Farrah Fawcett Dies At 62

"Charlie's Angel" Loses 2-Year Battle With Cancer

(CBS/ AP)  Farrah Fawcett, the "Charlie's Angels" star whose feathered blond hair and dazzling smile made her one of the biggest sex symbols of the 1970s, died Thursday after battling cancer. She was 62.

The pop icon, who in the 1980s set aside the fantasy girl image to tackle serious roles, died shortly before 9:30 a.m. in a Santa Monica hospital, spokesman Paul Bloch said.

Ryan O'Neal, the longtime companion who had reunited with Fawcett as she fought anal cancer, was at her side, along with close friend Alana Stewart, Bloch said.

"After a long and brave battle with cancer, our beloved Farrah has passed away," O'Neal said. "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."

Other "Charlie's Angels" stars paid tribute to her.

"Farrah had courage, she had strength, and she had faith. And now she has peace as she rests with the real angels," Jaclyn Smith said.

Said Cheryl Ladd: "She was incredibly brave, and God will be welcoming her with open arms."

Fawcett burst on the scene in 1976 as one-third of the crime-fighting trio in TV's "Charlie's Angels." A poster of her in a clingy swimsuit sold in the millions.

Her full, layered hairstyle became all the rage, with girls and women across America adopting the look.

She left the show after one season but had a flop on the big screen with "Somebody Killed Her Husband." She turned to more serious roles in the 1980s and 1990s, winning praise playing an abused wife in "The Burning Bed."

She had been diagnosed with cancer in 2006. As she underwent treatment, she enlisted the help of O'Neal, who was the father of her now 24-year-old son, Redmond.

This month, O'Neal said he asked Fawcett to marry him and she agreed. They would wed "as soon as she can say yes," he said.

Her struggle with painful treatments and dispiriting setbacks was recorded in the television documentary "Farrah's Story." Fawcett sought cures in Germany as well as the United States, battling the disease with iron determination even as her body weakened.

"Her big message to people is don't give up, no matter what they say to you, keep fighting," her friend Stewart said. NBC estimated the May 15, 2009, broadcast drew nearly 9 million viewers.

In the documentary, Fawcett was seen shaving off most of her trademark locks before chemotherapy could claim them. Toward the end, she's seen huddled in bed, barely responding to a visit from her son.

Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Smith made up the original "Angels," the sexy, police-trained trio of martial arts experts who took their assignments from a rich, mysterious boss named Charlie (John Forsythe, who was never seen on camera but whose distinctive voice was heard on speaker phone.)

The program debuted in September 1976, the height of what some critics derisively referred to as television's "jiggle show" era, and it gave each of the actresses ample opportunity to show off their figures as they disguised themselves in bathing suits and as hookers and strippers to solve crimes.

Backed by a clever publicity campaign, Fawcett - then billed as Farrah Fawcett-Majors because of her marriage to "The Six Million Dollar Man" star Lee Majors - quickly became the most popular Angel of all.

Her face helped sell T-shirts, lunch boxes, shampoo, wigs and even a novelty plumbing device called Farrah's faucet. Her flowing blond hair, pearly white smile and trim, shapely body made her a favorite with male viewers in particular.

A poster of her in a dampened red swimsuit sold millions of copies and became a ubiquitous wall decoration in teenagers' rooms.

Thus the public and the show's producer, Spelling-Goldberg, were shocked when she announced after the series' first season that she was leaving television's No. 5-rated series to star in feature films. (Ladd became the new "Angel" on the series.)

But the movies turned out to be a platform where Fawcett was never able to duplicate her TV success. Her first star vehicle, the comedy-mystery "Somebody Killed Her Husband," flopped and Hollywood cynics cracked that it should have been titled "Somebody Killed Her Career."

The actress had also been in line to star in "Foul Play" for Columbia Pictures. But the studio opted for Goldie Hawn instead. "Spelling-Goldberg warned all the studios that that they would be sued for damages if they employed me," Fawcett told The Associated Press in 1979. "The studios wouldn't touch me."

She finally reached an agreement to appear in three episodes of "Charlie's Angels" a season, an experience she called "painful."

She returned to making movies, including the futuristic thriller "Logan's Run," the comedy-thriller "Sunburn" and the strange sci-fi tale "Saturn 3," but none clicked with the public.

Fawcett fared better with television movies such as "Murder in Texas," "Poor Little Rich Girl" and especially as an abused wife in 1984's "The Burning Bed." The last earned her an Emmy nomination and the long-denied admission from critics that she really could act.

