Entertainment

Former Hollywood Heartthrob Ryan O’Neal Dies at Age 82

Published

12 months ago

2023-12-09

Geoff Brown

Former Hollywood Heartthrob Ryan O'Neal Dies at Age 82

Ryan O’Neal, who rose from a TV soap opera to an Oscar nomination for his role in “Love Story” and produced a witty performance in “Paper Moon,” died on Friday. “My father died peacefully today,” his son wrote on Instagram.

There was no mention of a cause of death. Ryan O’Neal was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2012, a decade after being diagnosed with chronic leukemia for the first time. He was 82.

In the 1970s, Ryan O’Neal was one of the world’s biggest movie stars, working across genres with several of the era’s most acclaimed directors, including Peter Bogdanovich on “Paper Moon” and “What’s Up, Doc?” and Stanley Kubrick on “Barry Lyndon.” He frequently employed his young, blond good looks to play men with shady or dangerous histories hidden beneath their clean-cut appearances.

O’Neal continued a consistent television acting career into his 70s in the 2010s, with appearances on “Bones” and “Desperate Housewives,” but his prolonged romance with Farrah Fawcett and his troubled family life kept him in the spotlight.

Twice divorced, O’Neal was sexually involved with Fawcett for about 30 years, and they had a son, Redmond, in 1985. The pair divorced in 1997, but remarried a few years later. He stayed at Fawcett’s side as she battled cancer, which took her life in 2009 at the age of 62.

O’Neal fathered actors Griffin O’Neal and Tatum O’Neal with his first wife, Joanna Moore, including his co-star in the 1973 film “Paper Moon,” for which she received an Oscar for best supporting actress. With his second wife, Leigh Taylor-Young, he had a son named Patrick.

Ryan O’Neil’s Rocky Ties

Ryan O’Neal received his own Oscar nomination for best actor for the 1970 tearjerker drama “Love Story,” co-starring Ali MacGraw, about a young couple who fall in love, marry, and discover she is dying of cancer. The classic, but frequently satirized, statement from the film is: “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”

The actor had rocky ties with three of his children, including alienation from his daughter, squabbles with son Griffin, and a drug-related arrest prompted by his son Redmond’s probation check. Although his attempts to reunite with Tatum O’Neal were transformed into a short-lived reality series, his personal drama frequently overshadowed his later career.

Before gaining a prominent role on the prime-time soap opera “Peyton Place” (1964-69), O’Neal appeared in a few bit parts and did some stunt work.

Following that, O’Neal made his feature film debut in 1969 with “The Big Bounce,” co-starring his then-wife, Taylor-Young. But it was “Love Story” that catapulted him to stardom.

The romantic melodrama became one of Paramount Pictures’ biggest hits and received seven Academy Award nominations, including one for best picture. It took home the award for best music.

After “Love Story” catapulted him to stardom, Ryan O’Neal was considered for nearly every big leading job in Hollywood. The studio even tried to get him to play Michael Corleone in “The Godfather” before director Francis Ford Coppola insisted on Al Pacino.

O’Neal then appeared in Bogdanovich’s 1972 screwball comedy “What’s Up, Doc?” as a clumsy professor opposite Barbra Streisand.

The year following “What’s Up, Doc?” Bogdanovich cast him in the 1930s con artist comedy “Paper Moon.”

Tatum, his real-life daughter

Ryan O’Neal portrayed an unscrupulous Bible salesman who preyed on widows he found through obituary notices. Tatum, his real-life daughter, played a trash-talking, cigarette-smoking orphan who need his assistance and eventually helps rehabilitate him.

Although both actors were praised by reviewers, the small girl’s outspoken performance overshadowed her father’s, making her the youngest individual in history to win a competitive Academy Award. She was ten years old when she received the prize in 1974.

The elder O’Neal’s next notable role was in Stanley Kubrick’s 18th-century epic “Barry Lyndon,” in which he played an impoverished Irish rogue who traversed Europe pretending to be an aristocracy.

However, filming the three-hour film was arduous work, and Kubrick’s legendary perfectionism caused a schism between him and the actor that never healed.

After that, O’Neal reunited with Tatum in Peter Bogdanovich’s early Hollywood comedy “Nickelodeon” (1976). However, the picture was a disappointment, and they never collaborated again. With the sequel “Oliver’s Story” (1978), he attempted to capitalize on his “Love Story” character, Oliver Barrett.

Father and daughter grew apart as Tatum grew older, with the elder actor learning of his daughter’s marriage to tennis great John McEnroe via a belated telegram, according to Ryan O’Neal, who wrote about his connection with Fawcett in a 2012 book.

“A door inside me locked the morning the telegram came, and I am still blindly searching for the key to open it,” O’Neal said in the letter titled “Both of Us.”

