Inside Ryan O’Neal and Farrah Fawcett’s rollercoaster love story and his heartbreak after her death from cancer – as actor dies aged 82

Ryan O'Neal, who died on Friday at the age of 82was in the spotlight as much for his high-profile personal life as for his films.

But none of his relationships captured the public imagination as much as his rollercoaster romance with blonde bombshell Farrah Fawcett.

Their radiant looks and megawatt glamor made them a golden couple in the 1980s, but behind the scenes Ryan was voraciously unfaithful, and at one point was even accused by his daughter of hitting Farrah.

Farrah eventually left him in 1997 after catching him in bed with another woman, but they reunited four years later.

He stayed by her side during her devastating decline canceruntil she died in 2009 at the heartbreaking age of just 62.

Now DailyMail.com looks back at the tempestuous love story that, against all odds, lasted a quarter of a century until death parted them…

Ryan and Farrah began their whirlwind affair in 1979, when her marriage to much older actor Lee Majors was on the rocks.

At this point, Farrah's career had thoroughly overshadowed Lee's, as she had become a household name for her role in Charlie's Angels in 1976.

That same year, she had posed in a skin-tight red swimsuit for a legendary poster that ended up on bedroom walls across America.

Three years later, Ryan went on the hunt for Farrah – a task made easier by the fact that her marriage to Lee was steadily deteriorating.

Ryan later recalled that one time, in front of him, Farrah complained to her husband, “Lee, remember when we first got married, and we were in Nevada, and you left me in some little house and went to a bar? You told me to undress, go to bed and wait for you, but you never came back.”

In 1979, her marriage to Lee went up in flames and Farrah entered into a relationship with Ryan, beginning a turbulent relationship that unfolded under the cloud of his infidelity.

They welcomed a son named Redmond in 1985, but he developed serious addictions and mental health problems, to the point where Ryan shared Vanity fair in 2009: 'He has been to thirteen rehab clinics. He's had a terrible life.'

Meanwhile, Ryan's daughter Tatum O'Neal claims he “hit” Farrah. “He had a terrible temper and was very violent,” Tatum pointed out in Talk magazine.

Farrah herself told TV Guide in the 1990s, “Sometimes Ryan breaks my heart. But he is also responsible for giving me confidence in myself.'

Their relationship problems came to a head in 1997, when she encountered him in bed with another woman and ultimately decided to leave him.

Rumors of her drug problems also surfaced when she went on David Letterman's show in 1997 and sounded weird and weird.

She strenuously denied having a drug problem at the time – and years later Ryan showed some loyalty to her by defending her on the subject.

“She didn't need any resources,” Ryan insisted. 'I couldn't even get her to smoke a joint. I was the pothead; she is one of those people who flossed every night and took care of herself. When I saw her in Letterman, I thought she was acting.”

Farrah had gone through Letterman to promote her latest Playboy cover, and Ryan explained that “she thought she was Playmate-esque.”

She reunited with Ryan in 2001 and continued acting into the 2000s, but her career was cut short by two brutal bouts of anal cancer.

Farrah was diagnosed with the disease in 2006 and went into remission by 2007, but later that year the disease returned and spread.

She refused a colostomy and flew to Germany to obtain what a friend of hers told her People were 'alternative treatments not allowed in the US'

Farrah and her friend Alana Stewart filmed her grueling final battle with the disease for a documentary that aired just a month before she died.

When Farrah succumbed to her illness in June 2009, her death was infamously overshadowed by Michael Jackson's the same week.

Ryan, who stayed with Farrah until her death, went to her funeral and flirted with a woman he didn't recognize as his daughter Tatum.

Ten years after Farrah's death, Ryan looked back wistfully on their on-and-off relationship, which was telling People: 'There wasn't a day I didn't love her.'

In an announcement of Ryan's death on Friday, his son Patrick wrote: “So this is the hardest thing I've ever had to say, but here we go,” he began.

“My father passed away peacefully today, with his loving team by his side, who supported him and loved him as he loved us.”

O'Neal's Peyton Place costar Mia Farrow, 78, shared sweet throwback snaps of the couple, writing, “Rest in peace sweet Ryan.”

O'Neal was last seen being helped into his vehicle from a wheelchair by a helper in Brentwood, California on November 6, 2023. Ryan was wheeled down the sidewalk and had two caregivers put him in the front seat of his car, leaving he was lifted off the sidewalk. under his arm.

O'Neal was best known for his films from the 1970s, including Paper Moon, which starred his daughter Tatum O'Neal.

He also worked with some of the top female stars of his time, such as Barbra Streisand What's Up, Doc, and also The Main Event, and Marisa Berenson on Barry Lyndon.

Ryan was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar in 1970 for his blockbuster Love Story with Ali MacGraw.

Ryan was also known for his high-profile relationship with Charlie's Angels actress Farrah Fawcett, which lasted for decades; they never marry.

The two were partners from 1979 to 1997 after he stole the bubbly blonde beauty from her husband, The Six Million Dollar Man's Lee Majors.