Why Joanna Moore’s Daughter Tatum Is Estranged From Her Father

In his version of events, Ryan and Tatum O’Neal’s relationship took a turn when he found new love. “We had once been close, but Tatum did not take well to the arrival of Farrah Fawcett in my life,” Ryan penned in his 2012 book, “Both of Us.” Though Ryan and Fawcett never married, they were in a relationship — off and on — between 1979 until she died in 2009. Tatum’s feelings toward Fawcett certainly weren’t bubbly, with the former child star admitting they were estranged for a decade.

“I never talked to Farrah, even when she was my step mom,” she told Access Hollywood in 2002 (via Today). However, Tatum argues her relationship with her father was strained for years before he moved on with Fawcett. According to her, the issues between them started as a result of her performance in “Paper Moon.” While Tatum earned an Oscar, Ryan wasn’t nominated. “It sort of destroyed us,” she said in her NBC News interview.

In “A Paper Life,” Tatum gave insight into what she perceived as her father’s jealousy over her success. “In the press, he played the doting father. But in his eyes, I read the truth: deep resentment that his own brilliant performance was being dismissed,” she wrote. Considering Tatum has acknowledged her lack of enthusiasm for Fawcett, the truth is likely a combination of both factors — and others. “My dad made a lot of mistakes,” Tatum told Piers Morgan on CNN in 2011.