Before Ryan O’Neal passed away on Friday at the age of 82, the actor and his daughter Tatum O’Neal reconciled after a 20-year rift.
Tatum, 60, who co-starred with her father in the 1974 film Paper Moon when she was ten years old and went on to win the youngest Academy Award for the role, had previously opened up about her difficult relationship with her father in her 2004 autobiography A Paper Life.
But after Ryan’s girlfriend Farah Fawcett passed away in 2009, the two got back together. More recently, Tatum’s son Sean McEnroe shared a touching photo of the family on Instagram in 2020, capturing them all together for the first time in 17 years “after a long period of hardship.”
“This is among the most treasured pictures I have ever taken.” Tatum and Ryan were smiling alongside Sean as well as the two other children Tatum shares with her ex-husband John McEnroe, son Kevin, who is currently 37, and daughter Emily, who is 32. “The last time we were together as a unit was at the 30-year Paper Moon Anniversary in 2003,” Sean, now 36, wrote as the caption for the photo.
Sean went on, “After so many years of suffering, I could cry tears of appreciation that everyone in this picture is still alive and that we were all able to reunite.” Though the entire West Coast is in flames, anything is genuinely possible if the O’Neals can work things out ☺️#Love #Family #Reconciliation #Forgiveness #Wholeness #Love.”
Despite their long-standing estrangement, the father and daughter started the process of getting back together in 2008 following Ryan’s ex-partner Fawcett’s cancer diagnosis.
In a 2010 interview with PEOPLE, Tatum disclosed that she had given her son Sean access to Ryan’s phone number because she was worried about her father’s safety given Fawcett’s illness. Before she passed away, she also made contact with the Charlie’s Angels star herself.
Tatum went on to say that she got a call from her father a few months after Fawcett passed away in June 2009, when she was sixty-two, and they set up a meeting.
At the time, Ryan told PEOPLE, “It felt like time had stopped.” She is ecstatic. Compared to what I recall, this person is different.
Regarding the meeting, Tatum remarked, “He told me he’s sorry.” “I needed him in my life, and he’s the only family I have. For me, my father was everything.
Tatum acknowledged that her father’s reconciliation with her had been “largely influenced” by Fawcett’s passing.
The actress said at the time, “She brought us back together,” adding that the terrible passing had made her consider her father’s mortality.
“May God have spared my dad from any mishap. She remarked, “I’m not sure if I could have lived with myself.
At the time, Ryan also considered his role as a parent and the possibility that Tatum’s difficulties in life were exacerbated by his absence.
He acknowledged, “I might have been able to help her.” Following the death of her mother, she was alone. She claimed I abandoned her and that I didn’t want her. Many cruel things were done.
Tatum shared a cute photo of herself and her father in April to commemorate his 82nd birthday.
“Happy birthday, dad! I love you,” she posted on Instagram next to a picture of the two sharing a smile while seated on a bed.
Following Ryan’s passing on Friday, which was revealed by his son Patrick O’Neal in an Instagram post, the actress gave PEOPLE access to an exclusive statement in which she expressed her gratitude for her father’s reconciliation and her deep love for him.
“I feel deeply sad with my father’s passing,” she stated.
“To me, he was everything. I knew he loved me just as much as I loved him. Tatum continued, “I feel fortunate that we ended on such good terms, and I will miss him forever.