Tatum O'Neal

Tatum O'Neal
O'Neal in November 2014
Born	Tatum Beatrice O'Neal (1963-11-05) November 5, 1963 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, author
Years active	1973–present
Spouse(s)	John McEnroe (m. 1986; div. 1994)
Children	Kevin John McEnroe (b. 1986) Sean Timothy McEnroe (b. 1987) Emily Katherine McEnroe (b. 1991)
Parent(s)	Ryan O'Neal Joanna Moore (1934-1997)
Relatives	Griffin O'Neal (brother) Patrick O'Neal (half-brother) Redmond O'Neal (half-brother)

Tatum Beatrice O'Neal (born November 5, 1963)^[1] is an American actress and author. She is the youngest person ever to win a competitive Academy Award, which she won in 1974 at age 10 for her performance as Addie Loggins in Paper Moon opposite her father, Ryan O'Neal. She also starred in The Bad News Bears, in 1976, followed by Nickelodeon (1976), and Little Darlings (1980). She is also known for being Michael Jackson's first girlfriend.

In 1986, O'Neal married professional tennis player John McEnroe, with whom she had three children. The couple separated in 1992 and were divorced in 1994.

Family background

O'Neal was born in the Westwood area of Los Angeles, California,^[2] to actors Ryan O'Neal (1941–) and Joanna Moore (1934–1997). Her brother, Griffin, was born in 1964. In 1967, her parents divorced^[2] and her father quickly remarried. Her father's marriage to actress Leigh Taylor-Young produced Tatum's half-brother, Patrick, but the union ended in divorce in 1973. Tatum has another half-brother, Redmond, from Ryan O'Neal's relationship with actress Farrah Fawcett. O'Neal's mother died of lung cancer in 1997 at age 63, after a career in which she appeared in such movies as Walk on the Wild Side and Follow That Dream.

Young career

On April 2, 1974,^[3] at age 10, Tatum O'Neal won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actress for her performance in Paper Moon, released in May 1973.^[4] The youngest ever to win a competitive Academy Award,^[2] she turned 9 years old during filming in autumn 1972.^[5][6] O'Neal played the role of Addie Loggins, a child con artist being tutored by a Depression-era grifter played by her father, Ryan. In her 2010 appearance on RuPaul's Drag Race, O'Neal stated that her father had not attended the Academy Awards ceremony with her due to his busy schedule.

O'Neal also starred in films such as The Bad News Bears (1976) with Walter Matthau, International Velvet (1978) with Christopher Plummer and Anthony Hopkins, and Little Darlings (1980) with Kristy McNichol, and co-starred in Nickelodeon (1976) with her father Ryan, and in Circle of Two (1980) with Richard Burton. She appeared as the title character in the Faerie Tale Theatre episode "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (1984).

Later career

She appeared in only five films during the next 15 years, including in Basquiat (1996) as Cynthia Kruger.

In the early 2000s, O'Neal returned to acting with guest appearances on Sex and the City, 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, and Law and Order: Criminal Intent. In 2005, O'Neal began a recurring role as Maggie Gavin on the firehouse drama series Rescue Me, portraying the unbalanced and lively sister of Tommy Gavin, played by Denis Leary.

In January 2006, she participated in the second season of ABC's reality series Dancing with the Stars with professional partner Nick Kosovich. They were eliminated in the second round. She went on to do commentary for the series on Entertainment Tonight.

From 2006 to 2007, she portrayed the vindictive and psychotic Blythe Hunter in the My Network TV drama Wicked Wicked Games. She appears opposite Nashawn Kearse and Vanessa L. Williams in the film My Brother (2007).

Personal life

Family and relationships

One of O'Neal's first public boyfriends was pop star Michael Jackson, whom she dated in the late 1970s. Jackson described O'Neal as his first love, and in a 2002 interview with Martin Bashir said that O'Neal tried to seduce him, but he was terrified by the idea of sex.^[7] O'Neal adamantly denied all of Jackson's claims in her 2004 autobiography.^[8]

O'Neal's relationship with tennis player John McEnroe began in 1984 when she moved into his Central Park West condominium in New York City.^[9] They married In 1986.^[2][10] The couple have three children: Kevin, Sean, and Emily.^[2] They separated in 1992 and were divorced in 1994.^[2] Following the divorce, O'Neal's drug problems reemerged and she developed an addiction to heroin. As a result of her drug problems, McEnroe obtained custody of the children in 1998.^[11]

In 2011, Tatum and her father Ryan began to restore their broken father–daughter relationship after 25 years. Their reunion and reconciliation process was captured in the short-lived Oprah Winfrey Network series Ryan and Tatum: The O'Neals.^[12][13][14] In 2015, she said she had begun dating women, while choosing not to identify as either lesbian or heterosexual, saying, "I'm not one or the other."^[15]

Arrest

On June 1, 2008, she was arrested for buying crack cocaine near her Manhattan apartment building.^[16] When police searched her, they allegedly found two bags of drugs—one of crack cocaine, one of powder cocaine—and an unused crack pipe.^[16] She was charged with a misdemeanor criminal possession of a controlled substance. Authorities released her without bail.^[16] On July 2, 2008, O'Neal pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in connection with the arrest and agreed to spend two half-day sessions in a drug treatment program.^[17]

Autobiographical claims

In her 2005 autobiography, A Paper Life, O'Neal alleged that she was molested by her father's drug dealer when she was 12. She also alleges physical and emotional abuse from her father, much of which she attributed to drug use. She also detailed her own heroin addiction and its effects on her relationship with her children. Her father, Ryan, denied the allegations.^[18] In a prepared statement, Ryan O'Neal said: "It is a sad day when malicious lies are told in order to become a 'best-seller'."^[18]

In 2011, O'Neal wrote a new collection of memoirs titled Found: A Daughter's Journey Home, which dealt with her tempestuous relationship with her father, volatile marriage to John McEnroe, and her recent drug arrest.^[19]

Filmography

Films

Television

Bibliography

• Tatum O'Neal autobiography: A Paper Life. ISBN 0-06-054097-4.
• Tatum O'Neal autobiography: Found: A Daughter's Journey Home ISBN 978-0062066565

See also

• List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees

References

External links

• Tatum O'Neal on IMDb
• Tatum O'Neal at AllMovie
• When Young Stars Burn Out MSN Movies (archived 2010)
• O'Neal accepting Academy Award at age 10 - April 2, 1974—YouTube