Patrick Ryan O’Neal was born in Los Angeles on April 20, 1941, the older son of actor Patricia Callaghan and novelist/screenwriter Charles O’Neal. In one of his early notable roles, O’Neal starred as Rodney Harrington for more than 500 episodes on the hit ABC melodrama Peyton Place, the 1964-69 serialized drama spawned by the Lana Turner film.

While Peyton Place was winding down, O’Neal made his big-screen debut in The Big Bounce (1969), followed by The Games, a Michael Winner film about a marathon runner. The screenplay was adapted by Erich Segal, which led to their collaboration on Love Story.

O’Neal would then play a college student from a wealthy family who falls for Ali MacGraw’sJenny, only to watch her tragically die from a rare blood disease in Arthur Hiller’s Love Story (1970).

 O’Neal would go on to star with Barbra Streisand in What’s Up, Doc? (1972) and The Main Event (1979), while partnering with his 9-year-old daughter, Tatum O’Neal, in the 1930s-set feature Paper Moon (1973). Tatum would become the youngest person to win an Oscar for best supporting actress for the film, making history.

O’Neal also starred in Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon (1975), the director’s highly anticipated sequel to A Clockwork Orange, Zero Effect (1998), starring Bill Pullman, and Terrence Malick’s Knight of Cups (2015). In recent years, O’Neal has had recurring roles on Miss Match and Bones.

During his life, O’Neal was married and divorced from actresses Joanna Moore and Leigh Taylor-Young, his co-star on Peyton Place. Eventually, he began a 30-year on-and-off relationship with actressFarrah Fawcett, which ended when she died at age 62 on June 25, 2009.

With Moore, he had Tatum and son Griffin; with Taylor-Young he had son Patrick. His younger brother Kevin died in January. Griffin claimed his father gave him cocaine when he was 11 years old, and they got in a fight in 2007 that brought the police.

O’Neal and Tatum, who has also suffered from drug abuse for most of her life, were unable to get along either, and their reconciliation attempt was documented in the 2011 OWN reality series Ryan & Tatum: The O’Neals, which lasted eight episodes in total.