Ryan O’Neal’s Daughter Tatum Speaks out on His Death

Tatum O’Neal remembers her late father Ryan O’Neal. “I feel great sorrow with my father’s passing,” Tatum told PEOPLE in a statement. “He meant the world to me. I loved him very much and know he loved me too. I’ll miss him forever and I feel very lucky that we ended on such good terms.”

She made the statement shortly after her brother Patrick O’Neal posted a message on Instagram sharing news of their father’s death. The 56-year-old sports broadcaster praised the Oscar-nominated actor, saying he “passed away peacefully” as “a Hollywood legend.”

While he said it was “the toughest thing I’ve ever had to say,” Patrick explained that his “loving team was by his side supporting him” when he passed away. In his grief, he continued to describe his father as his “hero,” saying, “I looked up to him and he was always bigger than life.”

As part of her celebration of her father’s 82nd birthday earlier this year, Tatum posted a heartwarming Instagram picture posing with her father as he sat next to her. As The Bad News Bears actress held onto a small dog, the two smiled together on a bed. “Happy birthday, Dad! I love you,” was all she wrote in a simple yet heartfelt message in her post. 

In 1973, Tatum and her father starred in Paper Moon, earning Tatum the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, making her the youngest award winner ever at 10 years old. Four children survive the late star: Tatum and Griffin O’Neal, whom he shared with Joanna Moore; Patrick, with Leigh Taylor-Young; and Redmond James Fawcett O’Neal, with Farrah Fawcett.

Tatum’s son, Sean McEnroe, 36, posted a family picture in September 2020 with his grandfather Ryan, his mother, and his siblings, Kevin, 37, and Emily, 32. As the middle child of Tatum and her ex-husband, tennis icon John McEnroe revealed in his caption that the family had not gathered together in 17 years.

“This is one of the most memorable photos of my life. The last time we were all together was at the 30-year Paper Moon Anniversary in 2003. I could cry tears of gratitude that everyone in this photo is still alive and that we were all able to come together again after so many years of hardship. The entire West Coast is burning, but if the O’Neals can reconcile, truly anything is possible,” Sean wrote.