Love Story star Ryan O’Neal has died

His son, Patrick O’Neill, wrote on Instagram that the famous American actor died peacefully on Friday, December 8, describing him as a “Hollywood legend.”

Although the cause has not been determined, O’Neal has struggled with various health problems for decades, starting with a diagnosis of leukemia in 2001 and stage IV prostate cancer in 2012.

Ryan O’Neal (full name: Charles Patrick Ryan O’Neal) was born on April 20, 1941. He trained as an amateur boxer before starting his acting career in 1960.

In 1964, he landed the role of Rodney Harrington in the ABC evening television series Peyton Place. The series was an instant hit and O’Neill’s career soared.

He then had success in films, most notably Love Story (1970), for which he received Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor, A Crazy Crazy Pursuit (1972), Paper Moon (1973), and Peter Bogdanovich’s and Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon (1975). ), Richard Attenborough’s A Bridge Too Far (1977) and Walter Hill’s The Driver (1978). From 2005 to 2017, he had a recurring role on the Fox series Bones as Max.

O’Neill married his first wife, actress Joanna Moore, in 1963. They had two children together, before divorcing in 1966. Moore eventually lost custody of their children to O’Neill as a result of her alcoholism and drug use.

His second marriage was to actress Lee Taylor Young, with whom he had a son. They remained friends after their divorce in 1973.

From 1979 to 1997, O’Neal was in a relationship with actress Farrah Fawcett. The relationship was turbulent due to his infidelity and erratic behavior. Fawcett ended the relationship when she caught O’Neill in bed with actress Leslie Stevenson. O’Neill and Fawcett became a couple again in 2001 and remained together until Fawcett’s death in 2009.

In 2001, O’Neill was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). After his battle with the disease, he often appeared alongside Fawcett as she battled cancer. In April 2012, he announced that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.