O’Neil’s Son Convicted and Jailed

In the 1980s, O’Neal’s career cooled further with the emerald heist drama “Green Ice” (1981) and the 1984 comedy “Irreconcilable Differences,” in which he played a busy father in an unhappy marriage whose daughter, played by 9-year-old Drew Barrymore, attempted to divorce her parents.

Ryan O’Neal’s personal life also hit rock bottom during the decade. Griffin Coppola had multiple run-ins with the law, including a 1986 boating accident in Maryland that killed Gian-Carlo Coppola, 23, son of film director Francis Ford Coppola. Griffin O’Neal was convicted of operating a boat carelessly and recklessly, received a community service sentence, and later served a brief stint in jail as a result.

With his Hollywood fame dwindling, Ryan O’Neal began appearing in TV movies and finally returned to series television with the 1991 sitcom “Good Sports,” co-starring then-lover Fawcett, although the show only lasted one season.

Both admitted that the work had put a strain on their relationship.

“We get into fights,” stated O’Neal in 1991. “She’s a tough cookie.” She anticipates being well-treated. On a set, that might get forgotten when you’re fighting the clock and trying to create a moment.”

Redmond O’Neal’s arrest

Ryan O’Neal began taking on more supporting roles in the 1989 picture “Chances Are.” In “Faithful” (1996), he played a husband who employs a hitman to kill his wife, and in “Zero Effect” (1998), he played a mystery businessman.

His relationship with Fawcett had ended by then, but they stayed friends and resumed their romance in the 2000s. However, the tumultuous O’Neal family dynamics that had previously tested their relationship continued.

The elder O’Neal was detained in 2007 for alleged assault and weapon discharge during a confrontation with Griffin, but charges were dropped. Redmond, their son, was constantly arrested, incarcerated, and spent several years in court-ordered treatment.

In September 2008, a probation check at his father’s Malibu house resulted in Redmond O’Neal’s arrest for methamphetamine possession.

Ryan O’Neal pleaded guilty and entered a drug diversion program, but he publicly denied owning the drugs. He claimed he took them from his son in order to protect him.

On April 20, 1941, Charles Patrick Ryan O’Neal was born, the son of playwright Charles O’Neal and actress Patricia Callaghan O’Neal. Before becoming a performer, Ryan O’Neal worked as a lifeguard and an amateur boxer.

Source: AP

Entertainment

Gladiator II Rakes in $87 Million in Weekend Debut

Published

6 days ago

2024-11-18

Geoff Brown

Despite not playing in theaters in the United States, Canada, and China until this coming Friday, Gladiator II earned $87 million over the weekend, which is the best foreign opening for a Ridley Scott film to date.

Last week, the picture premiered in 63 countries, including the UK, and grossed $11.4 million from 722 theatres. Particularly impressive was its performance in France, where it raised $10.3 million from 729 outlets.

But this one is a little weaker compared to February’s smash hit sequel, Dune: Part Two, which grossed $97 million worldwide in its opening weekend. At the same time, Deadpool & Wolverine made $233 million for Disney, while Inside Out 2 for Pixar grossed $140 million.

The Fall Guy, an action comedy starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, earned $36.7 million in its opening weekend worldwide, while Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga earned $30 million.

Last Monday, King Charles III attended a screening of Gladiator II in London, capping off a weeks-long worldwide press tour for the film’s cast and production. A Mexican biscuit brand, Rome’s public transportation system, and a German bank VR are just a few multinational brands it has teamed up with to boost its visibility.

In Australia, dessert merchant Oliver Brown offered a special edition of pistachio-heavy puds and drinks dubbed the Emperor’s Collection. The Gladiator II salted caramel latte is available at French Coffee Shop, a business in Paris.

After poor statistics for Venom: The Last Dance and The Rock’s comedy Red One, which premiered worldwide last week, fans hope that Scott’s delayed sequel can lift the global box office for the last month and a half of the year.

Some are predicting a Barbenheimer-style struggle for the top spot in the US box office when Gladiator II and the highly anticipated musical Wicked premiere on the same day, even though double-bill events are unlikely to be very popular.

Gladiator Star Russell Crowe Honored in Rome

Gladiator Star Russell Crowe Honored in Rome

Entertainment

Blizzard’s Remastered Versions Of Warcraft 1 And 2 Are Now Available On PCs.

Published

2 weeks ago

2024-11-13

Salman Ahmad

Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment

(VOR News) – It has been said by Blizzard that it does not intend to remake Warcraft 1 and 2 since the company believes that these games are “just not that fun any longer.”

When the corporation first made this declaration, it has been almost exactly eight years since it was delivered.

However, the firm has only recently made the news that it will be doing precisely that, and as part of the celebrations for Warcraft’s 30th anniversary, both of the remastered versions are now available to play. The celebrations did not start until today.

