Farrah Fawcett

Ferrah Leni Fawcett was born on February 2, 1947, in Corpus Christi, Texas, the younger of two daughters.{{cite web |title=Farrah's Bio |url=http://www.thefarrahfawcettfoundation.org/bio |work=The Farrah Fawcett Foundation |access-date=November 16, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131120053224/http://www.thefarrahfawcettfoundation.org/bio |archive-date=November 20, 2013 |url-status=dead }} Her mother, Pauline Alice Fawcett (née Evans; 1914–2005), was a homemaker and her father, James William Fawcett (1917–2010), was an oil field contractor.{{cite web|title=Farrah Fawcett Biography (1947–)|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/85/Farrah-Fawcett.html|work=Film Reference|publisher=Advameg, Inc|access-date=July 3, 2014}} She was of Irish, French, English and Choctaw Native American ancestry.{{Cite book|author1=Block, Maxine |author2=Rothe, Anna Herthe |author3=Candee, Marjorie Dent |author4=Moritz, Charles |title=Current Biography Yearbook|publisher=H. W. Wilson Company|year=1978|page=125}}{{Cite book|last=Laufenberg|first=Norbert B.|title=Entertainment Celebrities|publisher=Trafford Publishing|year=2005|page=219|isbn=1-4120-5335-8}}{{Cite book|last=Linklater|first=Richard|author-link=Richard Linklater|title=Dazed and Confused: Teenage Nostalgia. Instant and Cool 70's Memorabilia|publisher=St. Martin's Press|year=2001|page=72|isbn=0-312-09466-3}} Fawcett once said the name "Ferrah" was "made up" by her mother, because it went well with their last name;{{cite magazine|title=Vanity Farrah|date=February 1997|url=http://www.texasmonthly.com/story/vanity-farrah?fullpage=1|last=Hollandsworth|first=Skip|magazine=Texas Monthly|access-date=June 13, 2015}} she later changed her name to "Farrah".

A Roman Catholic, Fawcett began her early education at the parish school of the church her family attended, St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Corpus Christi. She graduated from W. B. Ray High School in Corpus Christi, where she was voted "most beautiful" by her classmates in her freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years of high school.

Between 1965 and 1968, she attended the University of Texas, where she studied microbiology before switching her major to art, studying under Charles Umlauf, her "favorite professor" with whom she had a close mentoring relationship; in 2017, works by Fawcett were shown at the Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum in Austin in the exhibit Mentoring a Muse.[https://www.umlaufsculpture.org/past-exhibitions List of Past Exhibitions at Umlauf] She lived at the Mayfair House on Pearl Street, west of the campus, and was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority.{{cite news|last1=Curtis|first1=Gregory|title=How Farrah Fawcett Changed the World|url=http://www.texasmonthly.com/story/how-farrah-fawcett-changed-world?fullpage=1|access-date=July 3, 2014|work=Texas Monthly|date=April 1982}}

In her freshman year of college, she was named one of the "ten most beautiful coeds on campus", and it was the first time that a freshman had been chosen for the honor. Her photos were sent to various agencies in Hollywood. David Mirisch, a Hollywood agent, called her and urged her to come to Los Angeles. She turned him down, but he continued for the next two years. Finally, in the summer of 1968, Fawcett moved to Los Angeles, initially staying at the Hollywood Studio Club, with her parents' permission to "try her luck" in the entertainment industry.{{Cite journal|last=Curtis|first=Gregory|date=April 1982|title=How Farrah Fawcett changed the World|journal=Texas Monthly|pages=200}}

File:Farrah Fawcett - Studio portrait (1971).jpg, 1971]]

When Fawcett arrived in Hollywood at age 21 in 1968, Screen Gems signed her to a $350-a-week contract.{{cite journal|title=Farrah Fawcett|journal=TV Guide|date=1994|volume=42|page=691|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LHTvAAAAMAAJ|access-date=July 12, 2014|publisher=Triangle Publications|quote=I took a year off last year, because I was signed at Screen Gems for $350 a week.}}{{cite news|title=Farrah Fawcett|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20063135,00.html|access-date=July 4, 2014|work=People|date=May 4, 1989|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714175240/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20063135,00.html|archive-date=July 14, 2014}} She began to appear in commercials for such products as Ultra Brite toothpaste, Noxzema skin cream, Max Factor cosmetics, Mercury Cougar automobiles, and Beautyrest mattresses, among others.{{cite magazine|last1=Rothman|first1=Lily|title=Fawcett Sells Shaving Cream|url=https://entertainment.time.com/2012/08/08/silly-jingles-shilly-stars-10-more-embarrassing-celebrity-commercials/slide/fawcett-sells-shaving-cream/|access-date=July 13, 2014|magazine=Time|date=July 31, 2012}}{{cite news|last1=Woodyard|first1=Chris|title=RetroAd: Farrah Fawcett hypes the 1975 Mercury Cougar|url=http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2010/10/retroad-farrah-fawcett-hypes-the-1975-mercury-cougar/1|access-date=July 13, 2014|work=USA Today|date=October 25, 2010}} Her earliest acting appearances were guest spots on The Flying Nun (1969) and I Dream of Jeannie (1969–70). She made numerous other television appearances, including Getting Together, Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, Mayberry R.F.D., and The Partridge Family. She appeared in four episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man with husband Lee Majors, on The Dating GameArchived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/hrSthPFEFrw Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20170704052109/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrSthPFEFrw&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|last1=Fawcett|first1=Farrah|title=Farrah Fawcet on the Dating Game|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrSthPFEFrw|website=YouTube|access-date=November 21, 2017}}{{cbignore}} and S.W.A.T, and had a recurring role on Harry O alongside David Janssen as the title character's girlfriend, Sue. She had a sizable part in the 1969 French romantic-drama Love Is a Funny Thing. She played the role of Mary Ann Pringle in Myra Breckinridge (1970).{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CH_GCwAAQBAJ&q=She+played+the+role+of+Mary+Ann+Pringle+in+Myra+Breckinridge+%281970%29.&pg=PA179|title=Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2009: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture|last=Lentz|first=Harris M. III|date=May 17, 2010|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786456451|language=en}}{{Circular reference|date=May 2025}}

In 1976, Pro Arts Inc. pitched the idea of a poster of Fawcett to her agent. A photo shoot was then arranged with photographer Bruce McBroom, who was hired by the poster company. According to friend Nels Van Patten, Fawcett styled her own hair and did her makeup without the aid of a mirror. Her blonde highlights were further heightened by a squeeze of lemon juice.{{cite news|last=Gresko|first=Jessica|title=Farrah Fawcett's red swimsuit goes to Smithsonian|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/feb/2/farrah-fawcetts-red-swimsuit-going-smithsonian/|access-date=November 16, 2013|newspaper=The Washington Post|agency=Associated Press|date=February 2, 2011}} Fawcett selected her six favorite pictures from 40 rolls of film, and the choice was eventually narrowed to the one that made her famous.{{cite magazine|last1=Snierson|first1=Dan|title=Farrah Fawcett: Photographer Bruce McBroom remembers her iconic poster shoot|url=http://insidetv.ew.com/2009/06/26/farrah-fawcett-poster/|access-date=July 3, 2014|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|date=June 26, 2009}} The resulting image of Fawcett in a one-piece red bathing suit is the best-selling poster in history.{{cite magazine|magazine=Vanity Fair|last= Taylor|first=Elise|title=Farrah Fawcett Almost Didn't Get to Wear Her Iconic Red Swimsuit|date=August 27, 2015|url=http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2015/08/farrah-fawcett-red-swimsuit-bruce-mcbroom-history-of-fashion}}{{cite news|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|last=Daum|first=Meghan|date=February 11, 2011|title=Farrah Fawcett's swimsuit hits the big time|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2011/02/11/farrah-fawcetts-swimsuit-hits-the-big-time/}}

File:Charlies Angels cast 1976.JPG, Farrah Fawcett, and Kate Jackson in 1976]]

Fawcett earned a supporting role in Michael Anderson's science-fiction film Logan's Run (1976) with Michael York. She and her husband, television star Lee Majors, were frequent tennis partners with producer Aaron Spelling. Spelling and his business partner eventually chose Fawcett to play Jill Munroe in their upcoming made-for-TV movie, Charlie's Angels, a movie of the week which aired on March 21, 1976, on ABC. The movie starred Fawcett (then billed as Farrah Fawcett-Majors), Kate Jackson, and Jaclyn Smith as private investigators for Townsend Associates, a detective agency run by a reclusive multimillionaire whom the women had never met. Voiced by John Forsythe, the Charles Townsend character presented cases and dispensed advice via a speakerphone to his core team of three female employees, whom he referred to as "Angels". They were aided in the office and occasionally in the field by two male associates, played by character actors David Doyle and David Ogden Stiers. The program quickly earned a huge following, leading the network to air it a second time and approve production for a series, with the pilot's principal cast minus Ogden Stiers.{{citation needed|date=March 2014}}

The Charlie's Angels series proper formally debuted on September 22, 1976. Each of the three actresses was propelled to stardom, but Fawcett dominated popularity polls.{{cite book|last1=Bernstein|first1=Jay|author-link1=Jay Bernstein|last2=Hamm|first2=Larry Cortez|last3=Rubini|first3=David|title=Starmaker: Life as A Hollywood Publicist With Farrah, The Rat Pack and 600 More Stars Who Fired Me|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U2uQOrIdyssC&pg=PA135|access-date=July 7, 2014|date=October 1, 2011|publisher=ECW Press|isbn=978-1-77090-043-1|page=135}}{{cite news|last1=Lassen|first1=Kurt|title=The Farrah Fawcett-Majors Phenomenon: A Case Of Too Much Fame Too Soon?|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2209&dat=19770430&id=46crAAAAIBAJ&pg=2916,5658691|access-date=July 6, 2014|work=Nashua Telegraph|date=April 30, 1977}} She subsequently won a People's Choice Award for Favorite Performer in a New TV Program.{{cite web|title=1977 Nominees|url=http://www.peopleschoice.com/pca/awards/nominees/index.jsp?year=1977|work=People's Choice Awards|publisher=One Three Digital, LLC|access-date=December 3, 2013}}{{cite news|last=Brennan|first=Patricia|title=The Saga of Farrah Fawcett – Ex-'Angel' Returns to TV as a Bad Girl Seeking Sanctuary|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=October 17, 1999|page=Y7}} In a 1977 interview with TV Guide, she said, "When the show was number three, I thought it was our acting. When we got to be number one, I decided it could only be because none of us wears a bra."Spelling, p. 110. Fawcett's appearance in the television show boosted sales of her poster, and she earned far more in royalties from poster sales than from her salary for appearing in Charlie's Angels.{{cite news|date=August 3, 2005|url=http://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/touched-by-an-angel/Content?oid=1491587|title=Touched by an Angel|newspaper=Cleveland Scene|access-date=May 23, 2009|author=Hoffman, Kevin}} Her hairstyle went on to become an international trend, with women sporting a "Farrah-do", a "Farrah-flip", or simply "Farrah hair".{{cite book|last=Stalder|first=Erika|title=The Look Book: 50 Iconic Beauties and How to Achieve Their Signature Styles|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SdWLwTE9lVcC&pg=PT106|access-date=July 13, 2014|year=2011|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|isbn=978-0-9819733-8-8|page=106}}{{cite news|last1=Hyde|first1=Nina S.|author-link=Nina Hyde |title=He Styles The Famous Farrah Fawcett Hair|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19790312&id=LE80AAAAIBAJ&pg=4388,6130407|access-date=July 13, 2014|work=Sarasota Herald-Tribune|date=March 12, 1979}} Iterations of her hair style predominated among American women's hairstyles well into the 1980s.{{Cite web|url=http://www.hairboutique.com/blogs_p/index.php/2011/09/03/farrah-fawcett-hair-original-charlies-angels/|title=Farrah Fawcett Hair On Original Charlie's Angels – HairBoutique.com Blog|website=www.hairboutique.com|access-date=February 8, 2018}}

