Best Known As: Impish star of "When Harry Met Sally"
Name at birth: Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra
Meg Ryan made her first big splash in 1989 as the star of When Harry Met Sally. The romantic comedy starred Ryan and Billy Crystal as battling friends who become lovers, and it established her for a time as Hollywood's leading sweetheart. A petite blonde with an impish smile, Ryan got her start in television commercials and the soap opera As The World Turns before getting roles in feature films like Top Gun (1986, starring Tom Cruise) and Innerspace (1987. with future husband Dennis Quaid). She followed When Harry Met Sally with roles in other romantic comedies, including Sleepless in Seattle (1993) and 1998's You've Got Mail (both with Tom Hanks). As the 1990s progressed, Ryan seemed to grow exasperated with being typecast in sweetheart roles and appeared more often in grittier parts. Her later films include Courage Under Fire (1996, with Denzel Washington), Proof of Life (2000, with Russell Crowe, Jane Campion's In the Cut (2003), and Against the Ropes (2004, with Ryan as a boxing promoter).
Ryan married actor Dennis Quaid in 1991. Their son, Jack, was born in 1992, and they divorced in 2001... Ryan adopted a daughter, Daisy, in 2006; the child was born in China late in 2004.
Career Highlights: When a Man Loves a Woman, Sleepless in Seattle, Innerspace
First Major Screen Credit: Rich and Famous (1981)
Biography
Although she has also proven herself as a dramatic actress, Meg Ryan used her blonde hair, blue eyes, and effervescent personality to greatest effect in romantic comedies of the 1980s and '90s. Initially getting her start on television, Ryan became a star with her titular role in the smash 1989 comedy When Harry Met Sally, earning both fame and permanent notoriety for her ability to fake an orgasm for Billy Crystal during a scene in a New York restaurant.
The daughter of a casting agent, Ryan was born Margaret Mary Emily Anna Hyra in Fairfield, Connecticut on November 19, 1961. Raised in New York, she went on to study journalism at New York University. In need of money to pay for her night classes, Ryan turned to acting to raise some extra cash. With her mother's help, she landed a role on a short-lived television series, and then made her film debut in Rich and Famous. The 1981 film -- director George Cukor's last -- cast Ryan as Candice Bergen's daughter, and proved to be a positive enough experience that the young actress was soon looking for more work. A lucky break led to her being cast in the daytime drama As the World Turns, on which she performed from 1982 until 1984.
After appearing in Amityville 3-D (1983), Ryan secured more auspicious work when she was cast as the wife of doomed flyboy Goose (Anthony Edwards) in Top Gun (1986). Although her role was minor, the film's success paved the way for more work for the actress, and the following year she starred in Innerspace, a comedy that cast her as Dennis Quaid's girlfriend. Her onscreen status as Quaid's love interest soon became off-screen reality, and after starring together in D.O.A. (1988), the two married in 1991.
In 1989, Ryan had her breakthrough role as Sally Albright in Rob Reiner's When Harry Met Sally. The following year, she starred opposite Tom Hanks in Joe Versus the Volcano. Although the film received a lukewarm critical and commercial reception, it began an onscreen collaboration between Ryan and Hanks that would prove to be very successful in future films. Before she next appeared onscreen with Hanks, Ryan took an uncharacteristic turn towards the purely dramatic, playing Jim Morrison's drug-addicted wife Pamela in Oliver Stone's The Doors (1991). She received wide critical praise for her portrayal, proving that she was capable of extending her range beyond light comedy. She further demonstrated her capabilities in the dark 1993 drama Flesh and Bone. Her performance as a hitchhiker received strong notices, although the film, which cast her opposite husband Quaid, was largely ignored by audiences.
That same year, Ryan returned to romantic comedy, starring opposite Hanks in Sleepless in Seattle. Nominated for a Golden Globe for her work, she then starred in another romantic comedy, I.Q., the following year. However, 1994 also brought more dramatic roles with Restoration, a period drama that cast Ryan as Robert Downey, Jr.'s doomed love, and When a Man Loves a Woman, in which she played an alcoholic. After further bucking her bubbly persona with a turn as a Gulf War solider in Courage Under Fire (1996) and a somewhat nasty portrayal of a vengeful ex-girlfriend in Addicted to Love (1997), Ryan again starred opposite Hanks in You've Got Mail (1998). Another romantic comedy, it put the actress back in her most successful milieu and was popular among critics and audiences alike. That same year, Ryan had further success starring opposite Nicolas Cage in the romantic drama City of Angels, and essayed the unlikely role of a world-weary exotic dancer in Hurlyburly.
