In 1989, Ryan's winsome ways were showcased to best advantage in her very first leading role, in Rob Reiner's definitive late-eighties romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally . . ., which demolished box-office barriers, thanks in no small part to Ryan's now-famous simulated-orgasm scene. The sudden cinematic sensation had found her stock-in-trade characterization: the slightly befuddled, occasionally daft, endlessly adorable, and always endearing comic-romantic heroine. article continued below...

Two years into her degree, Ryan had the boon to earn an auspicious feature-film debut in the supporting role of Candice Bergen's daughter in George Cukor's Rich and Famous (1981). Encouraged by the experience, the then-twenty-year-old dropped out of school and turned to the realm of television for acting jobs, first appearing in an ABC after-school special titled Amy and the Angel, and then in the recurring role of Betsy Montgomery on the daytime drama As the World Turns. Departing the world of soapy intrigue after the 1984 season, Ryan relocated to Los Angeles to film the short-lived series Wildside. Undismayed by the failure of the small-screen effort, Ryan decided to stay on and make a bid for movie stardom. An appearance in Amityville III: The Demon (1983) did little to recommend her to the movie-going public at large, but she gained good notice for her next assignment, a solid supporting turn in the Tom Cruise action movie Top Gun (1986), in which she was cast as the wife of Cruise's naval fighter co-pilot, played by Anthony Edwards. Ryan and Edwards' ultimately tragedy-tinged fictional romance translated into a short-term real-life relationship.

In 1989, Ryan's winsome ways were showcased to best advantage in her very first leading role, in Rob Reiner's definitive late-eighties romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally . . ., which demolished box-office barriers, thanks in no small part to Ryan's now-famous simulated-orgasm scene. The sudden cinematic sensation had found her stock-in-trade characterization: the slightly befuddled, occasionally daft, endlessly adorable, and always endearing comic-romantic heroine. Her own private romantic life solidified when she married Dennis Quaid, whom she had first met during filming of the 1987 sci-fi flick Innerspace; the two subsequently became a couple when they re-teamed for the botched 1988 noir remake D.O.A. Quaid willingly underwent a stint in rehab for cocaine addiction prior to their 1991 nuptials, and by all accounts Ryan has made him a much happier man. The couple's son, Jack Henry, was born in 1992; the family divides its time between a home in Santa Monica and a hundred-acre ranch in Montana.

Professionally, the former high school homecoming queen reigned again in Nora Ephron's unabashedly gimmicky button-pusher Sleepless in Seattle (1993), in which her hopelessly romantic Baltimore journalist discovers fated love with continent-divided kindred Tom Hanks, he a Seattlite widower. Despite creditable supporting and leading dramatic roles-like her performance as a trampy drifter in the disturbing true-life tragedy Promised Land (1988); her portrayal of Jim Morrison's druggy girlfriend in The Doors (1991); and her gut-wrenching turn as a charming alcoholic wife in When a Man Loves a Woman (1994)-audiences have come to prefer Ryan in romantic comedies, and her riskier, darker screen efforts tend to be eclipsed by the sunny attractions of her more popular lightweight screen persona. Not that all of her sentimental turns have made for blockbuster successes: 1990's chimerical fable Joe Versus the Volcano, in which she played three different characters, missed the mark; 1992's fantasy-romance A Prelude to a Kiss, despite its admittedly fine performances by Ryan and co-star Alec Baldwin, was a strained effort in the final analysis; and 1994's I.Q., in which Ryan starred as a egghead professor estranged from the more romantic pursuits of life, fell decidedly flat.

Ryan made a strong stake in the business side of filmmaking in 1993, when she established her own Fox-based production company, Fandango Films (now Prufrock Pictures). She returned to her screwball comedy roots for her feature producing debut, 1995's only modestly entertaining French Kiss, which partnered her with a roguish Kevin Kline. Following a captivating supporting turn in the hip period piece Restoration (also 1995), the slight, prepossessing actress convincingly portrayed a medevac helicopter pilot in Courage Under Fire (1996), a soldierly drama that teamed her with Denzel Washington and a then-unknown Matt Damon. Though she slightly tarnished her sweetness-and-light reputation with her darkly waggish performance as a jilted girlfriend with revenge on her mind in Griffin Dunne's feature-directorial debut Addicted to Love, Ryan reaffirmed her standing as a cinematic sweetheart nonpareil by voicing 1997's most comely animated damsel in distress, Anastasia. Ryan then starred as a heart surgeon who discovers unearthly romance with a beatific Nicolas Cage in City of Angels, a film loosely based on the Wim Wenders classic Wings of Desire.

Next up for Ryan: the Warner Bros. romantic comedy You Have Mail, about a pair of co-workers (Ryan and Tom Hanks) who unwittingly fall for each other via an online correspondence; a remake of the 1939 classic The Women that will partner her in onscreen back-biting and off-screen producing with Julia Roberts; and a film adaptation of the David Rabe play Hurly-Burly, the A-list cast of which will also include Sean Penn, Robin Penn, Kevin Spacey, and Chazz Palminteri.

Ryan is now working on Hanging Up, a film that tells the story of three sisters after the death of their father.

• (1979) Graduated from Bethel High School. Was Prom Queen.
• (June 1999) Ranked #57 in Premiere (USA) magazine's "The 100 Most Powerful People in Hollywood" list.
• (1998) Ranked #59 on Entertainment Weekly's most powerful people in Hollywood
• (April 1998) Voted most favorite female movie star by the readers and online users of the "People Weekly Magazine"
• (October 1997) Ranked #94 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.
• Began Prufrock Pictures in 1994.
• Son, with Quaid, Jack Henry Quaid (b. 24 April 1992)
• Dennis Quaid filed for divorce from Meg Ryan on July 11, 2000.
• (2000) Dated Russell Crowe
• 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.
• (May 1998) Ranked #74 in Premiere (USA) magazine's "The 100 Most Powerful People in Hollywood" list.
• Auditioned for Robin Wright's part in Princess Bride, The (1987).
• Turned down the Sharon Stone role in Basic Instinct (1992)
• "Meg Ryan" is an anagram of "Germany".
• (2000) Shut down Prufrock Pictures
• Born at 10:08 AM EST
• Member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority.