Tatum O’Neal is paying tribute to her late father, Ryan O’Neal, and reflecting on their time together when she was young.
The actress paid her respects to her dad at a celebration of life memorial service held in his honor on Sunday at the DGA Theater Complex in Hollywood, and she spoke with ET’s Kevin Frazier about the event, and her late father.
“It’s a beautiful, beautiful thing. I sure love my dad,” Tatum shared. “I actually cried this morning, which is rare, you know. I had actually stopped crying throughout my life, and I cried this morning really hard. It was beautiful. I love my dad, always.”
Back in December, Ryan’s son, Patrick O’Neal, shared the heartbreaking news that his father had died at age 82. Patrick took to Instagram and shared that Ryan had “passed away peacefully” on Dec. 8 “with his loving team by his side supporting him and loving him as he would us.”
Looking back at her early years with her father, Tatum reflected on becoming the youngest actor to ever win an Oscar back in 1974, when she took home the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Paper Moon at only 10 years old.
In the film, Tatum appeared opposite her father, and she recalled the experience of celebrating their film with such historic recognition, telling ET, “It was fantastic.”
While Tatum and her father had a turbulent relationship for many years, the pair reconciled later in life, and Tatum opened up about what she’d tell her dad if she could speak to him one more time.
“I love you, daddy. I always have, and I always will,” Tatum shared. “You meant the world to me.”
According to Ryan’s death certificate, the actor died of congestive heart failure. The outlet also noted that the Love Story star suffered from cardiomyopathy for years. The Mayo Clinic notes cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart muscle that makes it harder for the heart to pump blood to the rest of the body, which can lead to heart failure.
O’Neal died at St. John’s Medical in Los Angeles, his death certificate shows. There were no other contributing factors that led to his death, and he was buried at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park.
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