Who Are Ryan O'Neal's Children?

A Hollywood "Love Story" has ended following the news that Ryan O'Neal died at age 82. The actor's life was complex — and at times, controversial — with his and "Charlie's Angel" star Farrah Fawcett's tragic romance and his troubled relationship with daughter Tatum O'Neal frequently hitting the headlines. Ryan also had two ex-wives and three other children, each of whom has their own checkered history.

The actor's son, Patrick O'Neal, made the sad announcement about his father's death on Instagram. "So this is the toughest thing I've ever had to say, but here we go," he wrote on December 8. "My dad passed away peacefully today, with his loving team by his side supporting him and loving him as he would us. My father has always been my hero. I looked up to him, and he was always bigger than life."

Patrick was the product of Ryan's marriage to Leigh Taylor-Young. Per the U.S. Sun, Taylor-Young was Ryan's second wife. The couple married in 1967 and were together for four years. Patrick was their only child. Before meeting Taylor-Young on the set of the primetime soap opera "Peyton Place," Ryan was married to Joanna Moore. Their union was also short-lived; they divorced after just three years. Still, they welcomed two children, Tatum and Griffin O'Neal. Ryan's longest relationship was with Fawcett; they had an on-off-on-off rollercoaster romance that lasted from 1979 until they divorced in 1997. The two reunited in 2001, remaining a couple until Fawcett's death in 2009. The turbulent and often toxic twosome welcomed a son, Redmond O'Neal, together. So, who are Ryan's children: Tatum, Griffin, Patrick, and Ryan?

Ryan O'Neal's first marriage to fellow actor Joanna Moore resulted in his two oldest children, Tatum and Griffin O'Neal. Their relationship was a blueprint for Ryan's future romances: turbulent, troubled, and chaotic. People notes that after the couple split, Ryan was awarded custody of Tatum and Griffin due to Moore's struggles with substance abuse disorder. Given Ryan's own well-documented addiction battle, it resulted in a troubled childhood for the two youngsters.

Tatum was a celebrated child actor. She starred alongside Ryan in 1973's "Paper Moon," which resulted in her becoming the youngest-ever Academy Award winner when she took home the Best Supporting Actress Oscar at age 10. Griffin also followed in his parents' acting footsteps. Although he never reached his sister's career highs, he starred in "The Children of Times Square," "April Fools Day," and "Hadley's Rebellion," among other projects.

Sadly, both children also struggled with substance abuse disorder and had chaotic, violent upbringings. "My father gave me cocaine when I was 11 and insisted I take it," Griffin told Vanity Fair in 2009. "He was violent all the way through my upbringing. He was a very abusive, narcissistic psychopath." Ryan shot a gun at Griffin during Farrah Fawcett's 60th birthday party. "I could have hit him, but I missed," he told journalist Leslie Bennetts. Meanwhile, Tatum told ABC's "Nightline" that her childhood was "very toxic" and that she was using drugs and alcohol by the time she was a teen.

Patrick O'Neal was also an actor. Per Today, he appeared in "Die Hard 2," "Wild Hogs," and "Bliss." Patrick shares two children with actor Rebecca DeMornay and now works as a sportscaster. Unlike Griffin and Tatum O'Neal, Patrick was always a staunch defender of his dad. In the Instagram post announcing Ryan's death, Patrick vowed to keep his father's legacy going and "not be deterred from outside voices that say negative things." He charged, "If you choose to talk s**t about my dad, even though you have no clue what you are talking about, you will get called out."

However, Redmond O'Neal isn't so forgiving. Of all of Ryan's children, his son with Farrah Fawcett probably had the most brutal battle. Redmond blames his many struggles on his parents and his story is heartbreaking. Radar Online notes that the former voice actor has had numerous run-ins with the law. In 2018, he was charged with armed robbery and drug possession after allegedly holding a 7-Eleven store clerk at knifepoint. He was also accused of attempted murder after allegedly attacking five men, leaving one with multiple stab wounds to his head and upper body.  

Redmond was transferred to a state institution in 2019 after being deemed "incompetent" to stand trial. A source told Radar that Redmond has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and antisocial personality disorder. They said Ryan was desperate to make amends with his son before he died, but Redmond wanted nothing to do with him.