Griffin Oneal

Diagnoses

Passions

Vocation

Lifestyle

Family

American minor actor who made his film debut at age 15 in "The Escape Artist," 1982. He went on to make a few low-budget films in the late 1980s, but after 1991, O’Neal left the business. From a noted theatrical family, Griffin is the son of actors Ryan O’Neal and Joanna Moore; his sister Tatum became an actress as well, struggling through her own drug problems. Despite Griffin’s early foray into the family business, he is more known for growing up as a wild kid, receiving numerous speeding tickets, getting involved in petty theft and frequently having fistfights, including one with his famous father that resulted in Griffin’s loss of three teeth. He was a one-year-old baby when his parents separated and the media reported that his mom would take the kids to a bar and then leave when she headed to a party. Tatum, just 11 months older, would call their grandma who would pick up the kids, bath and feed them. When Griffin was six, his dad took Tatum to live with him and Leigh Taylor-Young, his second wife. The boy grew up pretty well untended and by the time he was 11, was essentially on his own, running with a young crowd from Hollywood's golden ghetto. By the time he was 21, his troubles became more serious when he was involved in a tragic boating accident. On 5/26/1986, while the boys were playing reckless games on the lake, Gian Carlo Coppola, the son of Francis Ford Coppola, was killed in a speed boating accident. Griffin was charged with manslaughter but not convicted. He was cited and given probation for negligence, sentenced to 400 hours of community service and fined. He was arrested on a DUI charge (driving under the influence) on 10/02/1988 and sentenced to community service on 8/18/1989. O’Neal married Rima Belinda Uranga in Las Vegas on 7/04/1989; they have a baby daughter. In 1992, he was again in the headlines when he was arrested for possession of marijuana, assaulting his present girlfriend, and firing a .44 magnum at her car. In November 1992 he agreed to spend a year in a drug-rehab facility. Link to Wikipedia biography