File:Farrah Fawcett Cher 1976.JPG on The Sonny & Cher Show in 1976]]

In the spring of 1977, Fawcett left Charlie's Angels after only one season.{{cite news|last1=Freydkin|first1=Donna|title=Farrah Fawcett dies at 62|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/people/2009-06-25-fawcett-obit_N.htm|access-date=July 3, 2014|work=USA Today|date=June 26, 2009}} After a series of legal battles over her contract with ABC, Cheryl Ladd replaced her on the show, portraying Jill Munroe's younger sister Kris Munroe. Over the years, numerous explanations were offered for Fawcett's precipitous withdrawal from the show. Because her husband, Lee Majors, was the star of an established television show as well (ABC's Six Million Dollar Man, which aired from 1974 to 1978), the strain on her marriage due to filming schedules that kept them apart for long periods was frequently cited, but her ambition to broaden her acting abilities in films has also been given as an explanation. She never officially signed her series contract with Spelling, owing to protracted negotiations over royalties from her image's use in peripheral products, which led to an even more protracted lawsuit filed by Spelling and his company when she left the show. As a result of leaving her contract four years early, she reluctantly signed a new contract with ABC, stating that she would make six guest appearances on the series over a two-year period (1978–1980).{{cite web |title=Farrah Fawcett- Biography |url=https://movies.yahoo.com/person/farrah-fawcett/biography.html |work=Yahoo! Movies |access-date=October 11, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120704080629/http://movies.yahoo.com/person/farrah-fawcett/biography.html |archive-date=July 4, 2012 }}

Charlie's Angels was a global success, maintaining its appeal in syndication and spawning, particularly in the show's first three seasons, a cottage industry of peripheral products, including several series of bubble gum cards, two sets of fashion dolls, numerous posters, puzzles, and school supplies, novelizations of episodes, toy vans, and a board game, all featuring Fawcett's likeness. The "Angels" also appeared on the covers of magazines around the world, from countless fan magazines to TV Guide (four times) to Time.{{Citation needed|date=March 2014}}

In 2004, the television film Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Charlie's Angels dramatized the events from the show, with supermodel and actress Tricia Helfer portraying Fawcett and Ben Browder portraying Lee Majors, Fawcett's then-husband.{{cite news|last=Lowry|first=Brian|title=Review: Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Charlie's Angels'|url=https://variety.com/2004/scene/reviews/behind-the-camera-the-unauthorized-story-of-charlie-s-angels-1200534629|access-date=November 16, 2013|newspaper=Variety|date=March 7, 2004}}

In 1978, Fawcett's first post-Angels movie, Somebody Killed Her Husband, was released to adverse reviews (some critics referred to the film as Somebody Killed Her Career{{Cite news|url=https://people.com/archive/cover-story-when-angels-were-the-rage-vol-26-no-16/|title=When Angels Were the Rage|newspaper=People}}) and a poor box-office. The 1979 release of Sunburn, co-starring Charles Grodin and Art Carney, was met by equally unfavorable reviews. In 1980, Fawcett starred with Kirk Douglas in Stanley Donen's science-fiction film Saturn 3; the film earned unfavorable reviews from critics and experienced poor box office sales.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2010/may/05/money-martin-amis-saturn-3|title=The BBC's Money adaptation plots a course to Saturn 3|last1=Bradshaw|first1=Peter|date=May 5, 2010|website=The Guardian|access-date=March 12, 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://themoviebox.net/3974|title=Saturn 3|date=November 25, 2013|website=themoviebox.net|publisher=The Movie Box|access-date=March 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140313062142/http://themoviebox.net/3974|archive-date=March 13, 2014|url-status=dead}} The following year she starred alongside an ensemble cast, which included Burt Reynolds, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. in the comedy The Cannonball Run (1981). Later that year, she co-starred with Katharine Ross, Sam Elliott, and Andy Griffith in the television movie Murder in Texas.

