Ryan O’Neal – wasted talents with family woes

A heartthrob with great talent, actor Ryan O’Neal, who has just died, was nominated for an Oscar with the tearjerker Love Story (1970), one of the most successful films of all time. His career did not maintain those starry heights and he became better known for his stormy private life with Farrah Fawcett and his aggressive behaviour on set. His daughter Tatum O’Neal with whom he acted in Paper Moon succumbed to drug addiction later which she blamed on her upbringing, losing her custody of her children with John McEnroe. She was reconciled with her father in recent years.

  Ryan was born 20 April 1941 9.34am Los Angeles, California, with an actress mother and screenwriter father. His 10^th house charming Sun Venus in Taurus and Mercury in Aries designed him for a public career which would bring him attention – and latitude for indulgence as well being Taurus. He had an adventurous, friendly and lucky Jupiter Uranus in Taurus square an Aquarius Moon and trine Neptune on his IC. Certainly inventive and creative with Uranus Neptune but also emotionally erratic. His Neptune was on the focal point of a Yod to Moon sextile Sun Venus making him escapist, a dreamer and emotionally disorganized.  He also had a troublesome 8^th house Mars in Aquarius square his Saturn which would be where his explosive temper came from. An ancestral legacy he never resolved.

  He had been through two marriages before he met Farrah Fawcett for a tempestuous decade plus affair. She was the former star of Charlie’s Angels and wife of O’Neal’s friend, the actor Lee Majors. There were public rows and reconciliations. On one occasion Farrah Fawcett was photographed with two black eyes; she went on to describe O’Neal as “a loud, rowdy son-of-a-bitch”.

  During this period he also punched his teenage son, knocking out two of the boy’s teeth. “I beat up my own kids,” he said. “I am deeply ashamed.” He finally separated from Farrah but was reconciled in 2001 and stayed with her until she died of cancer in 2009.

  Farrah Fawcett, 2 February 1947 3.10pm Corpus Christi, Texas, an all-American beauty at college who graduated into acting, had an explosive and monumentally difficult chart with an 8^th house Sun Mars Mercury in Aquarius opposition Pluto Saturn in Leo. The bubbling volcano inside was hidden from view with a sympathetic Moon in Cancer on her Ascendant and an outgoing Jupiter in Scorpio in her 5^th. To some degree she may have been drawn to Ryan O’Neal because of shared patterns – he also had Mars in the 8^th in Aquarius, Neptune in the 4^th and both had last decan Pisces Midheaven.  But it was never going to be a peaceable connection. Their relationship chart had a hostile, power-struggling composite Mars opposition Pluto and only a frivolous Venus Jupiter to provide light relief.

 Their only child Redmond O’Neal has had a troubled, drug addicted life and was ruled mentally “incompetent” to stand trial in 2019, facing charges of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and antisocial personality disorder. In an interview he said: “It’s not the drugs that have been a problem, it’s the psychological trauma of my entire life. Fighting with my father, being kicked out and living on the streets, going to jail, being embarrassed all the time, just because of who my parents are. I never asked for any of this, I never wanted any attention.”

 Redmond was born 30 January 1985 2.55am Los Angeles,  has a 6^th house Taurus Moon North Node opposition a 12^th house Saturn in Scorpio in a Half Grand Sextile to Jupiter Mercury in Capricorn and Venus Mars in Pisces. His Aquarius Sun conjunct both his parents’ 8^th house Mars won’t have helped; and his over controlled Sun square Pluto echoes his father’s Sun square Pluto. But I have seen more difficult charts and there is a good deal of potential lurking inside him which he clearly hasn’t been able to access.

   Tatum O’Neal 5 November 1963 3.38 am Los Angeles, was produced from Ryan’s first marriage to actress Joanna Moore who also had addiction problems and lost custody of the children. Tatum  has an intense collection of a Scorpio Sun, Mercury, Neptune all conjunct in her 2^nd house in a creative/neurotic square a 5^th house Saturn in Aquarius. With Venus in final degree Scorpio conjunct Mars in Sagittarius with her Mars being square Uranus Pluto in Virgo in her 10^th . She didn’t have her psychological problems to seek either and that has hints of a troubled pregnancy (with her in utero, from those 12^th house aspects).

 Her Cancer Moon on her Midheaven suited her for a public career and a 7^th house Jupiter would give her confidence and enthusiasm, especially since it sits on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Uranus Pluto sextile Sun, Mercury, Neptune.

  She did reconcile with her father though still appeared to have drug problems and suffered a massive stroke in 2020 from a prescription drug overdose.

  What a family – exhausting even to think about. Unfinished business in all directions, nothing ever got sorted.