America’s beloved perky and cute screen actress of the 1980s who segued into romantic comedy films in the 1990s. Ryan’s first break came in the now famous restaurant scene in When Harry Met Sally (1989) when she did a hilarious verbal imitation of a woman faking an orgasm. Other hit films include Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Addicted to Love (1997), City of Angels (1998) and You’ve Got Mail (1998), where she reunited on film with her close friend and fellow actor, Tom Hanks. Some film critics and media outlets have said that Ryan is one of the best actors not to have received an Academy Award nomination.
Ryan is the second oldest of four children who grew up in Bethel, Connecticut. Her father was a schoolteacher and her mother was a housewife. In 1976 when she was 15, she underwent the emotional distress of seeing her parent’s 17-year marriage come to an end.
In 1979, while attending the University of Connecticut as a freshman, she starred in television commercials to help pay her way, appearing in the soap, As the World Turns for two years.
In 1988, she co-starred with her husband actor Dennis Quaid in the thriller DOA. Their romance hit rough air a few times, most publicly with a noisy row in a Los Angeles nightclub in 1990. Quaid confessed to Ryan that he was addicted to cocaine and they postponed their wedding until he completed rehab. They co-starred in a marriage on 14 February 1991 and had a son named Jack Henry, born on 24 April 1992. They also worked together on the 1995 comedy Something To Talk About.
Their marriage seemed stable and low-key until the year 2000, when they separated. Ryan had spent a month in Ecuador filming a romantic comedy, Proof of Life, with Russell Crowe early in the year and by June they were an item, nuzzling in public. Quaid filed for divorce in the L.A. courts on 11 July 2000 and Ryan promptly counter sued, seeking custody of eight-year-old Jack. Returning to the U.S. in early August, she moved out of their Brentwood house into nearby $8.9 million digs in order to mutually care for their boy.
Ryan’s romance with Crowe ran its course by the end of the year and she continued sharing parenting cares with Quaid, talking on the phone several times a week. In January 2006, the actress adopted a 14-month-old girl from China whom she named Daisy True.
From 2010 to 2014, Ryan was in a relationship with American singer-songwriter John Mellencamp. They reunited in 2017, and Ryan announced their engagement on 8 November 2018. In October 2019, it was reported that Ryan had ended their engagement.
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