Meg Ryan

Blue-eyed, blonde-haired with an exuberant personality, Meg Ryan was born Margaret Mary Emily Hyra in Fairfield, Connecticut, to Susan (Duggan) who was the English teacher, and a former actress as well as Harry Hyra, a math teacher. Her heritage includes Ruthenian, Polish and Irish and German. ("Hyra") is her Ruthenian surname, and "Ryan" is her maternal grandmother's maiden. Meg graduated from Bethel High School in Bethel in May 1979. Meg relocated to New York City and studied journalism at New York University. Meg Ryan was her new name and she started acting to earn extra money during her time at university. Her debut on screen came in 1981, making a brief appearance as Candice Bergen's daughter in George Cukor's final film Rich and Famous (1981). She was chosen for the role as Betsy in the soap opera The World Turns the World Turns (1956) after she tried out. From 1982 until 1984, she was a part of the team. Meg also played a role in the TV show One of the Boys (1982) however, the show was soon canceled. She relocated to Hollywood in 1984 and was offered a job on the western series Wildside (1985). Meg had a small role in Top Gun (1986), which led her to be cast in Steven Spielberg's Innerspace (1987), where she starred alongside Dennis Quaid. In D.O.A.'s remake, she once again was a co-star with Dennis Quaid. (1988) and married in Saint Valentine's Day 1991. Meg was in 1989's When Harry Met Sally... (1989), and the restaurant scene was made famous. Meg was nominated twice 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. She also appeared in of the highly successful Sleepless in Seattle (1993), where she received nominations for the Golden Globe. In 1994, Meg decided to act against type when she appeared as the wife of an alcoholic and mother in the film When a Man Loves a Woman (1994). After that, she went back to "cute" with both I.Q. (1994) & French Kiss (1995). The year 1994 was the year that Meg won the Harvard Hasty Pudding Award as "Woman of the Year" and was also voted as being one of "The 50 most beautiful people in the world 1994" by People Magazine.