In 1983, Fawcett won critical acclaim for her role in the Off-Broadway stage production of the controversial play Extremities, written by William Mastrosimone. Replacing Susan Sarandon, she played the role of an attempted rape victim who turns the tables on her attacker.{{cite news|last=Farber|first=Stephen|title=A Serious Farrah Fawcett Takes Control in 'Extremities'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/17/movies/a-serious-farrah-fawcett-takes-control-in-extremities.html|access-date=November 16, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 17, 1986}} She described the role as "the most grueling, the most intense, the most physically demanding and emotionally exhausting" of her career. During one performance, a stalker in the audience disrupted the show by asking Fawcett if she had received the photos and letters he had mailed her. Police removed the man and were able to issue him a summons only for disorderly conduct.{{Cite book|last1=Rovin|first1=Jeff|author-link1=Jeff Rovin|title=TV Babylon|edition=revised, mass market paperback|year=1987|orig-year=1984|publisher=Signet|location=New York|isbn=0-451-16633-7|pages=[https://archive.org/details/tvbabylon00jeff/page/108 108–109]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/tvbabylon00jeff/page/108}}

The following year, her role as battered wife Francine Hughes in the fact-based television movie The Burning Bed (1984) earned her the first of her four Emmy Award nominations. The project was the first television movie to provide a nationwide 800 number that offered help for others in the situation, in this case victims of domestic abuse.{{cite web|title=Farrah Fawcett|url=http://www.filmbug.com/db/2415|work=Filmbug|access-date=November 16, 2013}} It was the highest-rated television movie of the season.

In 1986, Fawcett appeared in the movie version of Extremities, which performed well financially. For her performance she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. She appeared in Jon Avnet's Between Two Women with Colleen Dewhurst, and took several more dramatic roles as either infamous or renowned women. She was nominated for Golden Globe awards for roles as Beate Klarsfeld in Nazi Hunter: The Beate Klarsfeld Story and troubled Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton in Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story, and won a CableACE Award for her 1989 portrayal of groundbreaking LIFE magazine photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White in Double Exposure: The Story of Margaret Bourke-White.

Her 1989 portrayal of convicted murderer Diane Downs in the miniseries Small Sacrifices earned her a second Emmy nomination{{cite web|title=Farrah Fawcett|url=http://www.emmys.com/bios/farrah-fawcett|work=Emmys|publisher=Academy of Television Arts & Sciences|access-date=November 16, 2013}} and her sixth Golden Globe Award nomination.{{cite web|title=Farrah Fawcett|url=http://www.goldenglobes.org/browse/?param=/member/28855|work=Golden Globe Awards|publisher=Hollywood Foreign Press Association|access-date=November 16, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130709101454/http://www.goldenglobes.org/browse/?param=%2Fmember%2F28855|archive-date=July 9, 2013}} The miniseries won a Peabody Award for excellence in television, with Fawcett's performance singled out by the organization, which stated "Ms. Fawcett brings a sense of realism rarely seen in television miniseries (to) a drama of unusual power".{{cite web |title=Fawcett's performance noted in Peabody Award win |url=http://www.peabody.uga.edu/winners/details.php?id=538 |work=Small Sacrifices |publisher=Peabody Awards |access-date=June 26, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090630083707/http://www.peabody.uga.edu/winners/details.php?id=538 |archive-date=June 30, 2009 }}

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Fawcett had steadfastly resisted signing a release for nude photographs of her to be published in magazines, even though she had briefly appeared topless in the 1980 film Saturn 3. She caused a major stir by posing semi-nude in the December 1995 issue of Playboy. At the age of 50, she appeared in a pictorial for the July 1997 issue of Playboy, which also became a top seller. The issue and its accompanying video featured Fawcett actually using her own body to paint on canvas; for years, this had been one of her ambitions.

On June 5, 1997, Fawcett received negative commentary after she gave a rambling interview and appeared distracted on Late Show with David Letterman.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/lists/letterman-vs-the-world-daves-10-tensest-interviews-20150507/farrah-fawcett-june-5-1997-20150507|title=Letterman vs the World: Dave's 10 Tensest Interviews|last1=Grierson|first1=Tim|date=May 7, 2015|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=February 6, 2017}}{{cite news|url=https://articles.latimes.com/1999/jun/06/magazine/tm-44658/2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125112829/http://articles.latimes.com/1999/jun/06/magazine/tm-44658/2|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 25, 2015|title=Farrah Fawcett is Taking Our Calls|last1=Abcarian|first1=Robyn|date=June 6, 1999|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=February 6, 2017|page=2}} Months later, she told the host of The Howard Stern Show that her behavior was just her way of joking around with the television host, partly in the guise of promoting her Playboy pictorial and video. She explained that what appeared to be random looks across the theater was just her looking and reacting to fans in the audience.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}} Though the Letterman appearance spawned speculation and several jokes at her expense, she returned to the show in 1999.{{cite news|url=http://www.eonline.com/news/38846/farrah-does-dave-again|title=Farrah Does Dave--Again!|last1=Keller|first1=Julie|date=October 15, 1999|work=E! News|access-date=February 6, 2017}} Several years later in February 2009, Letterman ended an incoherent and largely unresponsive interview with Joaquin Phoenix by saying, "We owe an apology to Farrah Fawcett."{{cite news|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2009-02-12-letterman-phoenix_N.htm|title=Joaquin's Letterman appearance is instant classic|last=Bauder|first=David|date=February 12, 2009|newspaper=USA Today|access-date=November 16, 2013|agency=Associated Press}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/joaquin-phoenix-makes-shambolic-appearance-on-letterman-nk02gzjcs6z|title=Joaquin Phoenix Makes Shambolic Appearance on Letterman|author=Schmidt, Veronica|date=February 12, 2009|work=The Times|access-date=May 25, 2009|publisher=Times Newspapers, Ltd.|location=London}}

Also in 1997, Robert Duvall chose Fawcett to play the role of his wife in The Apostle, which was an independent feature film that he was producing. She received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Female for the film. In 2000, she worked with director Robert Altman in the feature film Dr. T & the Women, as the wife of Richard Gere. (Her character has a mental breakdown, leading to Fawcett's first fully nude appearance.)

