Charlie's Favourite Angel Goes To Heaven
04 July 2009
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The Death Of The Seventies Icon Farrah Fawcett Left A Void In The Lives Of A Generation
Dressed in a tiny scarlet swimsuit and a smile, Farrah Fawcett titillated the world's men for over 30 years.
Last week, the biggest selling pin-up girl of all time lost her long battle to anal cancer, aged 62.
Farrah was 29 years old and starting to think she would never "make it" when Pro Arts Inc. approached her agent and pitched the idea of a poster.
It was the beginning of 1976, and while she had played cameos in 'The Six Million Dollar Man', 'The Dating Game' and several episodes of 'Harry O' and married TV star Lee Majors, Farrah was still relatively unknown.
Keen to make a name for herself, Farrah agreed and was in Bruce McBroom's photographic studio days later.
McBroom shot 40 rolls of film of the blonde beauty, before asking Farrah to choose her favourite image.
The photo she selected - all sun-kissed skin, pearly whites, big hair and come hither eyes - went on to become the most popular poster of all time, selling over 12 million copies.
Around the same time, Farrah appeared in a TV movie of the week called 'Charlie's Angels'.
Farrah, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith played a trio of feisty private investigators who worked for a reclusive millionaire they'd never met.
The movie got such good ratings, the network commissioned a television series, recruiting the entire principal cast of the original film.
The series aired in September 1976 and Farrah - who played blonde bombshell Jill Munroe - became an overnight star.
Within months, 'Charlie's Angels' was the number one show in the US, and Farrah had won the People's Choice Award for Favourite Performer in a New TV Program.
Suddenly, Farrah was on the cover of magazines worldwide, and women everywhere were going into hair salons and asking for her distinctive feathered "Farrah Do".
Although she loved the female admiration Farrah always knew men were her main fans.
At the time, she said: "When the show was number three, I thought it was our acting. When we got to be number one, I decided it could only be because none of us wears a bra."
But after just one season, Farrah shocked fans when she quit the show and was replaced by Cheryl Ladd, who played Jill's younger sister Kris Munroe.
The studio sued Farrah for breaching the terms of her contract, and forced her to return for six guest appearances in seasons three and four of the series.
As well as problems in her career, in 1979, Farrah split from Lee and spent the next three years starring in a series of commercial and critical flops, including 'Somebody Killed Her Husband', which was cruelly dubbed 'Somebody Killed Her Career'.
At the time, she said: When the show was number three, I thought it was our acting
But in 1982, Farrah’s luck changed. She started dating actor Ryan O'Neal and agreed to star in a low-budget production of William Mastrosimone's controversial play 'Extremities'.
She played a would-be rape victim who turns the tables on her attacker. The following year, her performance as a battered wife in TV movie 'The Burning Bed' earned her an Emmy Award nomination.
In 1986 - just months after she gave birth to her first and only child Redmond - Farrah starred in a film adaptation of 'Extremities', earning a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture.
From there, Farrah's career as a dramatic actress took off. She received further Golden Globe nominations for her performances in 'Nazi Hunter: The Beate Klarsfeld Story' and 'Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story'.
When she turned 48, Farrah decided to return to her pin-up roots, posing nude for the December 1995 issue of Playboy magazine.
The issue quickly became the highest-grossing issue of the 1990s, selling over four million copies.
Two years later, she posed for Playboy again. Even though she was 50 years old, the issue instantly became a best-seller.
For the next decade, Farrah continued to appear in award-winning dramatic films as well as making guest appearances on shows including 'Ally McBeal' and 'Spin City'.
By the early 2000s, it seemed Farrah life couldn't get any better. She was a respected actress in a happy long-term relationship with a loving son.
But in 2006 her life fell apart when she was diagnosed with anal cancer.
She began treatment, including chemotherapy and surgery, immediately and by the end of the year it looked like she was healthy again.
However, less than four months later, the cancer had returned and spread to her liver. Farrah travelled to Germany for experimental treatment before returning to Los Angeles for increasingly painful courses of laser ablation therapy and chemoembolisation.
