Ryan O’Neal and actress Farrah Fawcett on March 9, 1985 in Beverly Hills, California.Photo:Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty
Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty
Before his death,Ryan O’NealcalledFarrah Fawcetthis “forever Valentine.”
O’Neal died on Friday, his son Patrick O’Neal announced in an Instagramtribute. He was 82.
Fawcett and O’Neal began dating in 1979, and were involved in an on-again, off-again relationship. Their son, Redmond O’Neal, was born in 1985.
Ryan O’Neal and Farrah Fawcett.Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty
Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty
“I loved her with all my heart,”O’Neal told PEOPLEafter her death. “I will miss her so very, very much.”
O’Neal exclusively told PEOPLE10 years after her death, that “there was never a day” he “didn’t love her.”
Fawcett and O’Neal fell in love when she was still married toThe Six Million Dollar ManstarLee Majors. The actor asked O’Neal to check in on his wife while he was away filming; O’Neal and Fawcett went on a date, which he described to theLos Angeles Times: “We sat and kissed and kissed until our lips were bloody.”
O’Neal shared with theNew York Daily News, “I lost interest in nearly everything but this woman. For the first time in my life, something took precedence over myself.”
Fawcett then embarked on a “spontaneous” and “volatile” romance with the “love of her life.” The former couple would go on to have blowout fights that O’Neal detailed in his 2012 memoirBoth of Us: My Life With Farrah. He shared that in the middle of one violent episode, their son, then six, allegedly threatened to hurt himself with a butcher knife unless they stopped fighting.
Ryan O’Neal and Farrah Fawcett New York Premiere of “Chances Are” circa 1989.REP/IMAGES/Getty
REP/IMAGES/Getty
Ryan O’Neal and Farrah Fawcett in “Small Sacrifices.".ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
Fawcett’s close friendsand costars noted how special the couple’s love affair was.
“Ryan was the love of her life. I don’t think she was happy without him. They fought and loved with passion. It was never boring. They were electric together,” Fawcett’s close friend Sylvia Dorsey said.
“You saw them together, they looked hot as a fritter,” Nancy Collins shared in theThis is Farrah Fawcettspecial. “You could feel the steam coming off of them.”
Ryan O’Neal and Farrah Fawcett on October 30.John Roca/NY Daily News Archive via Getty
John Roca/NY Daily News Archive via Getty
In the days before her death, O’Neal proposed marriage, Fawcett’s close friend Alana Stewart told PEOPLE in 2019.
More recently, O’Neal shared a photo of Fawcett’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star on Valentine’s Day. He wrote in the Instagram post, “My forever Valentine… 🌹.”
source: people.com