Around 2001, Fawcett befriended artist and designer Christopher Ciccone. Ciccone mentioned Fawcett inviting him to view her abstract paintings and sculptures in his book, Life with My Sister Madonna.{{Cite book |last=Ciccone |first=Christopher |url=http://archive.org/details/lifewithmysister0000cicc |title=Life with my sister Madonna |date=2008 |publisher=London : Simon & Schuster |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-1-84737-438-7 |pages=302}} In 2002, Fawcett's collaboration with sculptor Keith Edmier was exhibited at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in a show titled Contemporary Projects 7: Keith Edmier and Farrah Fawcett 2000.{{Cite news |last=Lord |first=M. G. |date=November 17, 2002 |title=ART/ARCHITECTURE; A Sculptor and His Famous Muse Make Art Together |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/17/arts/art-architecture-a-sculptor-and-his-famous-muse-make-art-together.html |access-date=March 26, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}} The exhibit was later displayed at The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The sculpture was also presented in a series of photographs and a book by Rizzoli.

In November 2003, Fawcett prepared for her Broadway debut in a production of Bobbi Boland, the tragicomic tale of a former Miss Florida. However, the show never officially opened when it closed during preview performances. Fawcett was described as "vibrating with frustration" at the producer's extraordinary decision to cancel the production; just days earlier, the same producer closed an Off-Broadway show she had been backing.{{cite news|last=Nussbaum|first=Emily|title=Theater: Debriefing; Farrah Fawcett's Early Exit|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/16/theater/theater-debriefing-farrah-fawcett-s-early-exit.html|access-date=November 16, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 16, 2003}}{{cite web|title=Bobbi Boland|url=http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=9499|work=Internet Broadway Database|publisher=The Broadway League|access-date=November 16, 2013}}

Fawcett continued to work in television and appeared in the made-for-television movies and on popular television series that included Ally McBeal, four episodes of Spin City, and four episodes of The Guardian. Her work on the latter show earned her a third Emmy nomination in 2004.

Fawcett began dating Lee Majors in the late 1960s.{{cite news|last=Manners|first=Dorothy|title=Meredith MacRae Faces Life With Settled Mind|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=eHZJAAAAIBAJ&pg=783,2055771&dq=meredith-macrae|access-date=November 16, 2013|newspaper=The News and Courier|date=October 7, 1968}}{{Dead link|date=February 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} She was married to Majors from 1973 to 1982, although the couple separated in 1979. They had no children. Throughout her marriage (and despite the separation) she used the name Farrah Fawcett-Majors in her screen credits.

In 1979, Fawcett became romantically involved with actor Ryan O'Neal,{{cite journal|last=Markfield|first=Alan|title=Lee's Love Lost|journal=People|date=January 14, 1980|volume=13|issue=2|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20075600,00.html|access-date=December 23, 2013|archive-date=December 24, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224095554/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20075600,00.html|url-status=dead}} and they had a son named Redmond James Fawcett O'Neal, who was born in 1985.{{cite web |url=http://www.familytreelegends.com/records/39461 |title=California Births 1905–1995 |publisher=Familytreelegends.com |access-date=September 30, 2010 |archive-date=April 27, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110427102456/http://www.familytreelegends.com/records/39461 |url-status=dead }}{{cite news|title=Farrah Fawcett's jailed son, Redmond O'Neal, gets to say last goodbye|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2009-05-17/gossip/17923909_1_redmond-o-neal-ryan-o-neal-terminal-cancer|access-date=October 11, 2012|newspaper=Daily News|location=New York|date=May 17, 2009|archive-date=May 5, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120505040638/http://articles.nydailynews.com/2009-05-17/gossip/17923909_1_redmond-o-neal-ryan-o-neal-terminal-cancer|url-status=dead}} In 1994, Fawcett told TV Guide that their relationship had some troubles.{{Cite web|url=https://www.eonline.com/news/38971/ryan-o-neal-farrah-beater|title=Ryan O'Neal: Farrah Beater?|last=Keller|first=Julie|date=November 10, 1999|website=E! Online}} "Sometimes Ryan breaks my heart, but he's also responsible for giving me confidence in myself," she said. After their split, O'Neal's daughter Tatum O'Neal alleged that he physically abused Fawcett. "He had a terrible temper and was very violent. He beat her up", she said. Fawcett and O'Neal rekindled their relationship in 2001. On June 22, 2009, The Los Angeles Times and Reuters reported that Ryan O'Neal had said that Fawcett had agreed to marry him as soon as she felt strong enough.{{cite news|title=Ryan O'Neal to wed Farrah Fawcett|url=http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/ryan-oneal-to-wed-farrah-fawcett-20090623-cui5.html|access-date=November 16, 2013|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=June 23, 2009|agency=Agence France-Presse}}

