By BOB THOMAS
Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Farrah Fawcett, whose luxurious tresses and blinding smile helped redefine sex appeal in the 1970s as one of TV's "Charlie's Angels," 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 Thursday shortly before 9:30 a.m. PDT in a Santa Monica hospital, spokesman Paul Bloch said.
She 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.
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."
Channel 9 will air ABC's one-hour special on Farah Fawcett at 10 p.m. tonight.
Fawcett,Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith comprised the original "Angels," thesexy, police-trained trio of martial arts experts who took theirassignments from a rich, mysterious boss named Charlie (John Forsythe,who was never seen on camera but whose distinctive voice was heard onspeaker phone.)
The program debuted in September 1976, theheight of what some critics derisively referred to as television's"jiggle show" era, and it gave each of the actresses ample opportunityto show off their figures as they disguised themselves in bathing suitsand as hookers and strippers to solve crimes.
Backed by a cleverpublicity campaign, Fawcett -- then billed as Farrah Fawcett-Majorsbecause of her marriage to "Six Million Dollar Man" star Lee Majors --quickly became the most popular Angel of all.
Her face helpedsell T-shirts, lunch boxes, shampoo, wigs and even a novelty plumbingdevice called Farrah's faucet. Her flowing blond hair, pearly whitesmile and trim, shapely body made her a favorite with male viewers inparticular.
A poster of her in a dampened red swimsuit sold millions of copies and became a ubiquitous wall decoration in teenagers' rooms.
Thusthe public and the show's producer, Spelling-Goldberg, were shockedwhen she announced after the series' first season that she was leavingtelevision's No. 5-rated series to star in feature films. (Cheryl Laddbecame the new "Angel" on the series.)
But the movies turned outto be a platform where Fawcett was never able to duplicate her TVsuccess. Her first star vehicle, the comedy-mystery "Somebody KilledHer Husband," flopped and Hollywood cynics cracked that it should havebeen 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-Goldbergwarned all the studios that that they would be sued for damages if theyemployed me," Fawcett told The Associated Press in 1979. "The studioswouldn't touch me."
She finally reached an agreement to appear in three episodes of "Charlie's Angels" a season, an experience she called "painful."
Shereturned to making movies, including the futuristic thriller "Logan'sRun," the comedy-thriller "Sunburn" and the strange sci-fi tale "Saturn3," but none clicked with the public. Fawcett fared better withtelevision movies such as "Murder in Texas," "Poor Little Rich Girl"and especially as an abused wife in 1984's "The Burning Bed." The lastearned her an Emmy nomination and the long-denied admission fromcritics that she really could act.
As further proof of heracting credentials, Fawcett appeared off-Broadway in "Extremities" as awoman who is raped in her own home. She repeated the role in the 1986film version.
Not content to continue playing victims, sheswitched type. She played a murderous mother in the 1989 true-crimestory "Small Sacrifices" and a tough lawyer on the trail of a thief in1992'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.
In1995, at age 50, Fawcett posed partly nude for Playboy magazine. Thefollowing year, she starred in a Playboy video, "All of Me," in whichshe was equally unclothed while she sculpted and painted.
Shetold 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'smost unfortunate career moment may have been a 1997 appearance on DavidLetterman's show, when her disjointed, rambling answers led many tospeculate that she was on drugs. She denied that, blaming her strangebehavior on questionable advice from her mother to be playful and havea good time.
In September 2006, Fawcett, who at 59 stillmaintained a strict regimen of tennis and paddleball, began to feelstrangely exhausted. She underwent two weeks of tests and was told thedevastating news: She had anal cancer.
O'Neal, with whom she hada 17-year relationship, again became her constant companion, escortingher to the hospital for chemotherapy.
"She's so strong," the actor told a reporter. "I love her. I love her all over again."
Shestruggled to maintain her privacy, but a UCLA Medical Center employeepleaded guilty in late 2008 to violating federal medical privacy lawfor commercial purposes for selling records of Fawcett and othercelebrities to the National Enquirer.
"It's much easier to gothrough something and deal with it without being under a microscope,"she told the Los Angeles Times in an interview in which she alsorevealed that she helped set up a sting that led to the hospitalworker's arrest.
Her decision to tell her own story through theNBC documentary was meant as an inspiration to others, friends said.The segments showing her cancer treatment, including a trip to Germanyfor procedures there, were originally shot for a personal, familyrecord, they said. And although weak, she continued to show flashes ofgrit 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.
BornFeb. 2, 1947, in Corpus Christi, Texas, she was named Mary Farrah LeniFawcett by her mother, who said she added the Farrah because it soundedgood with Fawcett. She was less than a month old when she underwentsurgery to remove a digestive tract tumor with which she was born.
Afterattending Roman Catholic grade school and W.B. Ray High School, Fawcettenrolled at the University of Texas at Austin. Fellow students votedher one of the 10 most beautiful people on the campus and her photoswere eventually spotted by movie publicist David Mirisch, who suggestedshe 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."
Majorsbecame both her boyfriend and her adviser on career matters, and theymarried in 1973. She dropped his last name from hers after theydivorced in 1982.
By then she had already begun her longrelationship with O'Neal. The couple never married. Both Redmond andRyan O'Neal have grappled with drug and legal problems in recent years.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
What are your favorite Farrah Fawcett memories? Share them below by adding a comment.
Reaction to the death of Farrah Fawcett:
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"She was an angel on Earth and now an angel forever." -- Lee Majors, ex-husband.
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"There are no words to express the deep sense of loss that I feel. For 30 years Farrah was much more than a friend, she was my sister, and although I will miss her terribly I know in my heart that she will always be there as that angel on the shoulder of everyone who loved her." -- Alana Stewart, close friend.
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"Farrah had courage, she had strength and she had faith. And now she has peace as she rests with the real angels." -- Jacyln Smith, co-star in "Charlie's Angels."
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"Farrah had an outstanding talent, better than most feature film actresses that I've seen. She was great to work with and will be missed." -- Robert Duvall, director and co-star in "The Apostle."
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"I'm terribly sad about Farrah's passing. She was incredibly brave and God will be welcoming her with open arms." -- Cheryl Ladd, co-star in "Charlie's Angels."
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