As further proof of her acting credentials, Fawcett appeared off-Broadway in "Extremities" as a woman who is raped in her own home. She repeated the role in the 1986 film version.

Not content to continue playing victims, she switched type. She played a murderous mother in the 1989 true-crime story "Small Sacrifices" and a tough lawyer on the trail of a thief in 1992's "Criminal Behavior."

She also starred in biographies of Nazi-hunter Beate Klarsfeld and photographer Margaret Bourke-White.

"I felt that I was doing a disservice to ourselves by portraying only women as victims," she commented in a 1992 interview.

In 1995, at age 50, Fawcett posed partly nude for Playboy magazine. The following year, she starred in a Playboy video, "All of Me," in which she was equally unclothed while she sculpted and painted.

She told an interviewer she considered the experience "a renaissance," adding, "I no longer feel ... restrictions emotionally, artistically, creatively or in my everyday life. I don't feel those borders anymore."

Fawcett's most unfortunate career moment may have been a 1997 appearance on David Letterman's show, when her disjointed, rambling answers led many to speculate that she was on drugs. She denied that, blaming her strange behavior on questionable advice from her mother to be playful and have a good time.

In September 2006, Fawcett, who at 59 still maintained a strict regimen of tennis and paddleball, began to feel strangely exhausted. She underwent two weeks of tests and was told the devastating news: She had anal cancer.

O'Neal, with whom she had a 17-year relationship, again became her constant companion, escorting her to the hospital for chemotherapy.

"She's so strong," the actor told a reporter. "I love her. I love her all over again."

She struggled to maintain her privacy, but a UCLA Medical Center employee pleaded guilty in late 2008 to violating federal medical privacy law for commercial purposes for selling records of Fawcett and other celebrities to the National Enquirer.

"It's much easier to go through something and deal with it without being under a microscope," she told the Los Angeles Times in an interview in which she also revealed that she helped set up a sting that led to the hospital worker's arrest.

Like Fawcett, "Charlie's Angels" co-star Jaclyn Smith had a story sold to the tabloids about her breast cancer diagnosis in 2002.

"I tried to keep it private until I could get through my radiation treatment, but a story was sold, which I didn't understand that," Smith told CBSNews.com. "I think you have to be on the other side of it, and when you are, then you can reach out, you can help women."

Fawcett's decision to tell her own story through the NBC documentary was meant as an inspiration to others, friends said. The segments showing her cancer treatment, including a trip to Germany for procedures there, were originally shot for a personal, family record, they said. And although weak, she continued to show flashes of grit and good humor in the documentary.

"I do not want to die of this disease. So I say to God, `It is seriously time for a miracle,"' she said at one point.

Born Feb. 2, 1947, in Corpus Christi, Texas, she was named Mary Farrah Leni Fawcett by her mother, who said she added the Farrah because it sounded good with Fawcett. She was less than a month old when she underwent surgery to remove a digestive tract tumor with which she was born.

After attending Roman Catholic grade school and W.B. Ray High School, Fawcett enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin. Fellow students voted her one of the 10 most beautiful people on the campus and her photos were eventually spotted by movie publicist David Mirisch, who suggested she pursue a film career. After overcoming her parents' objections, she agreed.

Soon she was appearing in such TV shows as "That Girl," "The Flying Nun," "I Dream of Jeannie" and "The Partridge Family."

Majors became both her boyfriend and her adviser on career matters, and they married in 1973. She dropped his last name from hers after they divorced in 1982.

By then she had already begun her long relationship with O'Neal. Both Redmond and Ryan O'Neal have grappled with drug and legal problems in recent years.

[ispeakthetruth]

Farrah is a beautiful and classy lady, who only got better with age, I think everyone hates to see anyone be attacked and suffer with cancer. Cancer does not discriminate, we should all pull together to find a cure for everyone, rich, poor, beautiful and the not so beautiful. Rest in Peace Farrah, you are a class act!

[sam-kiley]

bonjour
rendre hommage a farrah fawcett est un beau geste, mais alors la critiquer, meme aprés sa mort est une facheuse habitude, dans ce cas précis, autrement dit le décés de cette grande dame, nous ne sommes pas ici pour la juger, mais simplemment pour dire au revoir et merci
a cette actrice belle par son talent de nous avoir fait réver a travers ses films et séries..les médias s'en occupent trés bien (de la critique des morts)

[dixxson]

Jackson's Timely "Death" in perspective to Farrah Fawcett's, gives her family the Opportunity, the chance in this "PAPARAZZI Nation (World),
To Give at least, "Her", a "Peaceful" and "Dignified" "LAST RITES".

