How Farrah Fawcett fixed things between Ryan O'Neal and his estranged daughter Tatum who he left 'at the curb'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Boxer-turned-actor Ryan O'Neal recently celebrated his 82nd birthday in the company of his beloved daughter Tatum O'Neal, who shared a heartwarming picture of her and her father smiling while sitting on the edge of the bed with Tatum holding on to her dog.
The father-daughter duo has notably come a long way after they reconciled following a decades-long estrangement. The birthday snap received a lot of love from fans, who gushed at Ryan and Tatum and noticed his late partner Farrah Fawcett's portrait hanging above his bed. In her final days, the blonde beauty is said to have brought the estranged father and daughter back together.
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"Happy birthday Dad I love you," 59-year-old Oscar winner Tatum captioned the sweet Instagram post.
Fans gushed over Ryan and called him a "heartthrob" even at 82 years old, with many noting it was hard to believe his age. Nonetheless, seeing him with his daughter was even more special, with one fan writing, "Beautiful picture of you two.." Others celebrated Ryan's new year of life by leaving comments like, "I ❤️ this. Happy birthday to your Dad!" and "Happy birthday, sir! You look great!"
Ryan O'Neal and Farrah Fawcett
Ryan and Fawcett got into a romantic relationship after meeting in 1979 on the set of 'The Six Million Dollar Man'. While they never married, the lovebirds had a son named Redmond O'Neal in 1985.
The couple parted ways in 1997 but reunited in 2001 after Ryan was diagnosed with leukemia and Farrah took care of him as he went into remission. Tragedy struck when the actress died of anal cancer on June 25, 2009, at age 62. However, it was also the first time Ryan reunited with his daughter Tatum after years of bitter estrangement.
Fractured relationship
Cracks in the father and daughter's relationship developed back when they starred together in 1973's 'Paper Moon', which made Tatum the youngest person to win an Academy Award at just 10 years old.
Tatum, whose mother was actress Joanna Moore, battled drug addiction in her teen years. Her father was already dating Farrah by the time she was 16, and so she felt like she was left alone "at the curb." However, a year before Fawcett died, Tatum reached out to her.
Reconciliation
Tatum's son Sean reportedly reached out to Ryan because he thought Farrah's cancer battle would lead the actor to depression. Tatum and her son eventually started bringing her flowers and food to the hospital and they would talk for hours on end. Tatum said Farrah seemed happy to speak with her. When she succumbed to cancer in 2009, the two had reconciled.
'She brought us back together'
"I feel very lucky that I survived. I've fallen down along the way, but I've always gotten up," Tatum told People, insisting that Farrah's death played "a very big role" in her and her father's reconciliation. "She brought us back together," she added. "He told me he's sorry. He's all I have in terms of family, and I needed him in my life. My dad was absolutely everything to me." Tatum spoke at length about their roller-coaster relationship in her autobiography, 'A Paper Life', admitting that she was doing much better now and loved that her father was back in her life again, according to AmoMama.