'He's In Heaven Now': Tatum O'Neal Mourns Late Father, Ryan O'Neal, In Touching Tribute
Tatum O’Neal remembered her father, Ryan O’Neal, in a touching Instagram video on Sunday, where she appeared on camera to tell viewers, “Thank you everyone for all your love and support. He’s in heaven now.”
Ryan O’Neal was 82 when he died last Friday. A cause of death has not been revealed, but he had been living with prostate cancer since 2012.
Tatum O’Neal’s message was followed by a montage of photos of with her dad through the years, set to the ambient song “Hope To See You Again” by Antent.
“Me & my kids loved you so much, daddy,” she wrote in the caption. “You’ll forever be in my heart. Keep each other close, everyone. Life is a journey.”
The “Bad News Bears” actor also addressed her heartache in a statement to People published on Monday, telling the magazine, “I feel great sorrow with my father’s passing.”
Tatum O'Neal shared a touching tribute to her late father, actor Ryan O'Neal, in an Instagram video on Sunday. The pair are pictured at the 2010 Genii Awards here.
“He meant the world to me,” she said. “I loved him very much and know he loved me too. I’ll miss him forever and I feel very lucky that we ended on such good terms.”
Tatum O’Neal’s acting career began opposite her dad in 1973’s “Paper Moon,” a part which earned her an Oscar at just 10 years old.
The father-daughter co-stars had a tumultuous relationship, however, and she would later claim her dad was abusive and introduced her to drugs.
They were estranged for nearly two decades before reconciling in the late 2000s.
Known for classics like “Love Story,” “Barry Lyndon” and “What’s Up, Doc?”, Ryan O’Neal was an icon of the 1970s.
He also had a highly publicized personal life, dating Barbra Streisand, Joan Collins and Diana Ross, before settling down with longtime partner Farrah Fawcett.
