The Heartbreaking True Story Of Ryan O'Neal And Farrah Fawcett's Relationship

Ryan O'Neal didn't post a lot on Instagram in the year before his death at 82. In early December 2023, the Hollywood legend died peacefully, leaving behind a legacy of films, including an Oscar-nominated performance in the iconic "Love Story." It was his own love story with Farrah Fawcett, though, that inspired the actor to upload one of his last social media posts. 

On February 14, the "Bones"  star posted a photo of the "Charlie's Angels" star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The caption: "My forever Valentine..." Almost 15 years after Fawcett's death in 2009, O'Neal was still enthralled with his one-time love and wasn't afraid to show it.

The two actors met in 1979 and had a passionate affair that lasted decades, both in the on and off positions. During their decades-long relationship, they shared a life, a child, a television screen, and an enduring devotion to one another.

In 1979, Ryan O'Neal had been through two marriages: one to Joanna Moore, and one to his "Peyton Place" co-star Leigh Taylor Young, which resulted in O'Neal's first three children, a daughter and two sons. He was divorced for five years and single when his friend, Lee Majors, of "The Six Million Dollar Man" fame, asked him over for dinner, enticing him with a home-cooked meal by his wife. Majors was married to Farrah Fawcett, and O'Neal was instantly smitten. "She was breathtaking," he remembered on The Late Late Show. He also recalled that Fawcett and Majors didn't seem to be happily married. When Majors went out of town, O'Neal asked Fawcett out to see a musician they both liked.

When they met up, sparks flew. The "Paper Moon" actor told TV Guide, as reported by LA Times, "We sat and kissed and kissed until our lips were bloody. I could have gone on kissing her for a year." He revealed the next night was even more electric when the two shared a bed together.

Fawcett's marriage to Majors was already in a downward spiral, and her chemistry with O'Neal was the final push to end things. The couple separated that same year and were officially divorced in 1982. In an interview with Life Magazine, shared by People, Fawcett recalled her early dating years with O'Neal. "I was so overwhelmed by this mental and physical attraction for him that I didn't think about anything except what was happening right there," she said.

The love affair between Ryan O'Neal and Farrah Fawcett continued, and in a 1981 interview with People, the "The Burning Bed" actor shared that their relationship went beyond the physical. "Ryan is the most honest person I know," Fawcett said. "He's helped me be more independent by being the greatest ego booster I've ever had. I think our personalities are well suited."

So well suited, in fact, that in January 1985, Fawcett gave birth to the couple's first and only child, a son named Redmond. Despite their little family and enduring romance, the two actors never married. Years later, O'Neal told Vanity Fair, "We never really considered it. We didn't want to do what other people wanted us to do. We were rebels."

What they did do, though, is appeal to the public's desire to see them together in front of the cameras, and the duo starred in 1989's television mini-series "Small Sacrifices." The drama was a success and garnered three Primetime Emmy nominations. O'Neal and Fawcett attempted to parlay their chemistry, both on and off the screen, into another hit, but their 1991 TV sitcom "Good Sports" only lasted one season. The actors played bickering sports anchors — a case of playing what you know.

Ryan O'Neal and Farrah Fawcett had an intense relationship, filled with emotion that surfaced in a variety of ways. "They fought and loved with passion," Sylvia Dorsey, a close friend of the couple, told People. "It was never boring. They were electric together." Arguments were the norm for the two actors, sometimes bordering on dangerous.

In 2012, O'Neal wrote a book, "Both of Us: My Life with Farrah," in which he detailed their relationship, including their epic fighting matches. He revealed an incident in which the couple were having a heated argument, and their young son had to step in. The Hollywood Reporter shared the story from his book. "Suddenly, our six-year-old son is standing in the doorway in his Winnie-the-Pooh pajamas, staring at us. He's holding a butcher's knife .... He points the tip of the blade at his chest. 'I'm going to stab myself if you don't stop it!' That ended the argument."

The couple eventually broke up in 1997, after Fawcett popped in to surprise O'Neal on Valentine's Day, and found him in bed with another woman. Their time apart was short, though, and they reunited in 2001 after O'Neal was diagnosed with cancer. "I called her. And it broke the ice," ABC News reported the actor saying. Fawcett helped him during his treatments, then stuck around after the "What's Up Doc?" star went into remission. O'Neal then had the horrific opportunity to return the favor.

Farrah Fawcett was diagnosed with anal cancer in 2006, and despite going into remission, the disease eventually brought her back to the hospital before her death in June 2009. Ryan O'Neal was by her side the entire time, and later revealed to USA Today he had an important conversation with the love of his life during her final days. "I asked her to forgive me, forgive me for everything. I still ask her that," he said.

He also shared he proposed to Fawcett, and she said yes. However, the marriage never got past that point. When a priest arrived at the hospital to conduct the ceremony, he instead administered the last rites to Fawcett. The golden poster girl was taken off life support and died the next day.

"She's always been the real love of his life, and he's always been the real love of her life," Alana Stewart, one of Fawcett's closest friends, shared with Vanity Fair. "She never stopped loving him." 

Years after her death, Ryan O'Neal has been open about his continuing adoration for Farrah Fawcett. "There was never a day I didn't love her," he revealed to People in 2019. The actor never remarried, and despite being quite the ladies' man in his younger years, never seriously dated anyone after Fawcett died in 2009.

O'Neal regularly posted Instagram tributes to the star, sharing pictures from their times together like this one: "FOREVER ❤️ Happy birthday Baby," and this one: "10 years since she passed, but forever she is with me. I love you baby ❤️." They have served to show his unending devotion to the love of his life.

Jaclyn Smith, who starred with Fawcett in "Charlie's Angels" and was an enduring friend, once explained their relationship to People. "Ryan was the love of her life, and she, his," Smith said. "Whether they had a fight or were back together, it was always Ryan."