Ryan O’Neal’s 10 Best Movies and TV Shows

The best Ryan O’Neal Films and TV shows span six decades and genres, from westerns and war films to dramas, comedies and television soap operas. O’Neal was born the son of an actress (Patricia O’Callaghan) and a novelist/screenwriter (Charles O’Neal). While in high school, he worked to become a Golden Gloves boxer, but ended up getting a job in television when his mother helped pull some strings as he struggled to finish high school. This led him to enter the industry.

After a period in which he made guest appearances on TV shows, he got his big break as a series regular on the 1960s Western series. Empire and then an even bigger role on the nighttime soap opera Peyton’s house. He then parlayed his mainstream success thanks to success in the romantic drama film Romance. After that, he worked for everyone from Stanley Kubrick and Peter Bogdanovich to Richard Attenborough and Walter Hill. His last roles appeared on television again before his passing in 2023.

10

Empire (1962-1963)

Ryan O’Neal played Tal Garrett

Ryan O’Neal’s first starring role in a television series was in the nearly forgotten modern-day Western series. Empire. The series was a modern western (for that time, i.e. the 1960s). In the series, Jim Redigo (Richard Egan) is the foreman of the enormous Garrett Ranch owned by matriarch Lucia (Anne Seymour) with her children Tal (Ryan O’Neal) and Connie (Terry Moore). Jim needs to keep the ranch running smoothly and also has a romantic interest in Connie.

The series remains forgotten thanks to its cancellation after just one season. NBC tried to save him by bringing him back as Redigoin shorter episodes and in black and white rather than color, but has yet to find an audience. However, the cast was great, with Charles Bronson in a major role in that second season and cameos from the likes of Ed Begley, Lon Chaney Jr., Bill Mumy and Frank Gorshin.

9

Nickelodeon (1975)

Ryan O’Neal played Leo Harrigan

The director Ryan O’Neal worked with most early in his career was the brilliant Peter Bogdanovich. In 1976, O’Neal took on a role in Bogdonovich’s screwball comedy Nickelodeon. In this film, O’Neal plays a lawyer named Leo who is hired alongside a hit man named Buck. (Burt Reynolds) to stop illegal film production. However, they decide to join the filmmakers and become actors in the film industry themselves.

While Leo discovers that he is actually a good film director and Buck appears to be a leading man in the film industry, they both fall in love with the same woman (Jane Hitchcock), and this drives a wedge between the two. Although the film received poor reviews from critics, it maintains the director’s brilliant technical style and has great performances from Reynolds, O’Neal and Hitchcock, generating lots of laughs.

8

The Driver (1978)

Ryan O’Neal played the driver

In 1978, Ryan O’Neal teamed up with director Walter Hill (The Warriors, 48 ​​hours) in only the second film directed by Hill in his career. The film was called The driver and stars O’Neal as the titular The Driver (no other name), a man who steals cars to use as getaway vehicles in robberies on the outskirts of Los Angeles. He is pursued by the Detective (Bruce Dern), who is obsessed with taking down the Driver, whom he nicknames Cowboy.

Things turn deadly when the detective sets up an illegal operation to take down the driver, and although he knows it’s a trap, he agrees to the job just for the thrill of the moment. The film received mostly negative reviews when it was released, but has since become a cult classic and has been praised in reviews, sitting at 79% on Rotten Tomatoes. Directors such as Nicolas Winding Refn, Edgar Wright and Quentin Tarantino consider the film an influence on their careers.

7

Bones (2006-2017)

Ryan O’Neal played Max Keenan

Late in his career, Ryan O’Neal took on a role on the network TV’s police procedural Bones. Based on the novels by Kathy Reichs, Bones stars Emily Deschanel as Temperance “Bones” Brennan, a forensic anthropologist, and David Boreanaz as Seeley Booth, an FBI special agent who works with her to solve murders that only involve finding bones and skeletal remains of the deceased. In the show, Ryan O’Neal stars as Bone’s father, Max Keenan.

Although it is only a recurring role with limited episodes, O’Neal’s character is extremely important and appears in episodes from season 2 through season 12. In his first season, Booth arrests him on murder charges, and he is acquitted in season 3, during a time when he gets closer to his daughter and future grandchildren. The series ran for 12 seasons, and O’Neal proved to be a popular cast member throughout the series.

6

What’s up, doctor? (1972)

Ryan O’Neal played Dr.

In 1972, Peter Bogdanovich directed the screwball comedy What’s up, doctor?starring Ryan O’Neal and Barbra Streisand in a film that aimed to pay homage to classic screwball comedies such as Howard Hawks Raising the baby. O’Neal stars as Dr. Howard Bannister, an Iowa musicologist who is going to San Francisco on a research grant. His fiancée, Eunice (Madeline Kahn), comes with him, but once there, he meets Judy Maxwell (Streisand), a charming troublemaker.

