Editing Ryan O'Neal (section)

=== 1970–1980: Film stardom ===
In 1970, O'Neal played an Olympic athlete in ''[[The Games (film)|The Games]]''. The film had been co-written by [[Erich Segal]], who recommended O'Neal for the lead in the romantic drama ''[[Love Story (1970 film)|Love Story]]'' (1970), based on Segal's novel and script. A number of actors had turned down the role including [[Beau Bridges]] and [[Jon Voight]] before it was offered to O'Neal. His fee was $25,000; he said he had an offer that paid five times as much to appear in a [[Jerry Lewis]] film, but O'Neal knew that ''Love Story'' was the better prospect and selected that instead.<ref name="story">{{cite news|title=Ryan O'Neal Has Plenty of Stories|last=Haber|first= Joyce|work=Los Angeles Times|date=December 6, 1970|page= v31}}</ref> [[Paramount Pictures]] studio head, [[Robert Evans]], who was married to the film's female lead, [[Ali MacGraw]], said they tested 14 other actors but no one compared to O'Neal; he said the part was "a [[Cary Grant]] role – a handsome leading man with lots of emotion."<ref>{{cite news|title=Ryan O'Neal, Ali to Play 'Love Story'|date=November 4, 1969|work=Los Angeles Times|page=e12}}</ref> "I hope the young people like it", O'Neal said before the film came out. "I don't want to go back to TV. I don't want to go back to those [[National Association of Broadcasters|NAB]] conventions."<ref name="story" /> ''Love Story'' turned out to be a box office phenomenon, making O'Neal a star and earning him nominations for the [[Academy Award for Best Actor]] and the [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama]], although O'Neal was bitter that he was never given a percentage of the profits, unlike co-star Ali MacGraw.<ref name="gene" /><ref name="ryan" />
[[File:Ryan-ONeal-1970-b.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|O'Neal in Finland, 1970]]

In between the film's production and release, O'Neal appeared in a TV movie written by [[Eric Ambler]], ''[[Love Hate Love]]'' (1971), which received good ratings. He also made a Western, ''[[Wild Rovers]]'' (1971) with [[William Holden]] for director [[Blake Edwards]]. ''Wild Rovers'', badly cut by [[MGM]], was considerably less popular than ''Love Story''. O'Neal was going to make another film for MGM, ''[[Nightmare Honeymoon|Deadly Honeymoon]]'' (1974), from a novel by [[Lawrence Block]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Dalton's 'Darling Girl': Dalton's 'Darling Girl'|first=A. H.|last=Weiler|work=The New York Times|date=July 11, 1971|page=D13}}</ref> However, O'Neal pulled out. [[Peter Bogdanovich]] later said MGM head [[Jim Aubrey]] was "cruel" to O'Neal.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bogdanovich Touch Turns Coincidence into Success: Turning Coincidence Into Success|last=Haber|first=Joyce|work=Los Angeles Times|date=September 16, 1973|page=o21}}</ref>

Director [[Nic Roeg]] wanted O'Neal to appear opposite [[Julie Christie]] in an adaptation of ''[[Out of Africa]]'' that was never made.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Pollack Touch|last=Maslin|first=Janet|work=The New York Times|date=December 15, 1985|page=A.54}}</ref> Instead, O'Neal starred in the screwball comedy ''[[What's Up, Doc? (1972 film)|What's Up, Doc?]]'' (1972) for Bogdanovich and opposite [[Barbra Streisand]]. The film was the third-highest-grossing film of 1972 and led to his receiving an offer to star in a movie for [[Stanley Kubrick]], ''Barry Lyndon''. While that film was in pre-production, O'Neal played a jewel thief in ''[[The Thief Who Came to Dinner]]'' (1972) opposite [[Jacqueline Bisset]] and [[Warren Oates]]. Then he was reunited with Bogdanovich for ''[[Paper Moon (film)|Paper Moon]]'' (1973) in which he starred opposite his daughter [[Tatum O'Neal]]. His performance in the film earned him a nomination for the [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy]], and he was voted by exhibitors as the second-most-popular star of 1973 in the United States, behind [[Clint Eastwood]].<ref name="Cobbett60">{{cite book|last1=Steinberg|first1=Cobbett|title=Film Facts|year=1980|publisher=Facts on File, Inc.|location=New York|isbn=0-87196-313-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/filmfacts00cobb_mc3/page/60 60]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/filmfacts00cobb_mc3/page/60}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Abramovitch |first=Seth |date=July 17, 2023 |title=After Her Debilitating Stroke, Tatum O'Neal Attempts to Heal a Fractured Relationship With Dad Ryan O'Neal |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/tatum-oneal-interview-life-career-dad-ryan-oneal-1235535430/ |access-date=July 23, 2023 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref>

O'Neal spent over a year making ''[[Barry Lyndon]]'' (1975) for Kubrick. The resulting film, despite being nominated for seven [[48th Academy Awards|Academy Awards]], was considered a commercial disappointment and had a mixed critical reception; it won O'Neal a [[Harvard Lampoon]] Award for the Worst Actor of 1975. Reflecting in 1985, O'Neal said the film was "all right but he [Kubrick] completely changed the picture during the year he spent editing it".<ref name="gene" /> The film's reputation has risen in recent years but O'Neal said his career never recovered from the film's reception.<ref name="vanity">{{cite news|url=http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2009/09/farrah-fawcett200909 |first=Leslie |last=Bennetts|title= Beautiful People Ugly Choices|newspaper=Vanity Fair|date=September 2009|access-date=September 1, 2016}}</ref>