With the help of her close friend Alana Stewart, Farrah documented her battle with the disease from her first doctor's appointment until days before her death two years later on a small hand-held video camera.
In April this year, Farrah was rushed to hospital complaining of stomach pain. Redmond - who had just been sent to California's Pitchness Detention Center for treatment for drug addiction - hurried to her bedside for a hastily-organised court-approved visit.
The media expected the worst, but just three days later, Farrah was released and returned home to celebrate Easter with her family.
On May 15, a two-hour documentary entitled 'Farrah's Story' aired on US television.
Made up of over two years of footage filmed by Farrah and Alana, the programme was watched by nearly nine million people.
At the time, Farrah said: "This film is very personal. At the time, I didn't know if anybody would ever see it. But at some point, the footage took on a life of its own and dictated that it be seen.
"I've never understood why people are interested in anything that I do - until now. As much as I would have liked to have kept my cancer private, I now realise that I have a certain responsibility to those who are fighting their own fights and may be able to benefit from learning about mine."
Farrah was in hospital again by the time the show aired, and she sobbed uncontrollably as she watched it.
Alana revealed: "She cried a few times. It was very emotional for her and I think it's because it's been a very, very long journey and going back through it was probably a bit painful.
"When it was over, I said, 'OK, so did you like it?' And she said, 'I liked it very, very, very, very, very much.' Those were her exact words."
Farrah was almost unconscious when the programme came began, but was completely lucid by the end.
Her long-term partner Ryan said: "When we began watching it Friday night, she had a very low pulse. But, as the show went on, it kept going up and up and up. It was wonderful.
"We have to now show her one of her films every night."
Farrah is said to have shed more tears when she found out how many viewers tuned in and was thrilled when a sequel was commissioned.
Ryan said: "We haven't stopped filming, and we're going to make a second instalment on her life eventually."
As May turned into June, Farrah's condition continued to deteriorate, prompting Ryan to propose.
In a US TV interview, he said: "I've asked her to marry me, again, and she's agreed. Farrah is fighting for her life. But we will wed as soon as she can say yes. Maybe we can just nod her head. I promise you, we will. Absolutely."
Ryan, 68, said he has never felt the need to marry his long-term love until she got ill.
He added: "I used to ask her to marry me all the time. But it just got to be a joke, you know. We just joked about it."
Tragically, Farrah passed away on June 25, days before she was due to wed her long-time love.
But the actress did have time to give another romance a happy ending. Months before her death, Farrah reconciled with her ex-husband Lee Majors.
A source said: "This past February, her birthday, he decided to call her. They spoke for the first time in 23 years. They had a 40-minute phone conversation about her life, and the cancer and it was such a lovely moment for the two of them. I guess it was a very good conversation. They joked, and they got a little bit emotional."
"When Farrah got diagnosed, and it became public, Lee started calling Farrah's close friends to get updates on her. He did that for two and a half years. He just wanted to know how she was doing because he still cared about her as a friend.
"He didn't feel like he could reach out to her himself - it had just been too long, but he still cared about her deeply. He would send funny messages to her through friends, and she would do the same, and it was very sweet."
Over 200 friends and family members said their final farewells to Farrah at a private funeral at Los Angeles' Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels on Tuesday (30.06.09).
Farrah's best friend Alana gave the eulogy, saying: "Goodbye sweet girl. Farrah never felt sorry for herself during her illness - she fought cancer furiously.
"She's the most beautiful angel in heaven. She always seemed so indestructible."
Ryan and Redmond - who was allowed to leave his drug treatment programme to attend the service - helped carry Farrah's coffin, adorned with yellow and orange flowers, into the cathedral and both gave readings during the service.
Farrah's doctor Lawrence Piro also delivered a eulogy.
Paying tribute to the actress, Ryan said after her death: "Although this is an extremely difficult time for her family and friends, we take comfort in the beautiful times that we shared with Farrah over the years and the knowledge that her life brought joy to so many people around the world."
While Farrah's friends, family and fans continue mourn the loss of the star, they can all take comfort in Ryan's assertion that, after so many years of pain, she is certainly in a better place now.
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