Judy, Howard, a mysterious Mr. Smith, and a wealthy socialite named Mrs. Van Hiskins all have the same suitcases, and when the four accidentally grab the wrong suitcases, Howard and Judy run for their lives. The film was a huge box office success, grossing $66 million on a budget of $4 million (via Mojo Box Office). It also has a high score of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes and won the WGA Award for Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen.

5

Peyton Place (1964-1969)

Ryan O’Neal played Rodney Harrington

Although it wasn’t the first TV show in which Ryan O’Neal had a starring role, Peyton Place was the one who helped make him a star. The show was a nighttime soap opera that aired on ABC from 1964 to 1969 and attempted to be the American version of the British series Coronation Street. The plot follows the same basic story as the book and 1957 film of the same name and follows the citizens of the titular Peyton Place. The cast was incredible, with names like Leslie Nielsen, Gena Rowlands, Mia Farrow and Ryan O’Neal in the main roles.

O’Neal plays Rodney Harrington, the eldest son of Leslie and Catherine Harrington and the more popular of the two brothers. His character was always important, constantly getting into trouble and finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, but eventually found love with Betty Anderson (Barbara Perkins). O’Neal was a character for the first 501 episodes of the series, leaving shortly before the series finale.

4

A Bridge Too Far (1977)

Ryan O’Neal played Brigadier General James M. Gavin

In 1977, Ryan O’Neal was in a war film A bridge too far. Directed by Richard Attenborough, The film tells the story of Operation Market Garden, a failed Allied operation during World War II.. William Goldman (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) wrote the screenplay based on the novel by Cornelius Ryan, and had an extremely recognizable cast led by Michael Caine, James Caan, Sean Connery, Elliott Gould, Gene Hackman, Robert Redford, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier and Ryan O’ Neil.

O’Neal stars as Brigadier General James Gavin, a United States division commander who later (in real life) becomes the United States ambassador to France. The film doubled its budget and won four BAFTA awards out of 10 nominations, including an acting award for Edward Fox. O’Neal was an important part of the cast, but it was a big part and he was just one part of a massive story.

3

Paper Moon (1973)

Ryan O’Neal played Moses Pray

Ryan O’Neal and Peter Bogdanovich’s best partnership came in 1973 with the road comedy-drama film paper moon. Shot by Bogdanovich in black and white, paper moon tells the story of a con man named Moses Pray (O’Neal) who meets a nine-year-old girl named Addie at her mother’s funeral. Although people think he is Addie’s (Tatum O’Neal) real father, he says he is not and offers to take her to his aunt’s house in Missouri. Soon, Addie shows that she can work the con just as well as Moses, and they become a team.

Jealousy, deceit and bad luck follow them, and the two eventually realize that they are better together than apart. The film was a huge success, grossing $30 million on a budget of $2.5 million (via Mojo Box Office). It also made history when Tatum O’Neal (Ryan O’Neal’s real-life daughter) won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, making her the youngest person to win a competitive award in Oscar history.

2

Barry Lyndon (1975)

Ryan O’Neal played Barry Lyndon

Barry Lyndon was Ryan O’Neal’s chance to work with Stanley Kubrick. However, it was also the film that most hindered O’Neal’s career. It took a year for them to make the film, and O’Neal said Kubrick kept changing the script and the film the entire time he was filming and editing. As a result, O’Neal was never very happy with the final product, and critics panned the film when it was released. However, in the years since its release, it has become a cult classic.

The story is set during the Seven Years’ War and follows an outlaw and gold miner named Barry Lyndon, who marries a wealthy widow to take over her husband’s aristocratic position. However, as expected, things don’t go well for the man. Despite critical rejection, the film was a minor box office success and received seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. It won four Oscars and Akira Kurosawa listed it as one of his favorite films.

1

Love Story (1970)

Ryan O’Neal played Oliver Barrett IV

The movie that made Ryan O’Neal a star was the 1970 romantic drama Romance. In it, O’Neal plays Oliver, a man who falls in love with Ali MacGraw’s Jennifer. The film shows them involved in a difficult relationship that feels very real, as the two come from different backgrounds and have to fight against perceptions and their own families to stay together. However, it’s also an emotionally devastating film, thanks to the tragic ending and Oliver’s inability to save Jenny in the end.

O’Neal received much critical praise for his performance and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama. The film received average reviews, with critics who didn’t like it calling it emotionally manipulative, but people who loved it praised its romance and performances. On top of Ryan O’Neal Nominated for an Oscar, the film also received nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress.