Anjelica Huston’s new memoir, Watch Me, recalls a story about then-boyfriend Ryan O’Neal brutally assaulting her. The news shouldn’t shock anyone in Hollywood, though, because the actor has a history of violence.
We decided to take a look at a few moments in Ryan’s history that prove he isn’t the greatest guy offscreen.
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1. He waved a gun in front of his son
In 2007, Ryan pointed a gun in the direction of his son, Griffin, and a shot rang out. The Love Story actor was arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He’s lucky he didn’t kill his oldest son that night. This was also Farrah Fawcett’s 60th birthday celebration — what a party!
2. He encouraged daughter Tatum to use cocaine for weight control
Yes, you read that correctly. Not only did his daughter allege that she was beaten regularly as a kid, he told her to snort cocaine so she could lose weight. Tatum developed a ravaging drug addiction that carried into her adult life.
3. He was jailed by the age of 18
Ryan’s legendary temper was apparent at a young age when the actor was jailed for 51 days after assaulting a stranger at a party. That arrest didn’t hamper his blossoming career. Once he was released, he booked his first role on TV on the show The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.
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4. Ryan kept his drug dealer on the payroll
While that sounds bad, the situation was made even worse after Tatum was allegedly molested by the man. She complained to Ryan, but he didn’t want his supply of drugs to dry up. He sided with the drug dealer instead.
5. Ryan would viciously fight with Farrah
The tumultuous couple would fight so often that when their son Redmond was 6 years old, he threatened to stab himself to get the arguing to stop. In Ryan’s memoir, Both of Us, he wrote, “Suddenly, our 6-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.”
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