2000 saw Ryan return to comedy, starring alongside Lisa Kudrow and Diane Keaton in Keaton's Hanging Up and also serving as the producer of the supernatural thriller Lost Souls. However, it was Ryan's offscreen activities that same year that truly aroused the public's notice and allowed her to break away from her perky, girl-next-door persona more effectively than any number of dramatic film roles could ever hope to: following the news of her affair with Proof of Life co-star Russell Crowe, Ryan and husband Quaid filed for divorce. Ironically, this real-life drama mirrored the premise of Proof, a romantic drama in which the wife (Ryan) of a man kidnapped in South America enlists the help of a "freelance hostage negotiator" (Crowe) to find her husband, only to enter into an adulterous affair with the negotiator.
In 2001, Ryan took a short break from feature films in order to participate in a documentary titled In the Wild: The White Elephants of Thailand, though she would return to the top of the romantic-comedy It-list in the whimsical Kate and Leopold alongside then rising romantic lead Hugh Jackman. In 2002, Ryan provided interview footage with fellow acting colleagues Whoopi Goldberg, Diane Lane, Teri Garr, and Holly Hunter, among others, in Searching for Debra Winger, which was directed by Rosanna Arquette. In 2003 -- apparently after having undergone rather striking botox and collagen injections -- the actress reappeared on the scene for the release of In the Cut, a throwback to '70s psycho-sexual thrillers, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. In 2004, Ryan stared in Charles S. Dutton's feature-length directorial debut, which is based on the real-life story of Jackie Kallen, a small-time Michigan woman turned successful boxing manager. For her next film, Ryan joined the cast of the 2007 ensemble drama In the Land of Women, before signing on to play the mother of Colin Hanks--son of her long-time screen-partner Tom Hanks in the action comedy Homeland Security. Playing a woman whose adult son, an FBI agent, is tasked with spying on her and her husband, played by Antonio Bandaras, Ryan was given her first chance in a long while to stretch her comedic muscles on screen without a romantic undercurrent. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
Ryan was born in Fairfield, Connecticut, the daughter of Susan Hyra Jordan (née Ryan), a former actress, casting director, and English-teacher, and Harry Hyra, a math teacher.[2][3] She has two sisters, Dana and Annie, and a brother, musician Andrew Hyra, of Billy Pilgrim.
Ryan was raised a Roman Catholic[4] and graduated from Saint Pius X Elementary School, in Fairfield, where her mother taught sixth grade. There, Ryan was confirmed into the Catholic Church, choosing the name "Anne" as her confirmation name. Ryan's mother had appeared in one television commercial and later worked briefly as an assistant casting director in New York City. She supported and encouraged her young daughter's study of acting.
At age 18, through her mother's connections, Ryan booked her first television commercial, doing chin-ups and giggling to promote "Tickle" deodorant.[citation needed]
In 1986, she played, "Carole Bradshaw," (wife of navalaviator "Nick 'Goose' Bradshaw"; played by Anthony Edwards) in Top Gun, and appeared in several scenes. Ryan played "Lydia Maxwell" in the movie Innerspace, which also starred her former husband, Dennis Quaid. Ryan then appeared in a film-noir remake (D.O.A.) and an action film (The Presidio).
Hit films
Her first full-blown hit in a leading role was the romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally... (1989) which paired her with comedic leading man Billy Crystal. Her portrayal of Sally Albright, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination, is memorable for her depiction of a theatrically faked orgasm in Katz's Delicatessen in Manhattan.
Ryan then starred in The Doors and in Prelude to a Kiss. Both films were moderately successful. 1993 saw the release of the hugely successful romantic comedy Sleepless in Seattle, which paired Ryan with leading man Tom Hanks for the second of three times. (The first was in Joe Versus the Volcano, which earned a "cult following" but was a critical and commercial disappointment.)
