The beloved Hollywood veteran Ryan O’Neal has been pronounced dead at 82. In 2001, he was diagnosed with leukemia, and with prostate cancer in 2012. His son Patrick O’Neal, a sportscaster in Los Angeles, revealed his father had passed away after battling these illnesses in the past few years.
Patrick broke the news on Instagram alongside the reddish hues of a sunset, “So this is the toughest thing I’ve ever had to say, but here we go. My dad passed away peacefully today, with his loving team by his side supporting him and loving him as he would us. This is very difficult for my wife Summer and me, but I will share some feelings to give you an idea of how great a man he is.”
O’Neal’s daughter, Tatum O’Neal, also paid tribute on Friday following the news of her father’s passing. “I feel great sorrow with my father’s passing. He meant the world to me,” Tatum shared with PEOPLE. “I loved him very much and knew he loved me too. I’ll miss him forever, and I feel very lucky that we ended on such good terms.”
O’Neal will forever be remembered for playing the romantic heartthrob in Arthur Hiller’s Love Story (1970), the good-natured con artist in Paper Moon (1973), and Rodney Harrington in the soap opera Peyton Place (1964) that propelled him into stardom.
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