[jaykay3141]

A terrible loss. I hope her strength can be an inspiration to the other unsung victims of this awful disease. May God bless you and all the others who suffer from it.

[sam-kiley]

j'espére aussi que la recherche contre le cancer avanceran pour sauver des vies, et evitera l'endeuillement a des millions de familles dont un membre est atteint de cette terrible maladie
meri

[sam-kiley]

bonsoir,
une toile s'est éteinte, farah fawcett n'est plus, mais elle demeurera a jamais dans le coeur de ses fans..le monde du cinéma ne l'obliera pas, se souviendra toujours de cette belle et talentueuse actrice.. qu'elle repose en paix, condoléances a sa famille, sincérement

[rosesrain]

She was an angel in life, as beautiful on the inside as on the outside. She's now an angel in heaven.

[jetranger7]

for those that would like to see the NEW FARRAH SPECIAL TRIBUTE VIDEO,, just go to YOU TUBE,, and type in - GOLDEN GIRL FARRAH YOUR SO BEAUTIFUL TO ME 2009 just made the video today 6/26/2009 or type in my user name - JETRANGER0007 Thank you everybody for caring too !! JetRanger0007

[ldbristow]

Farrah was so lovely and had such a free spirit. I was a fan of all of the Charlie's Angels, but Farrah was special and had such charisma.
I have learned so much from her over these last couple of years about strength, courage and the on going will to fight and beat the odds. I praise her for sharing with the world "Farrahs Story", seeing cancer for what it really is.
Bless her beautiful spirit & precious loving soul! May she now rest in peace, in Heaven with God's & his other Angels.
Debby B , New Mexico

[jonathansj]

i think i need to drink some fix a flat to stop the tears

[jonathansj]

when i heard. it was like somthing inside me sprung a leak. i couldn't stop it no matter what i did. so pressed my head against the window almost all the wayt home

[jonathansj]

i loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her. i wanted to see her but you have to be a celebrity to get im. loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her loved her

[crazycwp]

R.I.P. Farrah. My sympathies and condolences to the family. I had "Farrah hair" for YEARS, literally. Such a classy lady, gonna miss her. Wonder why nobody mentioned "The Substitute Wife" which she starred in, great movie and she was stellar in it.

[sleepyric]

What a genuine beauty. I love you Farrah. Rest in Peace.

[spiritwalk]

Not that I am comparing Farrah Fawcett to Mother Theresa personally, but her death kind of has the same sort of weird ring to it.

Mother Theresa died and her mourning was about to begin, but suddenly Princess Di crashes and Mother Theresa's death was back page news.

Farrah dies and just as everyone is about to being to mourn for her the Princess of Pop dies and pushes her to the back page.

If Elton John rewrites Candle in The Wind for Michael Jackson I'll puke!

[crazycwp]

I'll puke right along with you.

[EthanChelsea]

Farrah you may have completed your journey here but it doesn't stop here, you will take with you all the blessed talents which will live on in each and everyone of us.
Sending our condolensces to Ryan and Redmond,and her family (mum & dad & sister). Farrah will not be forgotten by a long shot. Man she was an absolutely beautiful woman, be proud of her and her great achievements in this life. She would of made a great art icon if she had of stuck to it. But the fame got her good and she did great with it all. May god bless you Farrah your journey doesn't end here. Peace be with you rest in gods promise. thank you for your strength and faith in believing in yourself. Barbara Rawnsley and family here in Australia and New Zealand.

[edward1975-2009]

A classy lady right too the end. Not many around like her anymore. Her fight for life was an inspiration. May you rest in peace.

[pepperwood2]

This month, O'Neal said he asked Fawcett to marry him and she agreed. They would wed "as soon as she can say yes," he said.

Ryan is terrific. What a guy! Well said as I'm sure Farrah would have wanted it that way. This is a story with a tragic but happy ending.

[staycalm]

So sad that she was upstaged on the last day of her life by Michael Jackson. I wonder if they're together now. She's probably really pissed at him for dying on the same day as her. Even the comments on this page have dried up. RIP Farrah and Michael

[jewelsann53]

My thoughts exactly!

[jewelsann53]

My condolences to Ryan and Redmond. What a woman to fight like she did! There is not one of us in this world that didn't know someone with cancer. Celeberity or not- No one can escape this disease! Please she led me to get a colonoscopy! It is not that hard- Don't feel a thing. I had 3 polyps removed- no cancer thank God! Early screening is the key. God is with you Farrah! and with your family! God Bless