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 becamea sorority sister in the Delta Delta Delta Sorority.  In 1969 Farah Fawcett appeared in a photo ofthe "Ten Most Beautiful Coeds" from the University of Texas atAustin, which appeared in Cashboxmagazine; a Hollywood publicist saw the photo and urged Farrah Fawcett to tryher luck in Hollywood.  

In the late 1960s and early1970s, Fawcett appeared in many TV commercials for consumer products, likeNoxema, Ultra Brite, Wella Balsam and Mercury Cougar. She also appeared inguest spots on many popular TV shows including I Dream of Jeannie, OwenMarshall: Counselor at Law, The Six Million Dollar Man and the Dating Game.

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

In1976, Pro Arts Inc., produced a poster of Farrah Fawcett in a one-piece redbathing suit and the poster became a best-seller. Later that same year FarahFawcett shot to international stardom with her role as sexy privateinvestigator Jill Munroe on the now classic TV series, Charlie’s Angels,debuted. The popularity of Charlie’s Angels boosted Fawcett’s poster sales andher hairstyle was emulated by millions of young women.

After only oneseason Charlie's Angels was a hugehit, winning Farah Fawcett a People's Choice Award for Favorite Performer in a New TV Program. Fawcett left the showafter only one season, and as settlement to a lawsuit stemming from her earlydeparture, she appeared three more times as a guest star in each of seasonsthree and four.

After Charlie’s Angels Farah Fawcett went onto become a critically acclaimed actress, appearing off-Broadway and in highly-ratedtelevision movies like The Burning Bed,Poor Little Rich Girl: The BarbaraHutton Story and MargaretBourke-White. She won multiple Golden Globe awards and Emmy Awardnominations for her performances through the late 1970s and 1980s.

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

Fawcett, who had steadfastly resistedappearing nude in films or magazines throughout the 1970s and 1980s, upsetsupporters by posing nude in the December 1995 issue of a men’s magazinesimilar to Maxim magazine, PlayboyMagazine. The issue became the best-selling issue of the 1990s. Twoyears later at the age of 50, Farah Fawcett again posed for men’s magazine Playboy. That same year, Fawcett appearedin Robert Duvall’s film The Apostleand received an Independent Spirit Award nomination as Best Actressfor her role.

Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s FarahFawcett continued to appear in guest spots on popular TV shows like AllyMcBeal, Spin City and The Guardian; garnering her third Emmy nomination in2004.

In 2006 Farrah Fawcett was diagnosed withanal cancer. After American doctors told the actress her rare form of cancerwas inoperable, she went to Germany for alternative treatments. In early April2009 many celebrity magazines including People magazine, Us Weekly and Life& Style magazine reported Farrah Fawcett was near death; later Fawcett’spublicist denied this.

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