Remembering Ryan O’Neal

Ryan O'Neal, at right, with Shelley Long, in the 1984 film "Irreconcilable Differences".

Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087482/mediaviewer/rm2971318272/

(May be subject to copyright)

“Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”

That quote, uttered at the end of “Love Story”, was my introduction to Ryan O’Neal.

When I heard he passed away yesterday, it reminded me of trying to watch that movie several times in my life, as well as his relationship with Farrah Fawcett and his distinguished transition into playing the con man father of the title character in “Bones”.

Ryan O’Neal was 82.

Love Story
It was already a storied movie when I tried to watch “Love Story” on a Sunday night on Channel 7 on the peasant vision dial.

The first scene I recall seeing was Ryan O’Neal playing hockey, and getting into a fight. That immediately endeared him to my heart. He soon met Ali McGraw and…

I fell asleep.

When I woke up, I had missed a good chunk of the movie. I had lost my place, didn’t know what was going on, and did something else. Later on, it was getting close to 11 p.m. and flipped back to Channel 7, just in time to see the scene where Ryan O’Neal utters those famous words.

This experience would repeat itself a couple more times, where I would start watching “Love Story”, fall asleep and get lost.

As much as I have heard about the movie, and know what it is about, I have never seen it.

Storied career
Ryan O’Neal was a true star of the silver screen. However, he got his start in the television night-time drama “Peyton Place”. I recall my Mom telling me about that show and how she enjoyed it.

That role propelled O’Neal into a string of movies that made him, well, a movie star.

It started with “Love Story” in 1970, a role that earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a motion picture drama.

He was back in 1972 with “What’s Up, Doc?” starring opposite Barbra Streisand, then on to “The Thief Who Came to Dinner” and “Paper Moon” in 1973, where he starred with his daughter Tatum O’Neal. Then it was “Barry Lyndon” in 1975; “Nickelodeon” in 1976; “A Bridge Too Far” in 1977; “Oliver’s Story”, a sequel to “Love Story” in 1978; and “The Main Event” in 1979.

This all happened when I was really young and just getting into movies. In fact, the only movie in this bunch I saw was “The Thief Who Came to Dinner”, which was really good.

Academy Performance
Oddly, I remember the feature “The Thief Who Came to Dinner” was part of as well, and maybe even better than the movie itself.

Channel 13 was part of the CTV network, so they had these shows broadcast across the nation. On Saturday nights, starting at 9 p.m., was “Academy Performance”. It was essentially a movie of the week, but had a cool introduction announcing that week’s movie. It always ended at 11 p.m., in time for the “CTV National News”.

The one I recall best was the words “Academy Performance” being written on the screen followed by the movie.

It was one such Saturday night that I saw “The Thief Who Came to Dinner.”

Down time
As the 1980s dawned, Ryan O’Neal was a major star, but his career had peaked.

The 1980s really was a down time for him. The only movie I recall even hearing about was “Irreconcilable Differences” in 1984, where Drew Barrymore plays a little girl who divorces her parents played by Shelley Long and – Ryan O’Neal.

Beyond that, I don’t recall any movie he made, and Wikipedia reveals pretty much everything he made was a flop except “Irreconcilable Differences”, which was described as a minor box office success.

However, he would rebound at the end of the decade, playing opposite Farrah Fawcett, his girlfriend of the time, in “Small Sacrifices”, about a woman who murders and attempts to murder her three children, then tries to cover it up as a car jacking.

The years after
The next time I saw Ryan O’Neal, I was surprised. To me he was still a “movie star”, but he was co-starring with Fawcett as TV sportscasters on a show called “Good Sports” in 1991, that run just 15 episodes.

He continued to act in movies such as “Faithful” and “The Zero Effect”, as well as TV shows such as “Bull”, for six episodes; “Miss Match” opposite Alicia Silverstone for 18 episodes; “Desperate Housewives”; and “90210”.

The last role I saw him in was as Max Keenan, Temperance Brennan’s father on “Bones”. He was excellent as a scheming, weasly con man. O’Neal played the role from the second season right through to its 12th and final season, for a total of 24 episodes.

He, along with his “Love Story” co-star Ali MacGraw, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2021.

Parting thoughts
My Mom was a much bigger fan of Ryan O’Neal than I was. That’s because she saw a good chunk of his 1970s movies when he was at the peak of his career.

Sadly, what I remember most was media reports of his volatile personality, and blow-ups he had with girlfriend Farrah Fawcett and son Griffin O’Neal, and his estrangement from his three eldest children, daughter Tatum O’Neal and sons Griffin and Patrick.

He did seem to reconcile with his three eldest children. His youngest son, Redmond, who he had with Farrah Fawcett, got into legal trouble and blames his parents, mostly his father.

O’Neal and Fawcett were together from 1979 to 1997, but that ended due to his temper and his cheating. They got back together in 2001 and he was with her when she died.

When he died, he was interred beside Farrah Fawcett.