From 1997 to 1998, Fawcett was in a relationship with Canadian filmmaker James Orr,{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0650561/|title=James Orr|website=IMDb}} who was the writer and producer of Man of the House, the Disney feature film in which she co-starred with Chevy Chase and Jonathan Taylor Thomas. The relationship ended when Orr was arrested, charged, and later convicted of beating Fawcett during a 1998 fight.{{cite news|title=Fawcett's Ex-Boyfriend Gets Probation in Beating|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-oct-30-me-37512-story.html|access-date=November 16, 2013|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=October 30, 1998}}

Fawcett dated Longhorn football star Greg Lott while they were undergrads at the University of Texas. Lott said they rekindled their romance in 1998 and had a "a loving, consensual, one-on-one relationship" until she died in 2009. He claimed Ryan O'Neal kept him from seeing Fawcett in her final days. "He kept me from seeing the love of my life before she died", he told ABC News. In Fawcett's living trust she left nothing to O'Neal, but she left $100,000 to Lott.{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2013/10/farrah-fawcetts-secret-love-life-exposed-in-lawsuit/|title=Farrah Fawcett's Secret Love Life Exposed in Lawsuit|date=October 23, 2013|website=ABC News}} Lott insisted Fawcett's relationship with O'Neal was just for show. "Everything she did with Ryan, including all of those so-called reality shows they made together, was just Hollywood fantasy, something she had to do to keep up her image", he said.{{Cite web|url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/alls-farrah-in-love/|title=All's Farrah In Love|last=Hollandsworth|first=Skip|date=February 2014|website=Texas Monthly}}

Fawcett's older sister Diane Fawcett Walls died of lung cancer just before her 63rd birthday on October 16, 2001.[http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ Social Security Death Index]. The fifth episode of her 2005 Chasing Farrah series followed the actress home to Texas to visit her father, James, and mother, Pauline.{{cite web |title="Chasing Farrah" Episode Guide |url=http://www.tv.com/Chasing+Farrah/show/31792/episode.html |publisher=TV.com |access-date=June 3, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090529172919/http://www.tv.com/Chasing+Farrah/show/31792/episode.html |archive-date=May 29, 2009 }} Pauline Fawcett died on March 4, 2005, at the age of 91.

Fawcett's only child, Redmond James Fawcett-O'Neal, was fathered by Ryan O'Neal and was born on January 30, 1985. He has struggled with drug addiction for most of his adult life{{Cite web|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/actor-ryan-o-neal-arrested-son-drug-possession-article-1.326010|title=Actor Ryan O'Neal arrested with son for drug possession|last=Dillon|first=Nancy|date=September 18, 2008|website=New York Daily News}} and has been in trouble with the law.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2018/06/09/farrah-fawcetts-son-charged-with-attempted-murder-after-days-long-spree-of-violence-police-say/|title=Farrah Fawcett's son charged with attempted murder after days-long rampage of violence, police say|last=Wang|first=Amy B|date=June 9, 2018|newspaper=The Washington Post}}

Fawcett was diagnosed with anal cancer in 2006,{{cite journal|last1=Schneider|first1=Karen S.|last2=Tauber|first2=Michelle|title=Farrah's Fight Against Cancer|journal=People|date=October 23, 2006|volume=66|issue=17|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20060821,00.html|access-date=December 23, 2013}} and began treatment that included chemotherapy and surgery.{{cite news|last=Thomas|first=Karen|title=Friends stand by Fawcett in cancer fight|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-10-11-farrah-fawcett_x.htm|access-date=November 16, 2013|newspaper=USA Today|date=October 11, 2006}} On February 2, 2007 (Fawcett's 60th birthday), the Associated Press reported that Fawcett was cancer-free.{{cite news|title=Doctor says Farrah Fawcett is cancer-free|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-02-02-fawcett-recovery_x.htm|access-date=November 16, 2013|newspaper=USA Today|date=February 2, 2007|agency=Associated Press}} The cancer recurred, and in May 2007 she was diagnosed with stage IV cancer that had metastasized to her liver (which has a 5-year survival rate of less than 20%); a malignant polyp was found where she had been treated for the initial cancer.{{cite news|last=Finn|first=Natalie|title=Farrah Fawcett's Cancer Battle Continues|url=http://au.eonline.com/news/55193/farrah-fawcett-s-cancer-battle-continues|access-date=November 16, 2013|newspaper=E! Online|date=May 18, 2007}}

Not wanting to undergo a colostomy, Fawcett traveled to Germany for treatments described variously in the press as "aggressive"{{cite news|last=Weiss|first=Joanna|title='Farrah's Story' is hard-hitting|url=http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2009/05/16/farrahs_story_is_hard_hitting/|access-date=November 16, 2013|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=May 16, 2009}} and "alternative".{{cite news|last=Serjeant|first=Jill|title=Farrah Fawcett to air video diary of cancer battle|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/people-fawcett-idUKN0549601920090505?sp=true|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306212409/http://uk.reuters.com/article/people-fawcett-idUKN0549601920090505?sp=true|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 6, 2016|access-date=November 16, 2013|newspaper=Reuters|date=May 5, 2009}} There, Ursula Jacob prescribed a treatment including surgery to remove the anal tumor, a course of perfusion and embolization for her liver cancer by Claus Kiehling and Thomas Vogl in Germany, and chemotherapy in the US. Although initially the tumors were regressing, their reappearance a few months later necessitated a new course that included laser ablation therapy and chemoembolization.{{Cite journal|journal=People|volume=71|issue=19|page=69|date=May 18, 2009|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20282113,00.html|access-date=May 16, 2009|title=Farrah's Final Fight|author=Dagostino, Mark|author2=Clark, Champ|archive-date=January 8, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110108155347/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20282113,00.html|url-status=dead}} Aided by friend Alana Stewart, Fawcett documented her battle with the disease.{{Cite AV media|title=Farrah's Story|publisher=NBC}} Made-for-television documentary with Ryan O'Neal, Alana Stewart. Premiered May 15, 2009. Executive Producer Farrah Fawcett.

