Hollywood legend Ryan O’Neal, known for his roles in Love Story and Paper Moon, has died at age 82.
The news was delivered by his son Patrick O’Neal, whom he shared with his second wife, Leigh Taylor-Young.
Patrick posted a lengthy tribute to his father on his Instagram, sharing some personal thoughts about his father.
“My dad passed away peacefully today, with his loving team by his side supporting him and loving him as he would us,” wrote Patrick, who is a sports broadcaster.
“As my father, he was second to none. The best and most loving and supportive dad, and I am just so lucky to have had him.
“If I lacked confidence, he gave me his. And he had so much confidence. I know I made him proud, and that fills my heart. He was my biggest fan and I am really going to miss talking about my teams with him.
“This is just so hard for us. Ryan made such an impact and this will be difficult without him. This is and will be a huge void in our lives.”
O’Neal was also father to actress Tatum O’Neal and Griffin O’Neal, whom he had with his first wife, Joanna Moore, and Redmond James Fawcett O’Neal with his longtime partner, the late Farrah Fawcett.
O’Neal’s career began with his role as Rodney Harrington on the soap opera Peyton Place (1964-1969), but he was shot to heartthrob status in the ’70s with his films What’s Up, Doc? (1972), Paper Moon (1973) – for which he was nominated for the Golden Globe Best Actor award, Barry Lyndon (1975), A Bridge Too Far (1977), The Main Event (1979), and The Driver (1978).
O’Neal’s death comes after two cancer diagnoses, being diagnosed with chronic leukemia in 2001, and later with prostate cancer in 2012.