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Meg Ryan (born Margaret Mary Emily Hyra on November 19, 1961 in Fairfield, Connecticut) is an American actress who specializes in romantic comedies, but has also worked in other film genres.
Early life
Ryan was born in Fairfield, Connecticut, and went by the name Peggy (also her grandmother's nickname) as a child. She has two sisters, Dana and Annie, and a brother, Andrew. She graduated from Saint Pius X Elementary School in Fairfield, where her mother, Susan Ryan Hyra Jordan, taught the sixth grade. There, she was confirmed into the Catholic Church, choosing Anne as her confirmation name.
Her mother, Susan, had done some professional acting in television commercials and later worked as an assistant casting director in New York City. She supported and encouraged her young daughter's study of acting. By age 13, Ryan was studying Stanislavski's Method. At age 14, through her mother's connections, she booked her first television commercial, doing chin-ups and giggling to promote "Tickle" deodorant. Following her parents' divorce in 1976, her father Harry, a high school teacher, raised the children on his own.
She graduated from Bethel High School in 1979, where she was elected Homecoming Queen. She went on to study journalism at New York University, while acting in television commercials to earn extra money. Her success led her to drop out of college only a semester shy of graduating.
Career
After her first role in a feature film, Rich and Famous (1981), Ryan (then using her screen name) played Betsy Stewart in 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. Several TV film and smaller movie roles followed.
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 particularly memorable for her depiction of a "faked orgasm" in a busy diner. The film would be the first of three successful Nora Ephron films in which Ryan would be typecast as a bubbly, feisty, but incurable romantic.
She had much success with her on-screen pairing with Tom Hanks: some compared their chemistry to Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. They starred in three films together: Joe Versus the Volcano, Sleepless In Seattle and their last, 1998's You've Got Mail, which was Ryan's last major box office success for some years to come. Ryan was nominated for a second Golden Globe for her work in Sleepless In Seattle.
She made several attempts to break away from the romantic comedy ingenue stereotype, and garnered some critical acclaim for her work in When a Man Loves a Woman in which she played an alcoholic and Courage Under Fire, portraying a captain in the Gulf War. Many of her films of the 1990s were hits not only in North America, but also abroad. In 1994, Ryan won the Harvard Hasty Pudding Award as "Woman of the Year". That same year, People Magazine dubbed her one of "The 50 most beautiful people in the world". In 2003, she broke away from her usual roles and starred in In the Cut, an erotic crime thriller.
Ryan's most recent project, George Gallo's "Homeland Security", was shot in the fall of 2006 in Shreveport, Louisianna. The romantic comedy stars Ryan opposite Antonio Banderas. Ryan is joined by former co-star Tom Hanks's son, Colin, who plays her son in the film.
Ryan's next project is a remake of the 1939 classic film The Women, which is slated to begin filming in New York City in March 2007. The $18 million remake of the George Cukor classic is being produced by Mick Jagger and is slated for release in late 2007. Ryan will play 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. Anne Hathaway, Lisa Kudrow and Candice Bergen are also slated to star in the remake.
Personal life
Ryan married actor Dennis Quaid on Valentine's Day in 1991, after starring in two films with him. Ryan agreed to marry him only after he kicked his drug and alcohol addiction. Quaid and Ryan have one child together, Jack Henry, born April 24, 1992. The couple divorced on July 16, 2001. Although Ryan had a relationship with actor Russell Crowe, with whom she made a movie, both she and Quaid deny it was a factor in their divorce. In a 2006 interview with Allure, Ryan indicated that Quaid had not been faithful to her during their marriage.
It was during Ryan's marriage to Quaid that she had a falling out with her mother over his alleged drug abuse. In interviews, the actress cast her mother, Susan Ryan Jordan, in a negative light, saying that she had abandoned her children to pursue an acting career. In response, Jordan published a book in 1999, The Immune Spirit, about her struggle with breast cancer and her difficult relationship with her famous daughter. Her mother has since given many interviews painting Ryan in a negative light.
In January 2006, Ryan brought her newly adopted daughter, one-year-old Daisy True, home from China.
She is currently dating actor Matthew Perry
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)
* When a Man Loves a Woman (1994)
* 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 (2007)
* Papa (2007)
* Homeland Security (2007)
* The Women (2007)
* The Deal (2007)
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