Ferrah Leni Farrah Fawcett (February 2, 1947 – June 25, 2009) was an American actress and artist. A four-time Emmy Award nominee and six-time Golden Globe Award nominee. She was of Irish, French, English, and Choctaw Native American ancestry. Fawcett once said the name Ferrah was made up by her mother because it went well with their last name. Another theory is that her father, an oilman, reportedly named her Farah, for the Arabic word for joy, and she reportedly asked to change the spelling to Farrah. She graduated from W.B. Ray High School in Corpus Christi, where she was voted most beautiful by her classmates her freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years of high school. For three years (1965–68), she attended the University of Texas at Austin. During her Freshman year, she was named one of the ten most beautiful coeds on campus, the first time a freshman had been chosen. Fawcett began her career in 1968 in commercials and guest roles on television. Her earliest acting appearances were guest spots on The Flying Nun and I Dream of Jeannie. She made numerous other TV appearances, including on Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, Mayberry RFD, and The Partridge Family. She had a sizable part in the 1969 French romantic-drama Love Is a Funny Thing. She played the lesbian lover of Raquel Welch in Myra Breckinridge (1970). During the 1970s, she appeared in numerous television series, including recurring roles on Harry O (1974-1976) and The Six Million Dollar Man (1974-1978) with then husband Lee Majors. Her breakthrough role came in 1976, when she was cast as Jill Munroe in the ABC series Charlies Angels, alongside Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith. The show propelled all three to stardom, but especially Fawcett (then billed as Fawcett-Majors). Her decision to leave the show in 1977 after only one season, led to legal disputes. Eventually she signed a contract requiring her to make six guest appearances in the shows third and fourth seasons (1978-1980). For her role in Charlies Angels she received her first Golden Globe nomination. In 1983, Fawcett received strong reviews for her performance in the Off-broadway play Extremeties. She was subsequently cast in the 1986 film version and received a Golden Globe nomination. She received two Emmy Award nominations for her roles in TV movies, as a battered wife in the 1984 film The Burning Bed and as real-life murderer Diane Downs in the 1989 film Small Sacrifices. Her 1980s work in TV movies also earned her four additional Golden Globe nominations. In 1997, she gained some negative press for a rambling appearance on The David Letterman Show, but also garnered strong reviews for her role in the film, The Apostle with Robert Duvall. She continued in numerous TV series, including recurring roles in the sitcom Spin City (2001) and the drama The Guardian (2002-2003). For the latter, she received her third Emmy nomination. Her film roles include, Love Is a Funny Thing (1969), Myra Breckinridge (1970), Logans Run (1976), Sunburn (1979), Saturn 3 (1980), The Cannonball Run (1981), Extremities (1986), The Apostle (1997) and Dr. T & the Women (2000). Fawcett was diagnosed with cancer in 2006, and in 2009 the TV documentary Farrahs Story, chronicling her battle with the disease aired on NBC. For her work as a producer on the documentary, she posthumously earned her fourth Emmy nomination. Fawcett died at approximately 9:28 a.m. on June 25, 2009, in the intensive care unit of Saint Johns Health Center in Santa Monica, California, with ONeal and Stewart by her side. She was 62 years old. Ironically and sadly she died earlier the same day as Michael Jackson and her death was overshadowed. She is buried at the Westwood Village Memorial Park in Los Angeles. She was survived by her ex-husband Lee Majors (1973–1982), her husband Ryan ONeil (1979–1997; 2001–2009), and her son from ONeil, Redmond James Fawcett ONeal. Photos: First, publicity photo 1975; second iconic 1976 red swimsuit poster; third 1976; and fourth 2005.
Posted on: Fri, 02 May 2014 03:48:22 +0000