Farrah Fawcett became a major celebrity after her time on Charlie’s Angels; her unusual haircut and “pin-up” status only added to her recognition.
Fawcett was going through a difficult phase in her life at the same time. She was the subject of a multi-million dollar lawsuit against her former employer, and she was known to have occasionally convoluted love life.
Her turbulent relationship with actor Ryan O’Neal in the 1990s was nothing short of a disaster. The saddest aspect of all, though, was that she ultimately made the decision to end her relationship with him due to a very unexpected finding.
What you need to know about cult favorite actress Farrah Fawcett is here!
Farrah Fawcett was born on February 2, 1947 in Corpus Christi, Texas. She was Pauline and Jim’s second child; Pauline was a stay-at-home parent, and Jim worked as an oil field contractor.
Farrah was given the name Ferrah, which means “joy” in Arabic. Later on, she decided to change it.
Fawcett went on to become one of the most beautiful “golden girls” of her generation.
When her mother, Pauline, walked Farrah into a store, shoppers would pause their carts and gasp, “She looks like an a-n-g-e-l.” Pauline also said that neighborhood children came to their house specifically to see her.
It wasn’t all good news for Farrah, either. While her mother enjoyed that everyone admired her daughter, it caused her issues in the long run.
Farrah was conscious of her beauty, yet even that posed difficulties.
The actress reportedly said, “I always felt so self-conscious,” according to Farrah’s mother Pauline. “I wanted people to stop staring at me since they were doing it so much.”
There’s no denying that Fawcett’s physical beauty became an important part of her life, even if appearances aren’t everything.
Three years in a row, she was voted “Most Beautiful” by her high school peers. Then, in 1965, she moved to Austin to attend the University of Texas, and during her first year there, she was named “Most Beautiful.”
Fawcett attended the University of Texas to study both microbiology and art. But a year after she started, a new kind of career started to take off.
A picture of Farrah was sent to Hollywood PR expert David Mirisch after she was selected as one of the “Ten Most Beautiful” women at the University of Texas. He called her because he felt she was gorgeous and wanted to persuade her to go to Los Angeles so he could help her start a modeling career there.
Now, Mirsch had a number of other well-known clients, such as Patt Boone and Perry Como. He called Farrah while she was still in class to persuade her to drop out and move to Hollywood.
Mirisch persisted despite Fawcett’s requests for him to speak with her father.
Farrah reached a decision after finishing her junior year. A photographer with Texas Student Publications captured her in a Texas park. Her plan was to spend a short time in Los Angeles to get a flavor of the city before returning to school for her senior year.
After arriving to Los Angeles, Fawcett swiftly landed a job with Screen Gems, where she reportedly earned $360 per week. She began doing commercials for Max Factor and Mercury Cougar Cars, as well as Wela Balsam and Ultra-Brite toothpaste.
Farrah was a fantastic model as well as a talented actor. She began landing acting gigs in the middle of the 1960s after a few more engagements as a model, which included posing for various magazine covers. Soon after, she began appearing in television commercials.
She originally appeared on television in sitcoms such as The Partridge Family, I Dream of Jeannie, and The Flying Nun.
Farrah was steadily climbing the celebrity ladder at the time. Everything changed in 1976 when she earned global renown as a result of two jobs.
Aaron Spelling, a well-known television producer, cast Farrah in the 1975 television film Murder on Flight 502. After that, he was pretty fascinated with her acting.
Following that, he decided to cast her in Charlie’s Angels, a brand-new television series with three female detectives as its primary characters.
In his 1996 autobiography A Prime-Time Life, he stated, “We were looking for the California beach-girl type, and Farrah was great for that.” “She was breathtakingly beautiful and the embodiment of the lovely L. a blonde wearing a bathing suit or tennis shorts.
The program premiered in September 1976, and despite some harsh criticism, the audience adored it.
Farrah appeared on the show as agent Jill Munroe with Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith. In Spelling’s viewpoint, she was mostly responsible for Charlie’s Angels’ excellent reception among viewers.
“We briefly considered modifying it, and if we had been shooting a regular cop program, we would have,” he added. Her hair, on the other hand, elevated the show. It eventually became one of our brand names.
The actress from Texas came to popularity quickly as her hair garnered international attention. The New York Times even declared in 1996 that Farrah had the most famous hair of all time, if not of all time, certainly of the 1970s.
“Her feathery, highlighted, layered phenomenon looked like it had just emerged from the water and had been carelessly perfected by the wind.” Farrah’s hair, before the reality of mortgage bills and single parenthood kicked in, was indicative of women in their early stages of independence; it was forceful, self-assured, and cheerful, according to the Times, citing a source.
However, Farrah had had enough of Charlie’s Angels after just one season.
She believed that the lengthy production schedule and the screenplay both needed improvement. She therefore deemed her contract void and fled.
She was then sued for $7 million for breach of contract. As part of a settlement, Fawcett agreed to return for six additional episodes. She only appeared in 29 of the 115 episodes, yet she was still the main attraction.
“I quit Charlie’s Angels because I felt creatively limited,” Farrah explained.
“With my comeback, Charlie’s Angels has greatly improved. I get to work with the director and scriptwriters. I was initially affected because I was sued, but now I can treat it as a business.
“I read hurtful things in the press, such as things that girls had said,” she explained. Everything has since passed. We’re all back together. I’m doing much better now.
