Farah Fawcett: American Icon

Farah Fawcett was born in Corpus Christi, TX. In the late 1960s Fawcett attended the University of Texas at Austin and became a sorority sister in the Delta Delta Delta Sorority. In 1969 Farah Fawcett appeared in a photo of the "Ten Most Beautiful Coeds" from the University of Texas at Austin, which appeared in Cashbox magazine; a Hollywood publicist saw the photo and urged Farrah Fawcett to try her luck in Hollywood.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Fawcett appeared in many TV commercials for consumer products, like Noxema, Ultra Brite, Wella Balsam and Mercury Cougar. She also appeared in guest spots on many popular TV shows including I Dream of Jeannie, Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, The Six Million Dollar Man and the Dating Game.

In 1973 Farah Fawcett married actor Lee Majors, star of The Six Million Dollar Man and was known as Farrah Fawcett-Majors. After the couple divorced in 1982 Farah Fawcett dropped her married last name.

In 1976, Pro Arts Inc., produced a poster of Farrah Fawcett in a one-piece red bathing suit and the poster became a best-seller. Later that same year Farah Fawcett shot to international stardom with her role as sexy private investigator Jill Munroe on the now classic TV series, Charlie’s Angels, debuted. The popularity of Charlie’s Angels boosted Fawcett’s poster sales and her hairstyle was emulated by millions of young women.

After only one season Charlie's Angels was a huge hit, winning Farah Fawcett a People's Choice Award for Favorite Performer in a New TV Program. Fawcett left the show after only one season, and as settlement to a lawsuit stemming from her early departure, she appeared three more times as a guest star in each of seasons three and four.

After Charlie’s Angels Farah Fawcett went on to become a critically acclaimed actress, appearing off-Broadway and in highly-rated television movies like The Burning Bed, Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story and Margaret Bourke-White. She won multiple Golden Globe awards and Emmy Award nominations for her performances through the late 1970s and 1980s.

In 1982 Farrah Fawcett began a romantic relationship with actor Ryan O’Neal. In 1985 the couple had a son, Redmond O'Neal. Though Fawcett and O’Neal separated in 1997 they reunited in 2001.

Fawcett, who had steadfastly resisted appearing nude in films or magazines throughout the 1970s and 1980s, upset supporters by posing nude in the December 1995 issue of a men’s magazine similar to Maxim magazine, Playboy Magazine. The issue became the best-selling issue of the 1990s. Two years later at the age of 50, Farah Fawcett again posed for men’s magazine Playboy. That same year, Fawcett appeared in Robert Duvall’s film The Apostle and received an Independent Spirit Award nomination as Best Actress for her role.

Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s Farah Fawcett continued to appear in guest spots on popular TV shows like Ally McBeal, Spin City and The Guardian; garnering her third Emmy nomination in 2004.

In 2006 Farrah Fawcett was diagnosed with anal cancer. After American doctors told the actress her rare form of cancer was inoperable, she went to Germany for alternative treatments. In early April 2009 many celebrity magazines including People magazine, Us Weekly and Life & Style magazine reported Farrah Fawcett was near death; later Fawcett’s publicist denied this.

A month later celebrity magazines quoted Ryan O’Neal describing Farrah Fawcett’s state as critically ill and in the last stages of cancer. On May 15 a two-hour documentary chronicling Fawcett’s cancer treatments called “Farrah’s Story” aired on NBC. Nearly 9 million viewers tuned in to watch the program, which was later re-aired on MSNBC, Bravo and Oxygen.

By: Jessica Vandelay

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For more celebrity magazines, visit www.magazines.com/category/entertainment-tv. Jessica Vandelay is a freelance writer in New York City.