Meg Ryan

Blond-haired, blue-eyed with a lively personality, Meg Ryan was born Margaret Mary Emily Hyra in Fairfield, Connecticut, to Susan (Duggan), an English teacher, and a former actress as well as Harry Hyra, a math teacher. Meg Ryan is of Ruthenian, Polish, Irish and German ancestry ("Hyra" is a Ruthenian surname and "Ryan" is the maiden name of her maternal grandmother). Meg was graduated in June 1979 Bethel highschool, Bethel. Meg moved to New York City and studied journalism at New York University. Meg Ryan was her new name and she started acting to earn a little extra cash while she completed her degree. Her first screen appearance came in 1981, making a brief appearance as Candice Bergen's daughter in George Cukor’s final film Rich and Famous (1981). She was cast in the part as Betsy in the TV soap as the World Turns (1956) after she tried out. From 1982 until 1984, she was part of the cast. Meg also played a role in the television show One of the Boys (1982), however, this show was soon cancelled. She moved to Hollywood in 1984 and was offered an interview for the western television series Wildside (1985). Meg was a part-time actress in Top Gun (1986), and was later cast in Steven Spielberg's Innerspace (1987), in which she was starring alongside Dennis Quaid. In D.O.A.'s remake, she once again was a co-star with Dennis Quaid. (1988) and the couple were married on Saint Valentine's Day in 1991. In 1989, Meg appeared in When Harry Met Sally... (1989) and the scene in the restaurant gained a lot of attention. Meg was twice nominated for the Golden Globe and 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. In 1993, Meg starred with Tom in Sleepless in Seattle (1993) for which she was nominated again for the Golden Globe. Meg determined to act against her peers in 1994 by playing the part of Meg as a mother/wife who has a drinking problem in When a Man Loves a Woman (1994). Then, she went back to "cute" with both I.Q. (1994) as well as French Kiss (1995). In 1994, Meg won the Harvard Hasty Pudding Award for being "Woman of the Year" and was voted as one of "The 50 most beautiful women in the world in 1994" by People Magazine.