The public first played Warcraft in 1994.

This game played a significant role in Blizzard’s rise to the top of the competition. In the year that followed, Warcraft 2 was hastily created in order to suit the requirements of the burgeoning fanbase that the first Warcraft had established.

Additionally, the company has just disclosed that they will be remastering the games, and these remasters will contain a variety of additions to the traditional real-time strategic action that is included in the games.

The initial stage of these enhancements to the development process consists of a new collection of hand-drawn pictures that may be toggled on and off in real time. The artistic style of the originals has been said to be completely captured by these photos, according to the assertions made.

Specifically, Blizzard has implemented “modern controls” for Warcraft 1, which include the option to move with a right click, the ability to pick bounding boxes, and a faster progression rate.

These features are all present in the Warcraft game.

The alterations that have been made include these, however they are not the only ones. It is important to note that these changes have been introduced in addition to the user interface and user experience enhancements that have been implemented throughout both games.

Tool tips, health bars, mission decision screens, and increased unit selection are some of the enhancements that have been introduced in this version of the game. As an additional feature, the multiplayer mode that was included in the first version of Warcraft 2 is still included in the remastered version of the game.

As an additional point of interest, each and every one of the legacy custom maps is entirely compatible with the new edition and may be played in the same capacity.

Despite the fact that there is currently no information regarding whether or not Warcraft 1 Remastered and Warcraft 2 Remastered will eventually be made available on other markets, both of these remastered versions of the game are currently available for purchase on Battle.net for personal computers at prices of $9.99 and $14.99, respectively.

Both of these versions of the game are remastered versions of the original game. A Battle Chest bundle is also available for purchase, and it can be purchased for the price of $39.99. All of the titles that have been remastered are included in this bundle, in addition to Blizzard’s Warcraft 3: Reforged, which has been met with a considerable deal of criticism.

Blizzard has been making continual efforts to improve the game ever since it was first made available to the public in the year 2020.

This is despite the fact that the game was met with poor reviews practically immediately after it was released. An entirely new upgrade, version 2.0, is currently being made available to all gamers without delay.

One of the numerous enhancements to the quality of life that are included in this is “much, much more,” in addition to a wide range of options for personalizing the hockey experience within the game and a new ladder.

In addition to the high-definition versions of all of the older Warcraft assets, these upgrades also include new environments and lighting, a redesigned user interface, and a variety of other enhancements.

SOURCE: EG

Entertainment

Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 Returns Without Kevin Costner

Published

2 weeks ago

2024-11-11

Geoff Brown

Yellowstone is finally returning for the second half of its fifth season without Kevin Costner

Yellowstone will finally return for the second half of its fifth season. We have a lot to speak about, such as recalling what is going on in this program, Kevin Costner’s departure, and whether or not season 5, part 2, will truly end Yellowstone.

Season 5 Part 1 ended on a cliffhanger—we could be in for a full-fledged Dutton family civil war—and we’ve been waiting for nearly two years.

A quick recap: nothing changes from how this program usually goes, except it’s a little more intense. Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) despised Jamie Dutton. Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) despised Beth Dutton.

That has always been the case since childhood trauma, but now things have escalated. Their father, John Dutton (Kevin Costner), is now Montana’s Governor, and Jamie, who should be his top legal thinker, is played by a group of local businessmen known as Market Equities.

Anyway, Jamie and Beth are attempting to kill each other, and John appears to be leaning toward Beth’s side.

Given Kevin Costner’s public exit from the program, part 2 of season 5 will be especially noteworthy. Long story short, he departed to make his Horizon films and never returned.

So, how will Yellowstone pick up the tale without John? That much is unknown, which adds to the season’s appeal!

Of course, our other characters continue to do what they do. Rip (Cole Hauser) is doing his Rip thing. Kayce (Luke Grimes) oversees the ranch. His wife, Monica (Kelsey Asbille), is still grieving the loss of their unborn son.

But we do have some high stakes to pick up—and they will begin on Sunday, November 10th, whether Kevin Costner appears on screen or not.

Another twist: While we believed season 5 would conclude the Yellowstone story, part 2 is in the works.

There have also been suggestions that Yellowstone could return for a sixth season, starring Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly as Rip and Beth. Hmm, certainly!

Yellowstone’s fifth season, part 2, will air each episode of the truncated half-season on Sunday nights at 8:00 PM EST.

The episodes will then be shown on linear TV, Hulu with Live TV, or the Paramount Network website and app for those with a cable subscription. The premiere will also re-air on CBS at 10:00 p.m. EST.

Yellowstone season 5, part 2, will consist of six episodes, the first of which is currently accessible to watch and stream. That implies the series might end with five more episodes of Western family drama.