Actor Ryan O’Neal, star of Love Story, dies at 82
Barbra Streisand among fellow actors who recalled ‘funny and charming’ leading man who was a legend of Hollywood’s post-classical era
For a period in the early 1970s, Ryan O’Neal, who has died at the age of 82, was close to the biggest movie star in the world. It is hard now to convey the popularity of Arthur Hiller’s Love Story. Based on a lachrymose novel by Erich Segal, the ruthless weepy became the highest-grossing film in the US for 1970. The tagline Love means never having to say you’re sorry was everywhere.
O’Neal, blessed with clean preppy good looks, built on the success. Two films for Peter Bogdanovich, What’s Up, Doc? (1972) and Paper Moon (1973), were sizeable hits. Critics and audiences were initially unsure about Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon (1974), much of which was shot in Ireland, but the film is now regarded as among the greatest ever made.
Patrick Ryan O’Neal, son of screenwriter Charles O’Neal, was born in Los Angeles in 1941. There was Irish heritage on both sides. He was a talented boxer as a youth, but drifted towards acting after troubles at school. Success arrived first on television. Guests slots came his way throughout the early 1960s before he landed the role of Rodney Harrington in the hugely popular series Peyton Place.
In that era, it was not so easy to make the transition from television to film, but decent roles arrived in films such as Alex March’s The Big Bounce and Michael Winner’s The Games. O’Neal and co-star Ali MacGraw brought just the right class of faux-hip to their roles in Love Story. The picture landed seven Oscar nominations, including one for O’Neal. Love Story’s success confirmed that, while Hollywood was embracing edgier material, there was still room for old-fashioned, blubby entertainment.
What’s Up, Doc saw him take on contemporary screwball comedy with Barbra Streisand. In Paper Moon, he starred opposite his daughter Tatum O’Neal – who became the youngest winner of a competitive Oscar – in a gorgeous monochrome summoning of the Depression era.
In Ireland (and perhaps everywhere else), he will be best remembered for his role as the hero of Kubrick’s take on a lesser-known William Makepeace Thackery novel. That director’s productions were always fraught operations, but the stresses on Barry Lyndon were unparalleled. The film was only a modest success at the box office, generating mixed reviews. When, however, Sight and Sound magazine published its poll last year, the world’s directors voted Barry Lyndon the 12th best film ever. O’Neal’s eerily flattened performance was a vital part of the aesthetic.
More conventionally handsome than the rising wave of rugged actors, O’Neal wasn’t a massive draw in the 1980s. But he continued to work, appearing in a variety of films and TV shows. In later years, he struggled with health problems, including a leukemia diagnosis in 2001 and prostate cancer in 2012. O’Neal was known for his magnetic presence and his unmistakable Hollywood charm.
So sad to hear the news of Ryan O’Neal’s passing, Barbra Streisand said. We made two films together, What’s Up, Doc? and The Main Event. He was funny and charming, and he will be remembered.
Ryan O’Neal leaves behind a lasting legacy in the film industry. His performances in Love Story and Barry Lyndon solidified his place as a legend of Hollywood’s post-classical era. Although he faced personal challenges and health issues, O’Neal’s talent and charisma shine through in his body of work. He will be remembered as an iconic leading man who captivated audiences around the world.
