Meg Ryan

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

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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 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.

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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. The movie 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 onscreen pairing with Tom Hanks; some compared their chemistry to Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. They costarred 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.

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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; Meg has been estranged from her own mother, Susan Jordan, for many years. The couple divorced on July 16, 2001 after she had an indiscreet affair with actor Russell Crowe, with whom she was working on a movie. 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 affair, along with Ryan ageing beyond the "cute" persona of her onscreen characters, hurt her popularity with the American public. She has not had a major box office success since knowledge of the affair became public.

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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.

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Asteroid 8353 Megryan was named in her honor.

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1961: 1961 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar)....

Fairfield: Fairfield is a common place name in several English speaking countries....

Connecticut: Connecticut (pronounced ) is a state of the United States, part of the New England region, as well as the southernmost state in New England and one of the wealthiest states in the country. Connecticut was one of the thirteen colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution....

Meg Ryan related Images and Photos (experimental)

Meg Ryan	Meg Ryan Print	Meg Ryan Print	Married Actors Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan at Film Premiere of His "The Parent Trap"
Ryan Freel	Ryan Smyth	Ryan Smyth	Ryan Smyth
Ryan Zebra	Ryan Grant	Ryan Church	Ryan Malone