Ryan O'Neal (April 20, 1941 – December 8, 2023) was an American actor. Born in Los Angeles, he trained as an amateur boxer before beginning a career in acting in 1960.
In 1964, he landed the role of Rodney Harrington on the ABC nighttime soap opera Peyton Place. It was an instant hit and boosted O'Neal's career. He later found success in films, most notably in the romantic drama Love Story (1970), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama; Peter Bogdanovich's What's Up, Doc? (1972); Paper Moon (1973), which earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy; Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon (1975), in which he portrayed the titular character; Richard Attenborough's A Bridge Too Far (1977); and Walter Hill's The Driver (1978). From 2005 to 2017, he had a recurring role in the Fox television series Bones as Max, the father of the show's eponymous protagonist.
Early life
O'Neal was born in Los Angeles on April 20, 1941, the eldest son of actress Patricia Ruth Olga (née O'Callaghan; 1907–2003) and novelist and screenwriter Charles O'Neal. His father was of Irish and English descent, while his mother was of paternal Irish and maternal Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry. His brother, Kevin, was an actor and screenwriter.
O'Neal attended University High School in Los Angeles, and trained there to become a Golden Gloves boxer. During the late 1950s, his father had a job writing on a television series called Citizen Soldier, and moved the family to Munich, where O'Neal attended Munich American High School.
1981–1987: Career fluctuations
O'Neal was looking next to act in the lead role in the film version of The Thorn Birds to be directed by Arthur Hiller, but the book ended up being adapted as a miniseries. Instead O'Neal made a British-financed thriller, Green Ice (1981), for the most money he had ever received up front. The movie had a troublesome production (the original director quit during filming) and flopped at the box office. He had a cameo in Circle of Two, a film his daughter made with Richard Burton. O'Neal said Burton told him during filming he was "five years away from winning acceptance as a serious actor" ... [and that] .. "On the other hand, my agent, Sue Mengers says I'm right on the threshold. Split the difference, that's two and a half years. One good picture, that's all I need..."
However, in the early 1980s he focused on comedies. He received $2 million for the lead in So Fine. This was followed by Partners (1982), a farce written by Francis Veber in which O'Neal played a straight cop who goes undercover as one half of a gay couple. He then played a film director loosely based on Peter Bogdanovich in Irreconcilable Differences (1984); he received no upfront fee but got a percentage of the profits. It was a minor box office success. A 1984 profile called him "the Billy Martin of Hollywood, whether it's his love affair with Farrah Fawcett... his precocious actor daughter Tatum or fisticuffs with his son Griffin. He just can't seem to stay out of the news." O'Neal said he felt more like Rocky Marciano, "wondering why guys are always picking fights with me. If I'm in a good picture, they'll like me. If I'm not they'll hate me. Hey I'm mad too when I don't make good pictures."
O'Neal said too many of the roles he had played were "off the beaten path for me". In particular he regretted doing The Thief Who Came to Dinner, A Bridge Too Far, The Driver, So Fine, Partners, and Green Ice. He blamed this in part on having to pay alimony and child support. He also said agent Sue Mengers encouraged him to constantly work. "If I could get a good director to choose me for a picture, I was okay", he said. "But they stopped calling me in the mid-70s... I made a whole bunch of pictures that didn't make any money and people lost interest in me... Directors take me reluctantly. I feel I'm lucky to be here in the first place and they know it too. I'm a glamour boy, a Hollywood product. I have a TV background and they can point to the silly movies I've made." In 1985, O'Neal tried something different, playing a L.A. Herald Examiner sportswriter and sports columnist who also gambles far too much in Fever Pitch (1985), the final movie for director Richard Brooks. Even less conventional was Tough Guys Don't Dance (1987) for director Norman Mailer. Both movies flopped at the box office, and received poor
Later roles
O'Neal had a supporting part in a Liza Minnelli TV special Sam Found Out: A Triple Play (1988), and also supported in the romantic comedy Chances Are (1989). He returned to TV opposite his then-partner Farrah Fawcett in Small Sacrifices (1989). He and Fawcett made a short-lived CBS series, Good Sports (1991), which lasted 15 episodes. O'Neal co starred with Katharine Hepburn in the TV movie The Man Upstairs (1992) and had a cameo in Fawcett's Man of the House (1995). He had a good role in Faithful (1996) with Cher. It was directed by Paul Mazursky who later said of O'Neal:
- 2 eggs, separated
- 1/4 cup turkey sausage crumbles, browned in skillet according to package directions
- 1 tablespoon thinly sliced scallions (green onions)
- 2 teaspoons diced pimentos, drained on a paper towel
- Pepper for sprinkling
- Preheat oven to 450º. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in sausage, scallions and pimentos until just combined.
- Spoon mixture onto baking sheet, making 2 mounds. Using the back of a spoon, make a well in the center of each mound. Bake for 3 minutes and remove from oven.
- Gently pour one egg yolk into each well. Return to oven and bake for 4 to 5 minutes or until desired doneness of yolk. Sprinkle with pepper before serving.