In early April 2009, Fawcett was hospitalized following her return to the United States.{{cite news|last=Carlson|first=Eric|title=Farrah Fawcett's cancer spreads to liver but doctors say the 'fight goes on'|url=http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/Farrah-Fawcett_s-cancer-spreads-to-liver-but-doctors-say-the-_fight-goes-on_.html|access-date=November 16, 2013|newspaper=Winnipeg Free Press|agency=Associated Press|date=April 6, 2009}}{{cite news|title=Farrah Fawcett Reportedly Hospitalized|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/farrah-fawcett-reportedly-hospitalized/|access-date=November 16, 2013|newspaper=Fox News|date=April 4, 2009}} On April 6, the Associated Press reported that the cancer had metastasized to Fawcett's liver and explained that the hospitalization was not due to her cancer, but instead due to a painful abdominal hematoma.{{Cite news |url=http://www.silive.com/entertainment/tvfilm/index.ssf/2009/04/farrah_fawcett_treated_for_can.html |title=Fawcett Treated For Cancer's Spread to Liver |agency=Associated Press |date=April 6, 2009}} Fawcett was released from the hospital on April 9.{{cite news|last1=Marikar|first1=Sheila|last2=Heussner|first2=Ki Mae|title=Farrah Fawcett Released From Hospital|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=7303436&page=1|access-date=November 16, 2013|newspaper=ABC News|date=April 9, 2009}}

A month later on May 7, Fawcett was reported as being critically ill, with Ryan O'Neal quoted as saying she was spending her days at home on an IV and often asleep. The Los Angeles Times reported that she was in the last stages of terminal cancer and had seen her son Redmond in April 2009, although he was shackled and under supervision because he was then incarcerated. Her 91-year-old father, James, flew to Los Angeles to visit her.{{cite news|last1=Walters |first1=Joanna|title=As Charlie's Angels star lies dying, she begs for camera to keep rolling|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/may/16/documentary-television|work=The Guardian|date=May 16, 2009|location=New York}}

Cancer specialist Lawrence Piro, who was treating Fawcett in Los Angeles, and Fawcett's friend and Angels co-star Kate Jackson, appeared together on The Today Show. They dispelled tabloid-fueled rumors, including suggestions that Fawcett had been in a coma, had dropped to {{convert|86|lb}}, and had even given up her fight against the disease or lost the will to live.{{cite news|last=Inbar|first=Michael|title=Farrah still has her sense of humor, costar says|url=http://www.today.com/id/30762218|access-date=November 16, 2013|newspaper=Today|date=May 15, 2009}}

File:Farrah Fawcett & Craig Nevius.jpg, the director of Chasing Farrah and Farrah's Story, in 2008]]

Farrah's Story,{{Cite news|url=http://www.today.com/id/30749929/ns/today-today_entertainment/t/farrahs-story-tale-inner-strength/|title='Farrah's Story' a tale of inner strength|date=May 22, 2009|work=TODAY.com|access-date=February 8, 2018|language=en|archive-date=February 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209002757/http://www.today.com/id/30749929/ns/today-today_entertainment/t/farrahs-story-tale-inner-strength/|url-status=dead}} a two-hour documentary filmed by Fawcett and Alana Stewart, aired on NBC on May 15, 2009.{{cite web|url=https://people.com/celebrity/ryan-oneals-heartbreak-over-critically-ill-farrah/|work=People|date= May 7, 2009|access-date=May 16, 2009|title=Ryan O'Neal's Heartbreak Over Critically Ill Farrah|author=Clark, Champ}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/nbc-sets-farrah-fawcett-cancer-show-article-1.408837|title=NBC sets Fawcett cancer show|work=NY Daily News|access-date=February 8, 2018|language=en}} At its premiere airing, the documentary was watched by nearly nine million people,{{cite news|last= Boyle|first=Christina|title=9 Million Tune in For NBC Special on Fawcett's Cancer Fight, 'Farrah's Story'| url= http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2009/05/17/2009-05-17_9_million_view_farrahs_tale_of_cancer_fight.html|date=May 17, 2009|newspaper=New York Daily News|access-date=May 26, 2009}} and it was re-aired on the broadcast network's cable stations MSNBC, Bravo and Oxygen. Controversy surrounded the aired version of the documentary. Her initial producing partner—who had worked with her four years earlier on her reality series, Chasing Farrah—alleged that the editing of the program by O'Neal and Stewart was not in keeping with Fawcett's wishes to more thoroughly explore alternative methods of treatment of rare types of cancers such as her own.{{Cite news|url=http://people.com/archive/farrahs-final-fight-vol-71-no-19/|title=Farrah's Final Fight|work=People|access-date=February 8, 2018|language=en}} Fawcett posthumously earned her fourth Emmy nomination as the producer of Farrah's Story.{{Cite news|title=Farrah Fawcett receives posthumous Emmy Award nomination for "Farrah's Story"|url=http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2009/07/farrah-fawcett-receives-posthumous-emmy-award-nomination-for-farrahs-story-tv-news-1357986.html|date=July 16, 2009|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=July 18, 2009|archive-date=July 21, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090721034050/http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2009/07/farrah-fawcett-receives-posthumous-emmy-award-nomination-for-farrahs-story-tv-news-1357986.html|url-status=dead}}

