John McEnroe's ex-wife Tatum O'Neal fondly looks back on her historic Best Supporting Actor win in light of Oscars 2025

John McEnroe's ex-wife Tatum O' Neal fondly looked back on her win at the 1974 Academy Awards, the 2025 edition of which was earlier today (March 2). O'Neal had won the Best Supporting Actress award at the age of 10 that year, making her the youngest person ever to win a competitive Academy Award.

McEnroe and O'Neal married in 1986 and parted ways in 1994. They have three children - Kevin, Sean and Emily. McEnroe later married Patty Smyth in 1997 while O'Neal did not remarry.

O'Neal took to Instagram to share a short clip from her winning moment of the 1975 Oscars. The clip began with a pause that usually follows the line "And the Oscar goes to" to announce the winner. The screen was also set up in the format typical of the time with insets of the nominees that captured their expressions as they anticipated the result.

She used teary-eyes emoji and captioned it:

"On this day @theacademy."

Screengrab from John McEnroe's ex-wife Tatum O'Neal's Instagram @tatum_oneal

The clip ended with a widely-smiling 10-year old O'Neal walking up to the stage to receive the prestigious award donning a tuxedo. She won the Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Addie Loggins in the movie Paper Moon, co-starring her father, Ryan O'Neal.

McEnroe and O'Neal were quite a power couple during their relationship, with the former being a 7-time Grand Slam champion and the latter bagging roles in Paramount Pictures and MGM features.

When Emily McEnroe revealed the 'enormous pressure" parents John McEnroe and Tatum O' Neal's success put on her

John McEnroe's ex-wife Tatum O'Neal(left) and daughter Emily(right) at an event in 2018. Image: getty

John McEnroe and ex-wife Tatum O'Neal's successes as tennis player and a Hollywood star respectively had a strong double effect on their daughter Emily. On one hand it put her under 'enormous pressure' while on the other, it motivated her to forge her own path.

In a 2015 interview with People magazine, Emily opened up about wanting to better her parent's achievements as a kid.

"When I was growing up, I used to think, 'I have to get my Oscar before my mom,' and then I passed that age quickly. I was like, 'Well, that's absolutely not going to happen,'" Emily said.

She added that her parent's success also pushed her and her brothers to make their own way.

"My parents have been the best at their careers. My dad was number one at tennis and my mom won an Oscar so that put enormous pressure on us. I think it also gives my siblings and me a huge drive to blaze our own trail," she added.

Emily made her acting debut in 2022 and continues to work in Hollywood as an actor, singer and voice artist.