Meg Ryan

Meg Ryan, born Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra (born November 19, 1961 in Fairfield, Connecticut) is an American actress who specializes in romantic comedies, but has also worked in other film genres.

Biography

After graduating from Bethel High School, Ryan studied journalism at New York University. She went into acting to earn extra money while in school. After her first role in a feature film, Ryan (now using her screen name) played Betsy Stewart on the daytime drama As the World Turns from 1982 to 1984. Directors for this show especially liked working with her because she could cry on cue.

After several TV film and smaller movie roles, her first full blown hit in a leading role was the romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally.... It was favorably received and typecast Ryan as a bubbly, charming, feisty, but incurable romantic. She made several attempts to break away from this stereotype, and garnered some critical acclaim for her work in When a Man Loves a Woman (where she played an alcoholic) and Courage Under Fire (where she played a military officer killed in combat). Many of her films of the 1990s were hits not only in North America, but also abroad. She had a very popular on-screen pairing with Tom Hanks: some compared their chemistry to Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. They starred in three films together, and their last, (1998's You've Got Mail), was Ryan's last major box office success for some years to come.

Ryan married actor Dennis Quaid on Valentine's Day in 1991 after co-starring in two films with him. Quaid and Ryan had one child together, Jack Henry, born April 24, 1992. The couple divorced on July 16, 2001. Although Ryan had an affair with actor Russell Crowe, with whom she was working on a movie, both she and Quaid deny it was a factor in their divorce. When the film (Proof of Life) failed, director Taylor Hackford blamed Crowe and Ryan's affair and the ensuing negative publicity it garnered. Some believed this liaison, along with Ryan aging beyond the "cute" persona of her screen characters, hurt her popularity with the American public, while possibly working in favour of her ex-husband. She has not had a major box office success since knowledge of the relationship became public.

Parkinson appearance

In 2003, she broke away from her usual roles and starred in In the Cut, an erotic crime/thriller/mystery which was popular with neither critics nor the public. While promoting this film in the UK, Ryan drew the ire of the British press and public when she appeared on Parkinson, the popular long-running talk show hosted by veteran presenter Michael Parkinson. The actress's conduct was widely considered appalling, turning her back on fellow guests, Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine, and suggesting that Parkinson call time on the interview. In a 2006 survey of British TV viewers, her behaviour on the show was considered the third "most shocking" TV chat show moment ever BBC News: Jones slap tops TV chat show poll. Parkinson, who has interviewed over 1,000 of the world's most famous people, confessed that Ms. Ryan's interview was his "most difficult TV moment", adding, "I should have closed it. But listen, it happens. She was an unhappy woman. I felt sorry for her. What I couldn't forgive her for was that she was rude to the other guests."

In response, via an interview with Marie Claire magazine in 2006, Ryan blamed Parkinson's perceived paternal manner, saying:

"I don't even know the man. That guy was like some disapproving father! It's crazy. I don't know what he is to you guys, but he's a nut. I felt like he was berating me for being naked in the movie. He said something like: 'You should go back to doing what you were doing'. And I thought, are you like a disapproving dad right now? I'm not even related to you. Back off, buddy. I was so offended by him."

The episode also brought into sharp focus the difference between the UK's publicly funded BBC, which has no advertisements, and US commercial networks:

"I realized it's not like an American talk show where it's seven minutes and then there's a commercial break. I had to do 20 minutes straight with this guy, and I could either walk off — which wouldn't be good — or try to disagree with him very respectfully."

Trivia

Asteroid 8353 Megryan was named after her.

In January 2006, Ryan brought her newly adopted daughter from China. The baby is about a year old and was originally named Charlotte True, but later Ryan said, "I already had to change her name. I thought she was Charlotte and she's just not... she's a Daisy."

Ryan's estranged mother, Sue Ryan Jordan, is a 27-year survivor of breast cancer and is a breast cancer advocate.Wistv.com: Actress Meg Ryan's mom in Columbia for cancer meeting

Ryan is an outspoken liberal and supported John Kerry during the 2004 presidential elections.

Ryan recently talked with Oprah Winfrey (March 1, 2006, The Oprah Winfrey Show) about her work with CARE in India and empowering women in poor countries.(see//www.care.org/newsroom/articles/2006/03/20060329_meg_ryan_salt.asp Care.org: Salt, Paper and Dignity: A Journey to India with Meg Ryan

Filmography

Rich and Famous (1981)
Amityville 3-D (1983)
Top Gun (1986)
Armed and Dangerous (1986)
Promised Land (1987)
Innerspace (1987)
D.O.A. (1988)
The Presidio (1988)
When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
Joe Versus the Volcano (1990)
The Doors (1991)
Prelude to a Kiss (1992)
Flesh and Bone (1993)
Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
I.Q. (1994)
French Kiss (1995)
Courage Under Fire (1996)
Addicted to Love (1997)
''Anastasia (1997)
City of Angels (1998)
Hurlyburly (1998)
You've Got Mail (1998)
Hanging Up (2000)
Proof of Life (2001)
Kate & Leopold (2001)
In the Cut (2003)
Against the Ropes (2004)
In the Land of Women (2006)
The Tortilla Curtain (film) (2006) (pre-production)
The Women (film) (2006) (pre-production)
Papa (film) (2006) (in production)

External links