Actor Ryan O’Neal was laid to rest in Westwood Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California, beside his longtime partner, Farrah Fawcett.
Congestive heart failure claimed the 82-year-old actor, who was nominated for an Oscar, on December 8th in Los Angeles.
Approximately 25 people, including Farrah Fawcett’s best friend Alana Stewart, his ex-wife Leigh Taylor Young and their son Patrick O’Neal, attended his graveside funeral, according to exclusive images acquired by a newspaper outlet.
A short ceremony took place inside the cemetery chapel at 11 am, followed by the moving of Ryan O’Neal’s redwood-coloured coffin to his final resting place next to his lifelong girlfriend Farrah Fawcett.
The former Hollywood A-list couple had a tumultuous relationship that lasted for more than thirty years before she passed away on June 24, 2009, at the young age of sixty-two, from cancer.
The movies from the 1970s that Ryan O’Neal was most well known for were Paper Moon and others that co-starred his daughter Tatum O’Neal.
The young actress, who’d turned nine during the filming, became the youngest person to ever win a competitive Oscar when she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at the age of ten thanks to the critically acclaimed film, which was directed by Peter Bogdanovich, a collaborator on Ryan O’Neal’s ‘What’s Up, Doc?’.
In addition, he collaborated with some of the greatest female celebrities of the day, including Marisa Berenson on Barry Lyndon and Barbra Streisand on What’s Up, Doc? and The Main Event.
After learning of the sad news of Ryan O’Neal’s departure, Barbra Streisand paid respect to the late star on X, then known as Twitter, and posted a black and white picture of the two from their earlier days together.
The actress also typed, ‘So sad to hear the news of Ryan O’Neal’s passing. We made two films together, What’s Up, Doc? and The Main Event. He was funny and charming, and he will be remembered.’
Mia Farrow also uploaded a tribute by sharing different throwback pictures and wrote, ‘Rest in peace, dear Ryan.’ The two notably co-starred in the series, Peyton Place.
Patrick, his son, shared a lengthy statement along with a sunset shot from the beach.
‘This is very difficult for my wife Summer and I, but I will share some feelings to give you an idea of how great a man he is,’ he wrote.
‘My father Ryan O’Neal has always been my hero. I looked up to him and he was always bigger than life. When I was born in 1967 my dad was already a TV star on Peyton Place.
‘That’s where he met my mum Leigh Taylor-Young, and about 9 months later (give or take a date night or two) I was born,’ he added.
‘My dad became an international movie star with Love Story at the beginning of the 1970s, a decade he absolutely crushed by starring in movies like What’s Up, Doc?, Paper Moon, Barry Lyndon, A Bridge Too Far, The Main Event, and The Driver.
‘He is a Hollywood legend. Full stop. The growth spurt of the first name Ryan can be traced back to my dad. That’s a fact.
‘He was Rodney Harrington on Peyton Place 3 days a week (he starred in 500 shows over 5 years) and then of course the name Ryan peaked after Love Story (the film that saved Paramount Studios and earned my dad a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame).’
In addition, Sharon Stone honoured Ryan O’Neal with an image from his later years.
A much-loved actor has just died and has now been buried, but people and the media have already started to eradicate his most splendid legacy, and his movies before his body was even cold. His personal life was of little concern to us, but now people are making it their business.
Nobody knows what goes on in a person’s life and we need to leave well alone, especially when it comes to people we don’t know.
His life was not relevant to us. The only relevant things are his movies that he should be remembered for like ‘Love Story’ and ‘What’s Up, Doc’, which were among his greatest works.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 