Tatum O’Neal, 59, shares a rare snap with dad Ryan O’Neal in honor of his 82nd birthday
Tatum O’Neal, 59, shares rare photo with father Ryan O’Neal in honor of his 82nd birthday
Tatum O’Neal gave fans a glimpse into her family when she shared a photo of herself with her father, Ryan O’Neal, on his 82nd birthday.
“Happy Birthday Dad, I love you,” the 59-year-old Academy Award winner captioned the post, which showed them sitting next to each other on a bed as she held her little gray dog.
In the photo, her proud father put a hand on his daughter’s shoulder as she wrapped her arm around his.
She was dressed in a beige blouse with colorful vertical stripes and matching trousers.
An Andy Warhol print of Ryan’s longtime love Farrah Fawcett hung above the bed, and a bar cabinet was visible behind it.
Birthday girl: Tatum O’Neal, 59, gave fans a glimpse into her family when she shared a photo of herself with her father, Ryan O’Neal on his 82nd birthday
Throwback photo: The father and daughter duo sat on a bed. He wore a white shirt and brown pants while she wore a striped top and pants. A small gray dog was cradled by the Academy Award winner
The late Charlie’s Angels star and the Paper Moon actor were together for decades before she passed away in 2009 after a long battle with anal cancer.
They started dating in 1979 and broke up in 1997 after he had an affair. The couple got back together in 2001 and were together until her death at the age of 62.
Farrah was still married to Lee Majors, the star of the hit show The Six Million Dollar Man, when she and Ryan met and fell in love in 1979.
“There was never a day when I didn’t love her,” Ryan confessed in an interview with People in 2019.
As fate would have it, the couple’s strong attraction for each other was sealed when Lee asked Ryan to check on his wife while he was filming.
The Love Story actor and pin-up girl went on to become one of Hollywood’s “it” couples, including welcoming son Redmond in 1985.
Farrah and Ryan split in 1997 after 18 years together, but they reconciled four years later when the actress cared for Ryan after he was diagnosed with leukemia.
The tables were turned in 2006 when Farrah was diagnosed with anal cancer.
Art: An Andy Warhol print of Ryan’s longtime love Farrah Fawcett hung over the bed and a bar cabinet was visible behind them
Oldest Child: Tatum is the oldest and only girl of Ryan’s four children
Ryan was by Farrah’s bedside during her final weeks in the hospital, where he eventually proposed marriage.
“I think they would have got married if she had made it because he proposed to her in the hospital and she said yes. But she took a turn for the worse,” Farrah’s girlfriend Alana Stewart told People.
“The two had a deep bond and deep love. Whatever they went through, the ups and downs, he was the one she wanted by her side.
Farrah died holding O’Neal’s hand on June 25, 2009.
Oscar winner: Tatum is the youngest person ever to win an Academy Award, winning at the age of 10 for her performance as Addie Loggins in 1973’s Paper Moon opposite her father
Siblings: Tatum and Griffin O’Neal are from Ryan’s first marriage to Joanne Moore, he had Patrick O’Neal to Leigh Taylor-Young and Redmond Fawcett O’Neal to Farrah Fawcett
Their relationship was sometimes described as tumultuous, in part because of Ryan’s reputation as a ladies’ man and his sometimes volatile demeanor.
Yet their attraction and bond could never be denied.
In January, Ryan’s younger brother Kevin O’Neal died of natural causes at the age of 77.
He died in his sleep at his home in Thousand Oaks, California, according to Ryan’s 55-year-old sportscaster son Patrick.