Fawcett not only soared to popularity as a great Hollywood star as a result of Charlie’s Angels, but she also appeared on a billboard that practically changed her life.
In 1976, the same year the drama television series premiered, she appeared on a poster in a red one-piece bathing costume. It helped propel her to international stardom and became one of the best-selling posters of all time.
“It was difficult to ignore the phenomenon that resulted from the combination of that poster and Charlie’s Angels.” According to Mike Pingel, roughly 12 million males and more had the poster on their walls, making it difficult to avoid the wide smile, large hair, and swimming suit.
Life as a celebrity wasn’t always fun for Fawcett, even as she rose to international fame.
In a 1979 interview, she stated that authors were free to make up stories about her because they knew they would be popular.
According to Farrah Fawcett, “I go through life thinking everything is beautiful.”People try to keep knowledge from me. I don’t read most of what’s published about me. To avoid being injured while reading, you almost have to stop. Authors write negative things about you because it sells.
She went on, “I get quite depressed sometimes.”I just want to get out there and be myself. I’d like to go shopping or to the movies, where I can get some popcorn and sit quietly in the audience. But I’m constantly being monitored. Things like going out to dinner with friends become highly valuable.
She has regularly stated her wish to have complete control over her personal and professional brand. But, as we all know, working in Hollywood can be notoriously difficult.
“I believe the merchandise in general has irritated me the most. I had no control over things like bedsheets and other related goods. “There wasn’t much I could do about it, but I didn’t enjoy any of it,” she explained.
Fawcett had a tough start to her television career in the 1980s. She was cast in numerous roles, but none of them allowed her to properly distinguish herself as a remarkable performer.
Following that, in 1984, Farrah produced and starred in the television show The Burning Bed, for which she won critical praise and an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special.
Five years later, she was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Special for her work in Small Sacrifices. In 2001, she received a third nomination for her work.
Fawcett’s private life was chaotic as she rose to cult status. She was married to Lee Majors from 1973 to 1982, but she has had a number of well-known relationships throughout the years, including one with Canadian director James Orr.
The one that attracted the most attention—and may have been more essential to Fawcett—was her lengthy relationship with actor Ryan O’Neal.
O’Neal saw Fawcett for the first time in 1979. He was Lee Majors’ close friend, and he claimed to have once seen a “beautiful girl.” Farrah was the girl in question.
O’Neal wrote in his 2012 book Both of Us: My Life with Farrah, “She’s delightful, full of innocent sweetness.” She is bright and wholesome, which is a breath of fresh air in this town, and she is completely devoid of pretense or cattiness.
Majors asked O’Neal to take Farrah out to dinner one evening while he was out of town. O’Neal rapidly became a member of Lee Major and Farrah Fawcett’s inner group after they began dating.
As he spent more time with them, he got to see the couple’s marriage deteriorate up close.
“They were saying the marriage was over, and I was saying they were amazing together,” O’Neal recalled.
“Do you remember when we were first married and living in Nevada, Lee?” She remembered you leaving me in this tiny cabin while you went to a pub. You’d tell me to undress, go into bed, and wait for you, but you’d never appear. “I’m the same man I was then,” he remarked.
Despite the fact that Lee Majors and Farrah Fawcett did not divorce until 1982, they had already separated by 1979.
Despite the fact that O’Neal was a friend of Majors, Fawcett and O’Neal’s connection was not hidden from the public, and they even kissed while being questioned by reporters.
“Farrah and I have no plans to get married or divorced,” O’Neal stated. “Don’t fix what ain’t broke,” they advise.
In 1985, Fawcett gave birth to the couple’s son, Redmond O’Neal. The union, however, did not last.
Rumor has claimed that Farrah Fawcett witnessed her boyfriend dating Leslie Ann Stefanso in 1997. The pair separated in 1998 but reconnected after O’Neal was diagnosed with leukemia in 2001. When Farrah Fawcett was afflicted with cancer five years later, Ryan devoted his time to caring for her.
“The hair is gone,” he told People while keeping an eye on her.
“Her well-known hair. It is at home with me. She was unconcerned. I give her a head massage. Actually, this adorable, tiny head is a lot of fun. I’ll never understand how she managed to carry all that hair. In this aspect, she is lacking in vanity.
“It’s a love story.” Simply told, I don’t know how to play this. This universe would not exist for me without her. “Cancer is a cunning foe,” O’Neal concluded.
Farrah Fawcett died on June 25, 2009, at the age of 62. Ryan O’Neal had lost his soul mate, and Redmond had lost his mother. A brilliant star was also gone to the universe. Farrah’s net worth was reported to be $20 million at the time of her death.
In his memoir, O’Neal recalled how Farrah died in his arms.
Once the priest has gone, I lie down next to her, encircling her with my body to keep her warm, and then I take her hand in mine. There is a continuous pulse present. I could spend hours just petting her hand. O’Neal says in Both Of Us: My Life With Farrah that her heart “refuses to give up.”
“My love and I are alone.” My hand is in hers. Her pulse remains, but it is now flickering. She’s attempting to break free. Her heartbeat becomes irregular and eventually stops. Farrah is nodding asleep on the morning of June 25.
After spending three decades with Farrah, O’Neal still harbors resentment for the past.
According to People, he wishes he could go back in time and be “far kinder, more understanding, and more mature.”
“I’d tone down the ferocity a little.” I’m not sure how she contracted cancer; perhaps I played a role in it.
“However, I must admit that I have always loved her.”