Meg Ryan (nee 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.

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.

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 crystallized Ryan's on-screen persona as a bubbly, charming, feisty but incurable romantic, a role she has reprised in several roles since. In 2003, she broke away from her usual roles, and starred in In the Cut, an erotic crime/thriller/mystery. Many of her films of the 1990s have been hits not only in North America, but also abroad.

Ryan married actor Dennis Quaid on Valentine's Day in 1991 after co-starring in two films with him. They divorced on July 16, 2001 after she had an indiscreet affair with actor Russell Crowe, with whom she was working on a movie. Quaid and Ryan had one child together, Jack Henry, born April 24, 1992.

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)
• Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
• Flesh and Bone (1993)
• A Century of Cinema (1994) (documentary)
• When a Man Loves a Woman (1994)
• I.Q. (1994)
• French Kiss (1995) (also producer)
• Restoration (1995)
• Courage Under Fire (1996)
• Addicted to Love (1997)
• Anastasia (1997) (voice)
• City of Angels (1998)
• Hurlyburly (1998)
• You've Got Mail (1998)
• Hanging Up (2000)
• Proof of Life (2000)
• Kate & Leopold (2001)
• Searching for Debra Winger (2002) (documentary)
• In the Cut (2003)
• Against the Ropes (2004)
• The Tortilla Curtain (2005) (currently in pre-production)
• Papa (2005) (currently announced start of production)
• In the Land of Women (2006) (currently in pre-production)

External links