Griffin O'Neal | |
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Born | Griffin Patrick O'Neal October 28, 1964 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1976–1992 |
Spouses | Rima Uranga (m. 1989;div. 1991)JoAnna Berry (m. 2008) |
Children | 4 |
Parent(s) | Ryan O'Neal Joanna Moore |
Relatives | Tatum O'Neal (sister) Patrick O'Neal (half-brother) |
Griffin Patrick O'Neal (born October 28, 1964) is an American actor. He has appeared in films such as The Escape Artist , April Fool's Day , The Wraith , Assault of the Killer Bimbos , and Ghoulies III .
Griffin O'Neal was born in Los Angeles to actor Ryan O'Neal and his first wife, actress Joanna Moore (born Dorothy Joanne Cook). [1] Griffin has an older sister, Tatum O'Neal, and two younger half brothers, Patrick O'Neal and Redmond O'Neal. Griffin's grandfather was novelist and screenwriter Charles "Blackie" O'Neal. [2] His paternal ancestry is Irish, English, and Ashkenazi Jewish. [3]
Early in his childhood, O'Neal and his sister lived with their mother in squalid conditions. Their mother struggled with drug and alcohol addiction while they were in her care. [4] She eventually lost custody of them. [5]
Griffin O'Neal appeared in 11 movies between 1976 and 1992. Several of these were TV movies or films released directly to video. [6] Film critic Vincent Canby of the New York Times wrote in 1982 that Griffin O'Neal "shares with his sister a natural screen presence." [7] Likewise, film critic Leonard Maltin wrote that Griffin O'Neal has a "pleasing screen presence". [8]
O'Neal was cast in Francis Ford Coppola's 1987 film Gardens of Stone , but he asked to be replaced after he caused a boating accident that killed Coppola's elder son Gian-Carlo. [9]
Griffin left Los Angeles in 2007 and moved to a small town near the Mexico border. [5]
O'Neal married his first wife Rima Uranga in 1989; they divorced in 1991. [10] They have a daughter together. He has been married to Joanna Berry since 2008 and has three children.
O'Neal was estranged from his father Ryan O'Neal. They had a volatile relationship since his childhood. O'Neal's struggle with addiction began when he was 9 years old. [5] He told People magazine, "My life has been a reign of drug and alcohol degradation. I had to self-medicate my entire life because there was pain everywhere. There were drugs everywhere in my family all day, every day." [5] He claims that his family's problems stemmed from his father, who gave him cocaine at the age of 11. [11] "He was a very abusive, narcissistic psychopath. He gets so mad he can't control anything he's doing," O'Neal said. [11]
In 1983, O'Neal reported to authorities that his father punched out two of his front teeth, but he decided not to press charges. [12]
In 2007, Ryan O'Neal was arrested for assault after shooting at Griffin during a dispute. [13] Prosecutors decided not to file charges. [14] "The last time I saw my dad, he shot at me because I was trying to help his son [Redmond] get sober, so I haven't talked to him in nine years," he told People in 2015. [5]
O'Neal was banned by his father from attending the funeral services for Farrah Fawcett, the mother of his half-brother Redmond O'Neal, in 2009. [11]
O'Neal was reportedly three years sober in 2015. [5]
In 1986, Griffin O'Neal had a boating accident in Annapolis, Maryland, that took the life of film producer Gian-Carlo Coppola. [15] O'Neal, who was piloting the boat, tried to pass between two other boats, unaware that they were connected by a towline. O'Neal barely had time to duck, but Coppola was struck by the towline and killed. [16] O'Neal was convicted of negligently operating a boat, and later received an 18-day jail sentence for not completing community service. [17] [18] In 1987, Francis Ford Coppola sued O'Neal and seven others for negligence. [19]
O'Neal was arrested multiple times for driving under the influence. [5] He pleaded no contest to a drunk driving charge in 1989. [13] He also pleaded no contest in 1992 to charges that he shot at his estranged girlfriend's unoccupied car. [13]
In August 2011, O'Neal collided with another car while driving. He was sentenced to 16 months in prison for driving under the influence of drugs in connection with that incident. [20]
In January 2012, O'Neal was arrested for domestic battery after he pushed his wife out of the way in an attempt to drink and drive. [21] [22]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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1976 | Nickelodeon | Bicycle Boy | |
1982 | The Escape Artist | Danny Masters | |
1983 | Hadley's Rebellion | Hadley Hickman | |
1986 | The Children of Times Square | Rick | TV movie |
1986 | April Fool's Day | Skip | |
1986 | The Wraith | Oggie Fisher | |
1988 | Assault of the Killer Bimbos | Troy | |
1989 | Night Children | Blade | |
1989 | Jesse Hawkes | Cpl. Stevens | Episode: "The Centurians" |
1990 | Return to Justice | Bo Johnson | |
1991 | Ghoulies Go to College | Blane | Alternate title: Ghoulies III |
1992 | Soulmates | Brian |