Hollywood star Ryan O’Neal will be reunited with Farrah Fawcett in heaven, his son has said, as the world remembers how one of Hollywood’s greatest love stories began.
The iconic star, who was both a matinee idol and an award-winning actor, died at the age of 82, his son Patrick confirmed via social media on Friday.
In a heartfelt tribute, he wrote: ‘So this is the toughest thing I’ve ever had to say but here we go.
‘My dad passed away peacefully today, with his loving team by his side supporting him and loving him as he would us.’
He also spoke of his father’s on-off relationship with Charlie’s Angels star Farrah Fawcett, who died in 2009 at the age of 62 from cancer.
‘Ryan never bragged’, he added. ‘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.
They were partners from 1979 to 1997 after he stole the bubbly blonde beauty away from her husband, Lee Majors of The Six Million Dollar Man fame
Together they had a son named Redmond, 38, who had trouble with the law, even serving time in jail
Their relationship was tumultuous due to Ryan’s infidelity, and their relationship ended when Ms Fawcett found him in bed with actress Leslie Stefanson
Ryan was also known for his high-profile relationship to Charlie’s Angels actress Farrah Fawcett which lasted decades; they never wed. The two were partners from 1979 to 1997. Seen in 2004
Hollywood actor Ryan O’Neal has died at the age of 82. His son Patrick shared the sad news on social media on Friday afternoon; seen in 2000
‘Farrah and Ryan. He has missed her terribly. What an embrace that must be. Together again.’
O’Neal was known for his high-profile relationship to Ms Fawcett which lasted decades; they never wed.
They were partners from 1979 to 1997 after he stole the bubbly blonde beauty away from her husband, Lee Majors of The Six Million Dollar Man fame.
Together they had a son named Redmond, 38, who had trouble with the law, even serving time in jail.
Their relationship was tumultuous due to Ryan’s infidelity, and their relationship ended when Ms Fawcett found him in bed with actress Leslie Stefanson.
But, they reunited in 2001 and remained together until her death in 2009.
He also dated Anjelica Huston. She would accuse him of abusing her in her tell-all book.
According to his daughter Tatum, he also had an affair with Melanie Griffith.
The pair met through O’Neal’s friend and Fawcett’s husband at the time Lee Majors. Fawcett was known for her time on Charlie’s Angels and O’Neal was still best known for his 1970s Oscar-nominated role in Love Story.
The pair began a relationship with Ms Fawcett when Majors suggested Ryan take her out for the evening while he was away from home
O’Neal recounted the moment when Majors suggested the pair have dinner in his 2012 book, Both of Us: My Life with Farrah, writing that Majors had said: ‘Why don’t you take her to dinner one night?’
Just days beforehand, he had seen Ms Fawcett after a trek up Antelo Road near Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles with Majors. He described her as ‘delightful’ and ‘full of childlike warmth’ in his book.
His son Patrick shared the sad news on social media on Friday afternoon. ‘So this is the toughest thing I’ve ever had to say but here we go,’ he began. ‘My dad passed away peacefully today, with his loving team by his side supporting him and loving him as he would us’
He had 70s hunk status in spades; O’Neal photographed in California in October 1974
O’Neal played Rodney Harrington on the 1964 series Peyton Place
O’Neal stayed for lunch and Ms Fawcett asked him to come back that evening to watch a boxing match in their home.
‘They were saying the marriage was over, and I was saying they were terrific together,’ O’Neal later told Vanity Fair.
It wasn’t long after this that Majors had asked O’Neal to take Ms Fawcett to dinner.
Just a week later, he took her to a Ry Cooder concert, writing that Ms Fawcett eventually agreed to go with him, having talked it through with Majors beforehand.
‘I let him know that Ryan asked me out. He said, ‘I told him to. But you’re not going’, he wrote.
Majors and O’Neal’s relationship then began to break down, with Majors calling his house and hanging up, finally telling him to ‘stay away’ from his wife.
But, O’Neal, who was previously married to actress Joanne Moore and later Leigh Taylor-Young, had fallen for Ms Fawcett, telling Vanity Fair: ‘It was a situation I’d never been in before- committing to a woman before I’d even talked to her about it’.
Ms Fawcett and Majors went onto divorce in 1982.
Tributes have flooded in for O’Neal, who also had two children with his first wife.
On Friday, his daughter Tatum O’Neal shared a statement with People reacting to the news.
In the 1973 film Paper Moon Ryan co-starred with his daughter Tatum O’Neal
The cover boy also romanced the Bond girl Ursula Andress; seen in 1977
O’Neal attends the Farrah Fawcett 5th Anniversary Reception at the Farrah Fawcett Foundation on June 25, 2014 in Beverly Hill
‘I feel great sorrow with my father’s passing,’ she shared. ‘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.’
Barbra Streisand, who worked with O’Neal on What’s Up, Doc? and The Main Event, and Marisa Berenson on Barry Lyndon, shared a tribute to the late star on X, formerly known as Twitter, upon hearing the heartbreaking news of Ryan’s passing and shared a black and white image of the pair taken in the past.
The actress also typed, ‘So sad to hear the news of Ryan O’Neal’s passing. We made two films together, What’s Up, Doc? and The Main Event. He was funny and charming, and he will be remembered.’
Mia Farrow also uploaded a tribute by sharing various throwback images and penned, ‘Rest in peace dear Ryan.’
The two notably costarred in the series, Peyton Place.
Sharon Stone also paid tribute with a black-and-white photo of O’Neal from his later years.
‘It’s w deep sadness I post this. RIP Ryan O’Neal,’ she wrote, adding a heart emoji.
O’Neal was last seen being aided into his vehicle from a wheelchair by a helper in Brentwood, California on November 6, 2023. O’Neal was wheeled down the sidewalk and had two caretakers got him into the front seat of his car, lifting him from under his arm.
O’Neal was best known for his movies in the 1970s, which included Paper Moon, costarring his daughter Tatum.
The acclaimed film, which was directed by Ryan’s What’s Up, Doc? collaborator Peter Bogdanovich, earned the young girl the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress when she was just 10, making the budding star — who had turned nine during the production – the youngest person to ever win a competitive Oscar.
O’Neal is survived by four children: Tatum O’Neal and Griffin O’Neal with Joanna Moore, Patrick O’Neal with Leigh Taylor-Young, and Redmond James Fawcett O’Neal with Fawcett, and his five grandchildren.
