One of the brightest supersstars in Hollywood, Meg Ryan has come to be known as the 'Queen of Romantic Comedies', although her talent is certainly diverse. Her first credits were on various television shows in the early eighties, before jumping into the limelight by starring in 'When Harry Met Sally...'. The nineties have seen her continue her success and, recently, she has also served as producer on several projects.Meg Ryan was born on November 19, 1961, in Fairfield, Connecticut, and was given the name Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra. She moved to Bethel in 1974 with her father, Harry, and mother, Susan, a casting agent. Her parents divorced two years later, when she was 15, her mother pursuing an acting career in New York. Meg attended Bethel High School and, in 1978, adopted the surname, Ryan, originally her mother's maiden name. She has three siblings, Dana, Annie and Andrew. Meg studied Journalism at New York University, paying for her tuition by appearing in television commercials. In 1981, at the age of 20, she made her film debut, starring as Candice Bergen's daughter in George Cukor's 'Rich and Famous'. She was a troubled teen in Amy and the Angel (ABC, 1982), and soap opera cultists embraced her as Betsy Montgomery on "As the World Turns" (CBS, 1982-84). After the premiere of "Charles in Charge" (CBS, 1984) and the short-lived Western series "Wildside" (ABC, 1985),
Meg Ryan pretty much abandoned the medium. She, then, went on to appear in several television series, including a three-year stint as Betsy Stewart Montgomery in the long-running soap opera, 'As the World Turns', but it was as Anthony Edwards' wife in the cult film, 'Top Gun', in 1986, that brought her to Hollywood's attention. This led to a role in 'Innerspace' the next year where she met future husband, Dennis Quaid. In 1989, Meg skyrocketed to fame starring opposite Billy Crystal in Rob Reiner's romantic comedy, 'When Harry Met Sally...' which began her common association with this genre, partly due to the famous 'fake orgasm' scene, now a classic moment in film history. Her relationship with romance films was sealed in 1993 when she starred alongside Tom Hanks in 'Sleepless in Seattle'. Proving her versatility, though, Meg played an alcoholic mother-of-two in 'When a Man Loves a Woman' and, more recently, an Irish patient in a Quaker hospice in 'Restoration'. She began her own production company in 1993, which she titled 'Prufrock' and she was a producer for the film 'French Kiss', in which she also starred.
Ryan wed Dennis Quaid on Valentine's Day of 1991 and they have a son, Jack Henry, born in April, 1992. She also owns a brown labrador named Dave and a horse named Abraham.
[Meg Ryan HunPage]