Meg Ryan in 2006.
She made several attempts to break away from the romantic comedy ingenue stereotype and garnered critical acclaim for her work in When a Man Loves a Woman, in which she played an alcoholic, and in Courage Under Fire, portraying a captain in the Gulf War. Both films were substantial successes at the box office. Many of her films of the 1990s were hits not only in North America, but also abroad. In 1994, Ryan won Harvard's Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year. That same year, People Magazine dubbed her one of "the 50 most beautiful people in the world." In 1995, critic Richard Corliss called her the, "the current soul of romantic comedy."[5] That same year, she appeared opposite Kevin Kline in Lawrence Kasdan's French Kiss, a romantic comedy that catered to her America's Sweetheart persona. The film grossed slightly over $100 million.
In 1997, Ryan voiced the lead role in the animated film, Anastasia, which garnered good reviews and enjoyed box office success. In 1998, Ryan starred in two films. The first, City of Angels, drew negative reviews, but became a financial success, topping nearly $200 million worldwide. You've Got Mail, which once again paired Ryan with Tom Hanks, earned her a third Golden Globe nomination and made over $250 million worldwide.
In 2000, Ryan starred in the action thriller Proof of Life, opposite Russell Crowe. Though the film was a critical and commercial flop, her $15 million paycheck[citation needed] established her as one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood.
That same year, Ryan starred opposite Diane Keaton in the comedy, Hanging Up, which received poor reviews, but grossed over $51 million. A year later, she once again returned to her romantic comedy roots in the film, Kate & Leopold. In 2003, she broke away from her usual roles, starring in Jane Campion's erotic crime thriller In the Cut. Though Ryan's decision to appear nude in a lengthy and rather graphic love scene for the first time in her career earned her much media attention, the movie failed with critics and grossed only $23 million in theaters. In October 2003, while in the UK to promote, In the Cut, Ryan's controversial interview with Michael Parkinson on the long-running television talk show Parkinson brought her some negative publicity in the British press.[6]
Ryan was quickly mentioned in Adam Sandler's 1995 movie Billy Madison. In the scene comedian Norm MacDonald asks Sandler "Who would you rather bone? Jack Nicholson or Meg Ryan?" Sandler says "Jack Nicholson now or Jack Nicholson 20 years ago?" MacDonald says "Old" Sandler then says "Meg Ryan".
Ryan's most recent project, George Gallo'sMy Mom's New Boyfriend (originally titled Homeland Security, and released in Australia and New Zealand as My Spy), was shot in the fall of 2006, in Shreveport, Louisiana, and was released in 2008. The romantic comedy stars Ryan opposite Antonio Banderas. Ryan was joined by former co-star Tom Hanks's son, Colin, who plays her son in the film.[7][8] In 2007 she played the role of Sarah Hardwicke in In the Land of Women, co-starring Adam Brody and Kristen Stewart.
Ryan's next project was a remake of the 1939 film, The Women, and began filming in New York City, in August 2007. The $18 million remake of the George Cukor classic was directed by Murphy Brown creator Diane English and produced by the Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger; it was released in 2008. Ryan played the central character, Mary Haines, a wealthy woman who is one of the last to find out that her husband is cheating on her with a shop girl. The leading role was originally made famous by actress Norma Shearer. Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing and Candice Bergen also starred in the remake.[9]
Ryan also appeared in The Deal, which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. The film was never distributed but is scheduled for DVD release on January 20, 2009.
In June 2009, it was reported that Ryan will guest star on the seventh season of Curb Your Enthusiasm.[10]
Marriage and children
Ryan married actor Dennis Quaid on Valentine's Day 1991, after starring in two films with him. Ryan agreed to marry him only after he kicked his cocaineaddiction.[5] Quaid and Ryan had one child together, Jack Henry, born on April 24, 1992. The couple separated in 2000, their divorce became final on July 16, 2001. In September 2008, Ryan revealed Quaid had been unfaithful to her for a long time while they were married. [11]
Meg Ryan had a relationship with actor Russell Crowe for a few months in 2000 before divorcing her husband; however, the relationship did not last.[12]
In January 2006, Ryan adopted a 14-month-old girl from China named Daisy True.[13]
