Tatum O’Neal, Academy Award Winning Actress, Celebrates Her Birthday

Tatum O’Neal, American actress, and author, most famous for becoming the youngest person to ever win a competitive Academy Award, is about to celebrate yet another milestone event.

Happy Birthday, Tatum O’Neal!

And that’s because she was born on November 5, 1963, in Los Angeles, California, which means that this talented performer is turning 57 years old today!

O’Neal has a younger brother, Griffin, via her biological parents – feature film and television star Ryan O’Neal and actress Joanna Moore – as well as a half-brother, Patrick, born to Ryan and his second wife, Leigh Taylor-Young (known for her work as Rachel Welles on Peyton Place and Katherine Crane on Passions) and a half-brother from Ryan’s relationship with actress Farrah Fawcett.

O’Neal followed in her parents’ footsteps by pursuing a career in the performing arts, and her efforts did not go unrewarded. Her first project – the Peter Bogdanovich-directed comedy-drama film Paper Moon, which also starred her father – was undertaken when she was but a mere child of 9; and yet, her work as a pint-sized con artist translated into Oscar gold.

O’Neal subsequently appeared in the films The Bad News Bears (1976) – another critical and commercial success – and Nickelodeon (1976), a film that earned the 12 year old rave reviews and reunited her with Ryan and Bogdanovich.

Over the next few years, O’Neal’s career waned, but ever so slightly. She starred in the remake of the equestrian film International Velvet (1978) as well as the coming-of-age teen drama Little Darlings (1980).

More film work followed – Circle of Two (1981), Prisoners (1982), Certain Fury (1985) – as did guest spots on various television programs including Faerie Tale Theatre (1984), and CBS School Break Special (1989).

Between 1986 and 1996, amidst difficulties in her personal life, O’Neal starred in only two films: Little Noises (1992) and Basquiat (1996). As the ’90s gave way to the aughts, O’Neal made a conceded effort to return to her beloved profession.

In 2002, she returned to the silver screen in Glen Pitre’s The Scoundrel’s Wife and made numerous appearances on TV series including Sex and the City, 8 Simple Rules, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Between 2005 and 2011, O’Neal starred in 39 episodes of Rescue Me, and in 2006, she headlined the English-language telenovela Wicked Wicked Games.

O’Neal is a proud mother of three children – two sons, Kevin and Sean, and a daughter, Emily – whom she shares with ex-husband John McEnroe. O’Neal is also a memoirist twice over (A Paper Life and Found: A Daughter’s Journey Home).

Entertainment Hub would like to wish Tatum O’Neal a very happy birthday and you can too by clicking on the Twitter link below.