Farrah Fawcett would have turned 76 on Thursday, nearly 14 years after her tragic death following a long battle with cancer.
She rose to international fame in 1976 when she starred in a season of Charlie’s Angels alongside Jaclyn Smith and Kate Jackson.
That same year, she posed in a clingy red swimsuit for a legendary poster that made its way onto bedroom walls all over America.
With her luxurious blonde mane and megawatt smile, Farrah became one of the reigning glamor icons of the 1970s.
Over the decades, however, she’s been rocked by personal issues, including a turbulent romance with Ryan O’Neal.
Caption: Farrah Fawcett would have been 76 on Thursday, nearly 14 years after her tragic death following a long battle with cancer; photographed in 1976 on Charlie’s Angels
Americana: In 1976, she posed in a clingy red swimsuit for a legendary poster; pictured in 2011 during a memorabilia donation to the Smithsonian
Farrah’s acting career began in 1970s television alongside husband Lee Majors, a television staple who was eight years her senior.
She has worked in films such as the Gore Vidal adaptation Myra Breckenridge and the sci-fi camp classic Logan’s Run.
In 1976, the combined impact of her Charlie’s Angels gig and her sexpot swimsuit poster catapulted her onto the world stage.
By the late 1970s, her star had completely eclipsed her husband’s and she had caught the attention of Love Story idol Ryan O’Neal.
Lee and Farrah’s marriage was already falling apart at the time, and Ryan recalled her complaining to her husband, “Lee, remember when we first got married, and we were in Nevada, and you left me in a little cabin and went to a bar? You would have told me to get undressed, get into bed and wait for you, but you never came back.
In 1979, her marriage to Lee exploded and Farrah made contact with Ryan, beginning a tumultuous relationship that played out under a cloud of her infidelities.
Their son Redmond, born in 1985, grew up with serious addiction and mental health issues to the point that Ryan told Vanity Fair in 2009, “He’s been in 13 rehabs.” He had a terrible life.
Meanwhile, Ryan’s daughter, Tatum O’Neal, claimed he used to “beat” Farrah. “He had a terrible temper and was very violent,” Tatum insisted in Talk magazine.
Fabulous look: By the end of the 1970s, she had become an international star thanks to Charlie’s Angels, even though she was only on the show for its first season
Bombshell: With her luxurious blonde mane and tantalizing physique, Farrah became one of the reigning glamor icons of the 1970s
What a trio: She is pictured in a commercial shot for the first season of Charlie’s Angels with her co-stars Jaclyn Smith (right) and Kate Jackson (left)
Legs for days: She appeared on several Playboy magazine covers, including in 1978, two years after rising to TV stardom
Sizzling sensation: One of the times she returned to Playboy was for the 1995 Christmas issue
Farrah herself told TV Guide in the 1990s, “Sometimes Ryan breaks my heart. But it is also responsible for giving me confidence in myself.
During their romance, her career continued apace, and she earned Emmy nominations for the TV movies The Burning Bed and Small Sacrifices.
She also put her acting skills on stage, earning warm reviews for her role in the off-Broadway show Extremities in 1983.
In 1997, she drew further acclaim for her role in The Apostle as the unfaithful wife of a preacher played by Robert DuVall.
The situation was reversed in Farrah’s personal life – that year she finally left Ryan after meeting him in bed with another woman.
Rumors of her substance abuse issues also surfaced in 1997 when she appeared on David Letterman’s show looking mad and in a bad mood.
She assiduously denied having a drug problem, and Ryan later said, “She didn’t need substances. I couldn’t even get him to smoke a joint. I was the pothead; she is one of those people who floss every night and take care of themselves. When I saw her in Letterman, I thought she was acting.
Farrah had gone on Letterman to promote her latest Playboy cover, and Ryan explained that “she thought she was Playmate-ish”.
Looking back: Over the decades, however, she has been rocked by personal issues, including a turbulent romance with Ryan O’Neal, with whom she is pictured in France in 1984
Remember when: Farrah’s acting career began on television in the 1970s alongside husband Lee Majors, a television staple who was eight years her senior; they are pictured in 1969
Loved: Farrah and Ryan, pictured in 1989, had a tumultuous relationship which ended for a few years after she met him with another woman in 1997
Years Later: She reunited with Ryan in 2001 and he stayed with her until his death in 2009 after two brutal bouts of cancer; the pair are pictured in 2004
Complicated: Farrah told TV Guide in the 1990s: ‘Sometimes Ryan breaks my heart’, while adding that ‘he’s also responsible for giving me confidence’
She reunited with Ryan in 2001 and continued acting into the 2000s – but her career was cut short by two brutal bouts of anal cancer.
Farrah was diagnosed with the disease in 2006 and beat her into remission by 2007, only for it to recur later that year and metastasize.
Refusing a colostomy, she flew to Germany to get what a friend of hers said. People were ‘alternative treatments not allowed in the United States’
Farrah and her pal Alana Stewart filmed her grueling final battle with the disease for a documentary that aired just a month before her death.
When Farrah succumbed to her illness in June 2009, her death was notoriously overshadowed by that of Michael Jackson the same week.
Ryan, who stayed with Farrah until her death, went to her funeral and flirted there with a woman he didn’t recognize as his daughter Tatum.
Remember when: Farrah’s acting career was boosted by Charlie’s Angels and she appeared in films such as The Cannonball Run, a 1981 film starring Burt Reynolds
Acclaim: During their romance with Ryan, her career continued apace and she earned Emmy nominations for the TV movies The Burning Bed and Small Sacrifices
Opposite the best: In 1997, she garnered further acclaim for her role in The Apostle as the unfaithful wife of a preacher played by Robert DuVall
