Date of Birth
19 November 1961, Fairfield, Connecticut
Birth Name
Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra
Height
5' 8"
Spouse Dennis Quaid (14 February 1991 - 16 July 2001) (divorced) 1 child
Daughter:
Daisy Ryan (adopted 2006)
Blond-haired,
blue-eyed with an effervescent personality, Meg Ryan graduated from Bethel high school, Bethel
in June 1979. Moving to New York, she attended New
York University where she majored in journalism. To earn
extra money while working on her degree, Meg went into acting using her new name Meg Ryan. In 1981, she had her big screen
debut as Candice Bergen's daughter in George Cukor's last film Rich and Famous (1981). She tried out and was cast as Betsy in the day time television soap "As the World Turns" (1956). She was part of the cast from 1982 to 1984. Meg also had a part in the television
series "One of the Boys" (1982), but this show was soon cancelled. In 1984, she moved to tinsel town and landed
a job in the western Television Series "Wildside" (1985). With her part in the highly successful movie Top Gun (1986) Meg became a star with "take me to bed or lose me forever". This led to Meg being
cast in Steven Spielberg's movie Innerspace (1987) where she co-starred with Dennis Quaid. She again co-starred with Quaid in the remake of D.O.A. (1988) and they married on Valentine Day in 1991. In 1989, Meg appeared in another blockbuster
called When Harry Met
Sally... (1989) and the scene at the restaurant became famous. Meg was nominated for both the
Golden Globe and the BAFTA. In 1990, she co-starred with Tom Hanks in Joe Versus the
Volcano (1990) and this time she played three roles as DeDe/Angelica/Patricia. She appeared again
with Tom in the very successful Sleepless in Seattle (1993) for which she was again nominated for the Golden Globe. In 1994, Meg decided to
act against type when she appeared as the alcoholic wife and mother in When a Man Loves
a Woman (1994). After that, she went back to "cute" with both I.Q. (1994) and French Kiss (1995). In 1994, Meg won the Harvard Hasty Pudding Award as "Woman of the Year" and was voted as being one of "The 50 most beautiful people
in the world 1994" by People Magazine.