Usually, when a celebrity passes away it only affects me when it is a sad or sudden death like 'Friends' star Matthew Perry (who left us on October 28 at age 54), or I have grown up admiring them like the creator of "All In The Family", "Good Times" & "The Jefferson" Norman Lear (who died on December 5th at age 101) or I've had some sort of personal interaction with them in the past. Such was the case, this past December 8th, when I was saddened to hear of the death of one of my favorite actors from my childhood Ryan O’Neal at the age of 82.
From a young age, I had been fascinated by him and I had seen most of his films including "Love Story" (1970), for which he received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations as Best Actor, Peter Bogdanovich's hilarious screwball comedy "What's Up, Doc?" (1972) which I still adore, "Paper Moon" (1973) co-starring his talented daughter, Tatum, Richard Attenborough's "A Bridge Too Far "(1977), and Walter Hill's "The Driver" (1978).
Looking back at it, he was one of my earliest Hollywood obsessions. I don't know why. Maybe it was because even though he had leading man good looks he often played bumbling characters in comedies that I loved watching him in. Whatever the reason, I was one of his biggest fans. So as soon as I heard the news of his passing, I searched my files to find the photos from the day that I met him and his new girlfriend Farrah Fawcett back in 1979! At the time she was still married to Lee Majors, and her relationship with Ryan was a secret. I'm sure you're dying to hear the whole story. Well, here it is...
I was 12 years old at the time, my dad (who never really showed any interest in my theatrical interests) picked me up after my acting class at HB Studios in Greenwich Village and told me that he was taking me with him to a photo shoot he was hired to do for People Magazine. Since he had never taken me to any of his previous photo shoots, I was confused as to why he was taking me to this one. The only thing he had told me was that he had someone that he wanted me to meet. So I got in the car intrigued, but still suspicious about the whole thing.
We ended up going to an old boxing gym in lower Manhattan on 14th Street and Third Avenue - around the corner from where the old Palladium Nightclub once stood. When we arrived there he introduced me to author Norman Mailer and his three or four sons who were (I forget how many were there) who were hanging out by the boxing ring in the center of the room. I, of course, had NO idea who this Mailer guy was, so my confusion about who my dad was so excited for me to meet was getting worse by the minute.
Then this Mailer guy introduced us to a blonde woman, wearing sunglasses, with no makeup on, sitting on a bench in a corner by the entrance. I didn’t recognize her either. That is until he said her name out loud…it was Farrah Fawcett! My dad, who looked at me with anxious eyes, waited to see me freak out at her being there. But to his surprise, I wasn’t excited to meet her at all. Mainly because Jaclyn Smith was (and still is) my favorite ‘angel’ from the TV series “Charlie’s Angels” - not Farrah. I know I was 12 remember? Anyway, not only was I now more confused than ever by who my dad wanted me to be, but my dad was confused by my lukewarm reaction to meeting this popular Hollywood sex symbol and TV star sitting right in front of me. You can see my look of indifference in the photo above. Ha!
But then something happened that changed my expression entirely. From out of the locker room door walked this rugged man, with boyish good looks, wearing a pair of satin boxing shorts who greeted me with the biggest and brightest smile I had ever seen! It was actor Ryan O’Neal - who I had recently seen in the movie “The Main Event” several times that summer! As soon as he said hello to my dad and me, my face lit up and I was instantly starstruck! You can imagine the stuttering mess I made of myself when he started talking to me for a few minutes. We discussed my desire to become an actor one day and how much I loved his films "What's Up Doc" and "The Main Event". He encouraged me to continue going to my acting classes and then he grabbed me around the waist so that my dad could take a few photos of us together. I was in Ryan heaven!
Of course, my dad was super pleased to see my excitement towards meeting him. His surprise had worked. What neither of us knew at the time - was that deep inside my true gay self (who I didn't know yet existed) had a HUGE crush on Ryan O'Neal which is why I was so thrilled to meet him. :) So that excited smirk you see on my face in the photo above makes a whole lot more sense now that I know the truth than it did back then. LOL
Rest in peace, Mr O’Neal. I’m glad that you and Farrah are back together again. Ohhh....and thanks so much for being SO nice to me that day we met back in 1979. I'll never forget the moment I met my childhood obsession.
Now that you know all about the time I met Ryan O'Neal - you can now listen to my fascinating conversation with author SHELLEY HERMAN about her fabulous book “My Peacock Tale: Secrets Of An NBC Page” on the Hollywood Obsessed podcast by clicking on the links below. Enjoy!
Episode 43 - HERE
Episode 44 - HERE
