Vale: Farrah Fawcett

Farrah Fawcett, who soared to fame as an  international sex symbol in the late 1970s on television’s campy Charlie’s Angels has died aged 62, following a battle with cancer.

Fawcett, whose celebrity overshadowed her ability as a serious actress, was diagnosed with a rare cancer in 2006. She died at St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica.

Three months after being declared cancer-free her cancer returned, spreading to her liver, and she repeatedly sought experimental treatment in Germany.

Actor Ryan O’Neal, her longtime companion, called her cancer fight “long and brave” and said her family and friends took comfort in “the knowledge that her life brought joy to so many people around the world.”

In a statement, Charlie’s Angels co-star Jaclyn Smith said, “Farrah had courage, she had strength, and she had faith. And now she has peace as she rests with the real angels.”

As an actress, Fawcett was initially dismissed for her role as Jill Munroe in Charlie’s Angels, in the late 1970s.

But she transformed her career and some popular perceptions in 1984 with The Burning Bed, a television movie about a battered wife that brought her the first of three Emmy nominations. She further established herself as an actress in the play and later feature film Extremities, about a rape victim who takes revenge on her attacker.

For many, the poster of her wearing a wet one-piece swimsuit (pictured) and a blinding smile endured.

Her life included a failed marriage to actor Lee Majors; a stormy, long-term relationship with O’Neal; a son who fought drug addiction; a writer-director boyfriend, James Orr, who was convicted of assaulting her; a Playboy video that featured her using her naked body as a paintbrush; and a spacey 1997 appearance on David Letterman‘s late-night TV show that caused critics to question her mental state.

Charlie’s Angels was so popular that 59% of the television audience tuned in, according to Time magazine, and the Los Angeles Times’ review of the series premiere pointed out why: The show dripped with “sexuality” and “good-natured but quite intentional teasing.”

Fawcett’s relationship with O’Neal was on-again, off-again after their breakup. She helped nurse him back to health after he was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia in 2001; and he was there for her soon after she was diagnosed with anal cancer.

When tabloids quickly reported her cancer recurrence in 2007, Fawcett suspected that details of her medical care were being leaked. Her complaints led UCLA Medical Center to dismiss an employee who had surreptitiously reviewed Fawcett’s medical records and those of more than 30 other high-profile patients. A new state law aimed at protecting patient privacy also grew out of the records violations.

Forced to battle her cancer publicly, Fawcett made Farrah’s Story, a video diary that unsparingly chronicled her struggle to fight the disease and efforts to protect her privacy. It aired on NBC in mid-May.

Throughout the documentary, O’Neal is a steady presence, and he was with her when she died. In May, O’Neal told People magazine: “I won’t know this world without her.”

In addition to her son, Fawcett is survived by her father.

Source: LA Times