On Friday, Ryan O’Neal passed away at the age of 82. After the death of the star, his daughter Tatum O’Neal talked about the memories of her father and how they reunited after 20 years when the wall of “no contact” had fallen off between the father and daughter.
Tatum O’Neal, 60 years old, made her debut on the big screen at the age of 10 alongside her father in the 1974 movie “Paper Moon.” Later on, Tatum became the youngest actor to win an Academy Award for her role in the movie. In 2004, Tatum documented her biography in the movie “Paper Life,” where she portrayed the differences and challenges she’s been going through in her relationship with her father.
Why did Ryan and Tatum get distant?
We all know that the bond of love between a father and a daughter is very compassionate yet fragile. Ryan and Tatum’s relationship is no different. Both of them had a lot of love and a compassionate bond with each other, but their bond became fragile and weakened by more and more distance.
According to Tatum, since the death of her mother, she started feeling distant from her father; she required more love, support, and affection from her father’s side, but it didn’t happen, and as time passed, a wall was created between them, which led to the estrangement between the father and daughter for 20 years.
Ryan had also agreed on this, as the father also believes that there was a lack of effort from his side that caused this estrangement between them. In 2010, while talking about the reconciliation, he shared that she wanted him to make her his priority, but he could not keep up with her expectations, and she felt abandoned.
How did Ryan and Tatum reconcile?
The burned bridge of connection was rebuilt by Tatum and Ryan after the death of his present wife, Farrah Fawcett, in 2009, after she was diagnosed with cancer. Tatum shared that after several months had passed since Fawcett’s death, Ryan called her, and that’s when they decided to meet each other after such a long period of time.
While seeing his daughter, Ryan said, “It was as if time stood still” and added, “She’s so happy. This is a different person than I remember,” while recalling the phase of Tantum when her mother had passed away. Tantum mentioned that her father had apologized in the meeting for not being available on the days she needed him.
According to Tantum, Fawcett’s death played a vivid role in bringing the two back together. Her death made her realize that death is very tragic, and what if someday he loses her father? As she said, “He’s all I have in terms of family, and I needed him in my life. My dad was absolutely everything to me.”
After this, the father and daughter came together and said, “We’re starting over and not looking back.” This reconciliation was documented in the 2011 reality series “Ryan & Tatum: The O’Neals.”. In 2020, a joyful family picture was posted by Sean McEnroe with Ryan along with Tantum, Kevin, and Emily (the children Tatum shares with her ex-husband John McEnroe), which was in memory of the 30th anniversary of “Paper Moon ” in 2004.
The Death of Ryan O’Neal
The announcement of the passing away of Hollywood star Ryan O’Neal was made by his son, Patrick O’Neal, on Friday through his Instagram handle. While the actress is still mourning the death of her father, she recalls all the moments of them reuniting and shares them with the media.
In April, Tatum wished her father his 82nd birthday through a post with a sweet paragraph, and after 7 months, when her father passed away, the actress said, “I feel great sorrow with my father’s passing,” but she is feeling grateful that they had reconciled ahead of his death, and she got a few joyful years to spend alongside him.
While defining her love for the passing of her father, Tantum said, “He meant the world to me. I loved him very much, and I know he loved me too. I’ll miss him forever, and I feel very lucky that we ended on such good terms.
