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Tatum O'Neal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Tatum O'Neal | ||||||
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| Birth name | Tatum Beatrice O'Neal | |||||
| Born | November 5, 1963 Los Angeles, California, United States |
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| Years active | 1973 - present | |||||
| Spouse(s) | John McEnroe (1 August 1986 - 1992) (divorced) 3 children | |||||
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Tatum Beatrice O'Neal (born November 5, 1963 in Los Angeles, California) is an Academy Award-winning American actress best known for her film work as a child actress in the 1970s. To this day, she remains the youngest actor ever (at the age of 10) to win an Oscar.
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O'Neal was born into the motion picture family of actor Ryan O'Neal and actress Joanna Cook Moore. Her brother, Griffin, was born in 1964. In 1967 her parents divorced. Her father married actress Leigh Taylor-Young, the mother of her half-brother, Patrick (who was married to actress Rebecca De Mornay). She also has another half-brother, Redmond, from Ryan O'Neal's relationship with actress Farrah Fawcett. Tatum's mother died in 1997 of lung cancer at age 63 after a career in which she had appeared in such movies as Touch of Evil.
In her autobiography called A Paper Life, Tatum O'Neal alleged that she had been molested by a male friend of her father. Tatum also alleges physical and emotional abuse from her father, much of which she attributes to drug use. She later said she was dragged to an opium-fueled orgy by Melanie Griffith when she was 12 years old. In the book, Tatum also details her own heroin addiction and its effects on her relationship with her children.
In 1974, Tatum O'Neal became the youngest person ever to win an Oscar, a record that she still holds to this day. She won the Best Supporting Actress award for her performance in Paper Moon. O'Neal played the role of Addie Loggins, a child con artist being tutored by a Depression-era grifter played by her father, Ryan. She was 10 years old at the time she won the award.
Other movies starring O'Neal include The Bad News Bears, Nickelodeon, International Velvet, and Little Darlings. Controversy arose as well around her underage nude scene opposite screen icon Richard Burton in the Canadian-made Circle of Two. She also starred as the title character in the Faerie Tale Theatre episode Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Her acting career took a backseat to her marriage to John McEnroe, the professional tennis player, for many years, but in 2005 she 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. O'Neal's character is married to a firefighter in her brother's firehouse.
In January 2006, she participated in the second season of ABC's reality series Dancing with the Stars but was the second contestant to be eliminated in the second round. She went on to do commentary for the series on Entertainment Tonight.
From 2006 to early 2007, Tatum starred as the vindictive and psychotic Blythe Hunter in the My Network TV prime-time drama Wicked Wicked Games. She appears opposite Nashawn Kearse and Vanessa L. Williams in the Liberty Artists feature film My Brother (2007).
O'Neal describes her upbringing as chaotic, with her mother battling drug and alcohol problems and neglecting the care of her and her brother Griffin, while her father was absentee and prone to abusive outburts of temper. After her parents divorced, Ryan O'Neal obtained custody and Tatum was exposed to his celebrity, bachelor lifestyle, as well as his temper.[1]
In 1986, O'Neal wed tennis superstar John McEnroe. No one from her family attended the ceremony. The couple had three children: Kevin, Sean, and Emily. The couple divorced in 1992. After the divorce, Tatum's drug problems re-emerged and she developed an addiction to heroin. As a result of her drug problems, McEnroe obtained custody of the children in 1998. [2]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Paper Moon | Addie Loggins | Best Supporting Actress |
| 1976 | The Bad News Bears | Amanda Whurlitzer | |
| Nickelodeon | Alice Forsyte | ||
| 1978 | International Velvet | Sarah Brown | |
| 1980 | Circle of Two | Sarah Norton | |
| Little Darlings | Ferris | ||
| 1981 | Prisoners | Christie | (never released) |
| 1985 | Certain Fury | Scarlet | |
| 1992 | Little Noises | Stella | |
| 1996 | Basquiat | Cynthia Kruger | |
| 2002 | The Scoundrel's Wife | Camille Picou | |
| 2003 | The Technical Writer | Slim | |
| 2006 | My Brother | Erica | |
| 2008 | Saving Grace | Grace |
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Eileen Heckart for Butterflies Are Free |
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress 1973 for Paper Moon |
Succeeded by Ingrid Bergman for Murder on the Orient Express |
- Faerie Tale Theatre as Goldilocks (1984) 1 episode
- CBS Schoolbreak Special (episode 15 and Getting Straight) as Kim (1989)
- Woman on the Run: The Lawrencia Bembenek Story (1993)
- Sex and the City (cameo in A Woman's Right To Shoes in 2003)
- 8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter as Ms. McKenna (2004) 1 episode
- Law and Order: Criminal Intent as Kelly Garnett (2004) 1 episode
- Ultimate Film Fanatic (judge in 2005)
- Rescue Me (cast member, 2005 to Present)
- Dancing with the Stars (cast member in 2006)
- Wicked Wicked Games (2006) (set for 65 episode run)
Tatum O'Neal autobiography: A Paper Life - ISBN 0-06-054097-4.
- When Young Stars Burn Out MSN Movies