Real name: Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra
Date of birth: 19 November 1961, Fairfield, Connecticut (USA)
Parents: Harry Hyra and Susan Jordan (born Ryan)
Height: 5' 8" (1,73m)
Eyes: Blue
Education:New York University with a Journalism Major
Resides: Homes in California and Montana
Pets: Brown Labrador (Dave) Horse (Abraham)
Film Agent: ICM (International Creative Management)

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.

Trivia

Graduated from Bethel High School. Was Prom Queen. [1979]

Ranked #57 in Premiere (USA) magazine's "The 100 Most Powerful People in Hollywood" list. [June 1999]

Ranked #59 on Entertainment Weekly's most powerful people in Hollywood [1998]

Voted most favorite female movie star by the readers and online users of the "People Weekly Magazine" [April 1998]

Ranked #94 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997]

Began Prufrock Pictures in 1994.

Son, with Dennis Quaid, Jack Henry Quaid (b. 24 April 1992).

Met actor Anthony Edwards during the making of the film Top Gun (1986) and moved in with him. They were a couple until she met actor Dennis Quaid during the film Innerspace (1987), and she moved in with and eventually married him.

Turned down the Sharon Stone role in Basic Instinct (1992)

"Meg Ryan" is an anagram of "Germany".

Shut down Prufrock Pictures [2000]

Born at 10:08 AM EST

Savage Garden's song 'All Around Me' was written about her, inspired by a crush from Daniel Jones, the band's composer.

4 February 2002 - An L.A. judge granted a restraining order against John Michael Hughes, a 40 year old real estate agent who had been hanging around Ryan's home claiming to be her fiancee.

Measurements: 34B/C-24-33 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)

Member of jury Festival International de Cannes 2003

Has been linked romantically to actors Russell Crowe, John Cusack, Breckin Meyer, Matt Dillon & Craig Bierko; as well as Aussie underwear model Travis Fimmel.

Took three weeks of boxing lessons, to prepare for her role in Against the Ropes (2004); Ryan wanted to understand the sport, and the terms her character would use.

Shares a birthday with Jodie Foster, Terry Farrell, and Allison Janney.

Shared an L.A. house with Daphne Zuniga when both were struggling actresses

Lost the lead role in Washington Square (1997) to Jennifer Jason Leigh

She and actor Tom Hanks have been co-stars in three movies as love interests: Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Joe Versus the Volcano (1990), and You've Got Mail (1998)

Did several national commercials as a teenager for Barbie and other products.

Voted "cutest" girl in school, class secretary, and homecoming queen her senior year of high school.

Made a memorably unforthcoming appearance on a British chat show hosted by Michael Parkinson. The October 2003 episode of Parkinson's chat show has become part of British television history due to the actress's bizarre behavior in which she gave only one word answers to questions and stared icily at the host. Ryan appeared on the program to promote her erotic thriller, In the Cut (2003), but refused to answer Parkinson's questions about the drastic change from her typical romantic comedy roles. At one point Parkinson said in exasperation, "What would you do now if you were me?" to which Ryan replied, "Why not wrap it up?" About the televised debacle, Parkinson later said that Ryan was his "most difficult TV moment." He felt her rude behavior toward his fellow guests, Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine, whom she deliberately turned her back on, was unforgivable. Parkinson said, "I should have closed it. But listen, it happens. She was an unhappy woman. I felt sorry for her. What I couldn't forgive her for was that she was rude to the other guests." In a 2006 interview with "Marie Claire" magazine, Ryan blamed Parknson's paternal manner for the failure of the interview. Ryan said, "I don't even know the man. That guy was like some disapproving father! It's crazy. I don't know what he is to you guys, but he's a nut. I felt like he was berating me for being naked in the movie. He said something like: 'You should go back to doing what you were doing'. And I thought, are you like a disapproving dad right now? I'm not even related to you. Back off, buddy. I was so offended by him." Ryan also underscored the difference between American and British TV interviewing styles. "I realized it's not like an American talk show where it's seven minutes and then there's a commercial break. I had to do 20 minutes straight with this guy, and I could either walk off - which wouldn't be good - or try to disagree with him very respectfully."

A famous haircut by Sally Hershberger was named "Meg" in honor of Ryan, since she was the first one to have it.

Adopted daughter Daisy True from China in January 2006 (revealed on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" (1986) March 1, 2006).
Personal quotes

"People say that chivalry is dead, I don't think that it's dead, I think it's just got the 'flu!"

(Commenting on the nudity and sex in In the Cut (2003)) "You don't go, 'Wow! I get to do a nude scene.' But I love the sex scene in this movie. It was scary, honest and raw. But people could find my body very unattractive. There could be a backlash against it".

The best thing about modern living is anaesthesia. Definitely.

"Clearly romantic comedy is my franchise genre, I don't mind saying that, it's true. I love doing them and hopefully always will do them. I don't feel particularly typecast because I think I do so many different kinds of things. Whether they're seen or not is another issue."

Attached Images

Meg Ryan.jpg (83.3 KB, 21 views)