Inside Ryan O’Neal and Farrah Fawcett’s rollercoaster love story and his heartbreak after her death from cancer – as actor dies aged 82

• READ MORE: Ryan O’Neal dead at 82 after frail final appearance in wheelchair

Ryan O’Neal, who died this Friday at the age of 82, found himself under the spotlight for his headline-grabbing personal life as much as his movies.

But none of his relationships captured the public imagination as much as his rollercoaster romance with blonde bombshell Farrah Fawcett.

Their radiant good looks and megawatt glamour made them a golden couple in the 1980s – but behind the scenes Ryan was voraciously unfaithful, and at one point he was even accused by his daughter of beating Farrah.

Farrah ultimately walked out on him in 1997 after catching him in bed with another woman, but they got back together four years later.

He remained by her side through her ravaging decline with cancer, right up until she died in 2009 at the heartbreaking age of just 62.

Now DailyMail.com looks back on the tempestuous love story that, against the odds, lasted a quarter of a century until death did them part…

None of Ryan O’Neal’s relationships captured the public imagination as much as his rollercoaster romance with blonde bombshell Farrah Fawcett; pictured 1989

Now DailyMail.com looks back on the tempestuous love story that, against the odds, lasted a quarter of a century until death did them part; pictured 2003

He remained by her side through her ravaging decline with cancer , right up until she died in 2009 at the heartbreaking age of just 62; pictured 1983

Ryan and Farrah struck up their whirlwind affair in 1979, when her marriage to the much older actor Lee Majors was on the rocks.

By that point, Farrah’s career had thoroughly eclipsed Lee’s, as she had become a household name in 1976 for her role on Charlie’s Angels 

That same year, she had posed in a clinging red swimsuit for a legendary poster that made its way onto bedroom walls all over America. 

Three years later, Ryan took off in pursuit of Farrah – a task made easier by the fact that her marriage to Lee was in steady decline. 

Ryan recalled later that once, in front of him, Farrah complained to her husband: ‘Lee, remember when we were first married, and we were in Nevada, and you’d leave me in some dinky cabin and go to a bar? You’d tell me to get undressed and get in bed and wait for you, but you never came back.’ 

In 1979 her marriage to Lee went up in flames and Farrah took up with Ryan, beginning a turbulent relationship that unfolded under a cloud of his infidelities.

They welcomed a son called Redmond in 1985, but he grew to suffer serious addictions and mental health problems, to the point that Ryan told Vanity Fair in 2009: ‘He’s been in 13 rehabs. He’s had a terrible life.’

Meanwhile Ryan’s daughter Tatum O’Neal has claimed he used to ‘beat’ Farrah. ‘He had a terrible temper and was very violent,’ Tatum insisted in Talk magazine.

Ryan and Farrah struck up their whirlwind affair in 1979, when her marriage to the much older actor Lee Majors was on the rocks; Ryan and Farrah pictured 1981

Their radiant good looks and megawatt glamour made them a golden couple in the 1980s – but behind the scenes Ryan was voraciously unfaithful; pictured 1982

Farrah herself told TV Guide in the 1990s: ‘Sometimes Ryan breaks my heart. But he’s also responsible for giving me confidence in myself’; pictured 1985

Meanwhile Ryan’s daughter Tatum O’Neal has claimed he used to ‘beat’ Farrah,’ alleging he ‘had a terrible temper and was very violent’; Farrah and Ryan pictured in 1987

Farrah herself told TV Guide in the 1990s: ‘Sometimes Ryan breaks my heart. But he’s also responsible for giving me confidence in myself.’

Their relationship problems came to a head in 1997, when she walked in on him in bed with another woman and finally decided to leave him.

Rumors of her substance issues also rose to the surface in 1997 when she went on David Letterman’s show sounding loopy and out of sorts. 

She strenuously denied having a drug problem at the time – and years later, Ryan demonstrated a certain loyalty to her by leaping to her defense on the subject.

‘She didn’t need substances,’ Ryan insisted. ‘I couldn’t even get her to smoke a joint. I was the pothead; she’s one of those people who flossed every night and took care of herself. When I saw her on Letterman I thought she was acting.’ 

Farrah had gone on Letterman to promote her latest Playboy cover, and Ryan explained that ‘she thought she was being Playmate-ish.’ 

She reunited with Ryan in 2001 and kept acting into the 2000s – but her career was cut short by two brutal bouts of anal cancer. 

Farrah was diagnosed with the illness in 2006 and had beaten it into remission by 2007, only for it to recur later that year and metastasize.

They welcomed a son called Redmond in 1985, but he grew to suffer serious addictions and mental health problems; the couple are pictured with Redmond in 1995

She reunited with Ryan in 2001 and kept acting into the 2000s – but her career was cut short by two brutal bouts of anal cancer; they are pictured in 2004

One decade after Farrah’s death, Ryan looked wistfully back at their on-off relationship, telling People : ‘There was never a day I didn’t love her’; pictured 1989

Refusing a colostomy, she jetted to Germany to procure what a friend of hers told People were ‘alternative treatments not allowed in the U.S.’

Farrah and her gal pal Alana Stewart filmed her grueling final struggle against the illness for a documentary that aired just a month before she died.

When Farrah succumbed to her illness in June 2009, her death was infamously overshadowed by that of Michael Jackson the same week.

Ryan, who remained with Farrah until her death, went to her funeral and flirted there with a woman he failed to recognize as his daughter Tatum.

One decade after Farrah’s death, Ryan looked wistfully back at their on-off relationship, telling People: ‘There was never a day I didn’t love her.’

In an announcement of Ryan’s death on Friday, his son Patrick wrote: ‘So this is the toughest thing I’ve ever had to say but here we go,’ he began.

‘My dad passed away peacefully today, with his loving team by his side supporting him and loving him as he would us.’

O’Neal’s Peyton Place costar Mia Farrow, 78, shared sweet throwback snaps of the pair and wrote: ‘Rest in peace dear Ryan.’

O’Neal was last seen being aided into his vehicle from a wheelchair by a helper in Brentwood, California on November 6, 2023. Ryan was wheeled down the sidewalk and had two caretakers got him into the front seat of his car, lifting him from under his arm. 

O’Neal was best known for his movies in the 1970s, which included Paper Moon that co-starred his daughter Tatum O’Neal.

He also worked with some of the top female stars of his day such as Barbra Streisand on What’s Up, Doc, and also The Main Event, and Marisa Berenson on Barry Lyndon.

Ryan was nominated in 1970 for a Best Actor Oscar for his blockbuster film Love Story with Ali MacGraw.

Ryan was also known for his high-profile relationship to Charlie’s Angels actress Farrah Fawcett which lasted decades; they never wed.

The two were partners from 1979 to 1997 after he stole the bubbly blonde beauty away from her husband, Lee Majors of The Six Million Dollar Man fame.

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