American actor Ryan O'Neal, known for iconic films of the 82s such as 'Love Story' and 'Paper Moon', died on Friday at the age of <>.
"This is very hard for us ... Ryan made a huge impact and this will be difficult without him. It is and will be a huge void in our lives," his son, sports presenter Patrick O'Neal, announced in an Instagram post.
No further details were provided about the death, but O'Neal was diagnosed with chronic leukemia in 2001 and prostate cancer in 2012.
O'Neal began carving out a space for himself on the small screen with the late-night soap opera 'Peyton Place', in which he appeared alongside Mia Farrow, to make a meteoric leap to cinema with the acclaimed 'Love Story' (1970) alongside Ali MacGraw, which earned seven Oscar nominations, including his as a leading actor.
Two years later, he would star in the comedy 'What's Up, Doc', directed by Peter Bogdanovich, in which he played a young music teacher who meets the eccentric young Judy (Barbra Streisand), with whom he left a myriad of crazy situations that still survive among film lovers.
O'Neal and Bogdanovich would team up again in 'Paper Moon' (1973), where, alongside Madelyn Kahn, he demonstrated his versatility as a comic and moving actor at the same time.
He was married to actresses Joanna Moore (1963-1967) and Leigh Taylor-Young (1967-1974) and in 1981 began dating Farrah Fawcett, star of the series 'Charlie's Angels', with whom he broke up in 1997. From that relationship was born their son Redmond O'Neal, also an actor.
However, their union was marked by O'Neal's alleged infidelities, problems with addictions, and an alleged lack of control over his temper that also affected his career.
Thus, he progressively lost relevance in Hollywood until he was relegated to sporadic works in the nineties, such as the feature film 'The Man Upstairs' (1992) with Katherine Hepburn, or the thriller and comedy film 'Zero Effect', directed by Jake Kasdan.
"I will share my father's legacy forever. I won't be stopped by outside voices saying negative things. If you decide to speak ill of my father, even if you have no idea what you're talking about, you'll be called out," his son Patrick said in Friday's statement.
In 2012, three years after Fawcett died of cancer, O'Neal published her memoir "Both of Us: My Life with Farrah," in which she gave her version of the bond she had with the female icon and tried to get her family relationship back on track after a long estrangement with her daughter, Oscar-winning actress Tatum O'Neal.