The famous actor Ryan O’Neal passed away on the 8th of December, 2023. His son, Patrick, had announced Ryan’s passing away.
Back in 2012, Ryan was diagnosed with prostate cancer. And in ‘90s, O’Neal had fought off leukemia. O’Neal had four children, and each of them had a different childhood as some of them had a great childhood with O’Neal, and some had bad.
His first wife was Joanna Moore, and together, they welcomed two children. Their daughter, Tatum was born in 1963, and son Griffin was born in 1964. When it was 1967, their marriage was over.
The children lived with their mother, and as they stated, those were the days they were sleeping hungry. Tatum was also beaten by her mother’s 15-year-old boyfriend.
“I lived a hard time. There was, you know, tremendous beatings and no food,” Tatum said. “My teeth were rotting. Like, that was really happening, and I was suffering,” she explained, as she wished for her father to save her.
Ryan, later rescued his children, and took his daughter to act with him for the movie, “Paper Moon.” with her great performance, Tatum won an Oscar as she was only nine.
But Tatum had struggled a lot, as she tried to take her own life twice when she was 13. Her relationship with her father also gone bad in time.
“I started to not know where to turn,” Tatum said.
She was also believing that her father was jealous of her as Ryan hated her daughter because she won an Academy Award, while he didn’t. So Tatum had struggled with drugs and later, she recovered.
Later in life, Ryan apologized from her, as Tatum explained. “He’s all I have in terms of family, and I needed him in my life. My dad was absolutely everything to me.”
After Ryan lost Farrah Fawcett, Tatum explained that their relationship improved.
“A lot of harsh things were done. But now, we’re starting over and not looking back,” Ryan said.
Tatum’s brother, Griffin O’Neal had another story. He was an alcoholic and drug abuser. He was very young when he was exposed to drugs. As his mother and sister struggled with the drugs, he also ventured into the same path.
“I was basically an alcoholic, but I did every drug on the planet. I had problems with cocaine and speed, too,” Griffin said.
In 2015, Griffin was clean for 3,5 years. He also had an estranged relationship with his father.
He had a fight with his father when he was 15, and Ryan was punched him. Ryan was arrested then, after he assaulted Griffin with a firearm. In 2015, Griffin stated that he didn’t spoke with his father for nine years.
When Ryan divorced Moore, he had his other son, Patrick O’Neal from his second wife, Lee Taylor Young. After Patrick, they got separated too.
Patrick followed his father, and became an actor. He had appeared in “Die Hard,” “Wild Dog” and “Bliss.”
Patrick later went into producing, and later became a broadcaster. He had a close relationship with Ryan, and his father only said good things about him.
“My father, Ryan O’Neal, has always been my hero. I looked up to him, and he was always bigger than life,” Patrick said.
After Ryan and Fawcett met, they had welcomed their son, Redmond in 1985. Sadly, Redmond had struggled with addiction too. “I love him, but I have never seen a more scary side of addiction.” Tatum said about Redmond.
“He’s had a terrible life,” Ryan said about Redmond, who went into 13 differend rehab centers.
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