Tatum Beatrice ONeal was born November 5, 1963 in Los Angeles, California. Constantly surrounded by actors (including her two parents Ryan ONeal and Joanna Moore), her fate as a movie star was pretty much sealed from the very onset. Her father Ryan ONeal was also in a very long (but ultimately on again, off again) relationship with Farrah Fawcett, with whom he reunited with after being diagnosed with leukemia in 2000.

Despite so much success early on, ONeal’s childhood was far from idyllic. In a tell-all style autobiography, A Paper Life, ONeal alleged that a male friend of her father’s had molested her. She also made claims of physical and psychological abuse against her father, and went further to explain that she attributed most of his behavior to a rampant drug addiction. She even cited stories of being pushed to a drug-inspired orgy at the age of twelve by fellow actress Melanie Griffith.

Two years later, ONeal went on to take the lead in International Velvet, opposite Christopher Plummer and Anthony Hopkins. The film was a sequel to the beloved 1944 film National Velvet starring Mickey Rooney, Angela Lansbury, and Elizabeth Taylor. International Velvet followed the life of Sarah Brown (ONeal) as she competed abroad with her dearly loved horse.

ONeal next starred in a string of mildly received films throughout the mid-80s to early 90s including Prisoners (1981), Certain Fury (1985), and Little Noises (1991). However, by 1996, the heavily speculated rumors about ONeal’s drug use came to fact. While she maintained she could deal with the addiction herself, then husband John McEnroe won custody of their three children. ONeal received the wakeup call she needed and subsequently checked into rehab where she got and stayed clean.

ONeal had a long and often volatile relationship with tennis pro John McEnroe. The two were married from 1986 to 1994 and had three children together, whom McEnroe won custody of after a long and bitter custody battle.