O'Neal had been originally meant to star in Bogdanovich's flop musical ''[[At Long Last Love]]'' but was replaced by [[Burt Reynolds]]. However he made the screwball comedy ''[[Nickelodeon (film)|Nickelodeon]]'' (1976) with Reynolds, Bogdanovich, and Tatum O'Neal, for a fee of $750,000. The film flopped at the box office. O'Neal followed this with a small role in the all-star war film ''[[A Bridge Too Far (film)|A Bridge Too Far]]'' (1977), playing [[General James Gavin]]. O'Neal's performance as a hardened general was much criticised, although O'Neal was only a year older than Gavin at the time of the events in the film. "Can I help it if I photograph like I'm 16 and they gave me a helmet that was too big for my head?" he later said. "At least I did my own parachute jump."<ref>{{cite news|title=At the Movies|last=Flatley|first= Guy|newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 30, 1977|page= C8}}</ref> The film was the 6th most popular movie of 1977.

O'Neal initially turned down a reported $3&nbsp;million to star in ''[[Oliver's Story]]'' (1978), a sequel to ''Love Story''.<ref name="ryan" /> Instead he appeared in the car-chase film ''[[The Driver]]'' (1978), directed by [[Walter Hill (director)|Walter Hill]], who had written ''The Thief Who Came to Dinner''. This was a [[box office disappointment]] in the U.S. but, like ''A Bridge Too Far'', did better overseas. Hill later said he "was so pleased with Ryan in the movie and I was very disappointed that people didn't particularly give him any credit for what he did. To me, he's the best he's ever been. I cannot imagine another actor."<ref name="empire">{{cite magazine|magazine=Empire|url=http://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/edgar-wright-walter-hill-discuss-driver/|date=March 13, 2017|first=Chris|last=Wright|title=Edgar Wright and Walter Hill Discuss The Driver}}</ref> O'Neal was meant to follow this with ''[[The Champ (1979 film)|The Champ]]'' (1979), directed by [[Franco Zeffirelli]], but decided to pull out after Zeffirelli refused to cast O'Neal's son Griffin opposite him.<ref name="ryan">{{cite news|title=Ryan O'Neal: Does Father Know Best?: Ryan O'Neal|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=July 23, 1978|page= v24}}</ref> Instead he agreed to make ''Oliver's Story'' after all once the script was rewritten.<ref name="ryan" /> However the film was a flop at the box office.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brueggemann |first1=Tom |title=Success Isn't Guaranteed for a 'Barbie' Sequel — Some Equally Big Films Spawned Their Own Flops |url=https://www.indiewire.com/gallery/sequels-to-hit-films-flopped-box-office/blues-brothers-2000-center-dan-aykroyd-j-evan-bonifant-john-goodman-1998-universal-courtesy/ |website=IndieWire |access-date=December 10, 2023 |date=August 4, 2023}}</ref>

"What I have to do now, seriously, is win a few hearts as an actor," he said in 1978. "The way Cary Grant did. I know I've got a lot of winning to do. But I'm young enough. I'll get there..."<ref name="ryan" /> Around this time, O'Neal was meant to star in ''[[The Bodyguard (1992 film)|The Bodyguard]]'', from a [[Lawrence Kasdan]] script, opposite [[Diana Ross]] for director [[John Boorman]]. However the film fell over when Ross pulled out, and it would not be made until 1992, with [[Kevin Costner]] in O'Neal's old role.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ryan O'Neal meaner but far from macho|last=Flatley|first= Guy|work=Chicago Tribune|date=August 19, 1979|page= e8}}</ref> There was some talk he would appear in a film from [[Michelangelo Antonioni]], ''Suffer or Die'',<ref>{{cite news|title=Film Clips: Is O'Neal Set to 'Suffer or Die'?|last=Kilday|first=Gregg|work=Los Angeles Times|date=December 11, 1978|page= f21}}</ref> but this did not happen.

O'Neal instead played a boxer in a comedy, ''[[The Main Event (1979 film)|The Main Event]]'', reuniting him with Streisand. He received a fee of $1 million plus a percentage of the profits. ''The Main Event'' was a sizeable hit at the box office. Also in 1979, he produced a documentary, ''The Contender'', about a boxer he managed.<ref>{{cite news|title=O'Neal family film an indifferent Contender 'I thought it was good,' said Ryan. 'We loved it' QR|last=Godfrey|first=Jay Scott Stephen|work=The Globe and Mail|date=September 15, 1979|page=35}}</ref>

A 1980 profile of O'Neal described him:

{{cquote|Unlike most stars of the post-[[Dustin Hoffman|Hoffman]] era he is very handsome, especially when moustached: he has blond curly hair and a toothpaste smile: he seems to lead an interesting life. What is on screen is, er, less interesting, but still agreeable. Maybe he would really come on if he had the apprenticeship of the stars of the 30s: for he is, to underline the point, a throwback to that era. There are no nervous tics, solemnity is at bag; his is an easy, genial presence, and thank heaven for it!<ref>{{cite book|last=Shipman|first=David|title=The Great Movie Stars: The International Years|publisher=Angus and Robertson|year=1980|page=451}}</ref>}}