File:Farrah Fawcett grave at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Brentwood, California.JPG

Fawcett died of anal cancer{{cite web |title=What Farrah Fawcett can teach us about anal cancer |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/sns-health-farrah-fawcett-anal-cancer-story.html |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |first=Deborah |last=Kotz |date=February 2, 2015 |access-date=May 22, 2020}} at 9:28 a.m. PDT on June 25, 2009, at age 62, in Saint John's Health Center, Santa Monica, California, with O'Neal and Alana Stewart by her side.{{cite news|last=Ditzian|first=Eric|title=Farrah Fawcett Dies At 62|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1614686/farrah-fawcett-dies-at-62.jhtml|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130103230302/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1614686/farrah-fawcett-dies-at-62.jhtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 3, 2013|access-date=November 16, 2013|newspaper=MTV News|date=June 25, 2009}}{{Cite news|url=https://latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-farrah-fawcett26-2009jun26,0,4388762.story|title=Farrah Fawcett dies at 62; actress rose above 'Charlie's Angels'|last=Nelson|first=Valerie J.|date=June 25, 2009|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=June 25, 2009}}{{Cite news|url=https://people.com/celebrity/farrah-fawcett-dies-of-cancer-at-62/|title=Farrah Fawcett Dies of Cancer at 62|author1=Stephen M. Silverman |author2=Champ Clark |date=June 25, 2009|work=People|access-date=June 25, 2009}}

A private funeral was held in Los Angeles on June 30, 2009.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/farrah-fawcett-laid-to-rest/5/|title=Farrah Fawcett Laid to Rest|website=CBS News|date=July 1, 2009}} Farrah's son Redmond was permitted to leave his California detention center to attend the service, where he gave the first reading. Fawcett is interred at the Westwood Village Memorial Park in Los Angeles, next to Rodney Dangerfield.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VWxdBTTzfFoC&q=fawcett+westwood+village&pg=PA42|title=Westwood|first=Marc|last=Wanamaker|date=February 3, 2010|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=9780738569109|via=Google Books}}{{cite news|title=Farrah Fawcett Is Laid to Rest|url=http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/farrah-fawcett-is-laid-to-rest-2009306|access-date=June 13, 2015|work=Us Weekly|date=June 30, 2009}}

Fawcett did not name long-time partner Ryan O'Neal in her living trust, which she had last amended in 2007. She left most of her estate, $4.5 million, to their son Redmond in a trust overseen by her business manager, Richard Francis. While Redmond is permitted to collect interest on the trust, the principal of the trust is available only for matters relating to Redmond's health care.{{Cite web|url=https://people.com/movies/why-farrah-fawcetts-son-robbed-a-convenience-store-despite-his-4-5m-inheritance/ |title=Why Farrah Fawcett's Son Allegedly Robbed a Convenience Store — Despite His $4.5M Inheritance|last=Miller|first=Mike|date=May 10, 2018|website=People}} Fawcett also left $500,000 to her nephew, Gregory Walls; $500,000 to her father, James Fawcett; and $100,000 to her college boyfriend, Gregory Lott.

Fawcett's art collection was bequeathed to the University of Texas. When the university received it, one of her Andy Warhol portraits was missing. In 2011, after discovering that O'Neal had retained the portrait, the University filed a lawsuit. O'Neal claimed that Fawcett had given the painting to him. Lott alleged that Fawcett never gave up ownership of the portrait and that it was her wish to bequeath all her artwork to her alma mater. In December 2013, a Los Angeles court ruled that the portrait belonged to O'Neal.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2013/12/19/showbiz/oneal-fawcett-warhol-verdict/index.html|title=Ryan O'Neal can keep Farrah Fawcett portrait, jury says|last=O'Neill|first=Ann|date=December 20, 2013|website=CNN}}

News of Fawcett's death was largely overshadowed by media coverage of the death of Michael Jackson, which occurred a few hours later on the same day.{{Cite news |last=Goodman |first=Dean |url=http://blogs.reuters.com/world-wrap/2009/06/26/michael-jackson-overshadows-farrah-fawcett-on-a-sad-day/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150614161723/http://blogs.reuters.com/world-wrap/2009/06/26/michael-jackson-overshadows-farrah-fawcett-on-a-sad-day/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 14, 2015 |title=Michael Jackson overshadows Farrah Fawcett on a sad day |date=June 26, 2009 |work=Reuters |access-date=June 13, 2015}}{{Cite news |last=Bonanos |first=Christopher |url=https://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2009/06/the_eclipsed_celebrity_death_c.html |title=The Eclipsed Celebrity Death Club |date=June 26, 2009 |work=New York |access-date=June 13, 2015}} On the night of her death, ABC aired an hour-long special episode of 20/20 featuring clips from several of Barbara Walters' past interviews with Fawcett, as well as new interviews with Ryan O'Neal, Jaclyn Smith, Alana Stewart, and Dr. Lawrence Piro.{{Cite magazine |last=Greenblatt |first=Leah |url=http://news-briefs.ew.com/2009/06/25/farrah-fawcett-2020-special |title=Farrah Fawcett: '20/20' special episode with Barbara Walters to air tonight |date=June 25, 2009 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=November 16, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108203454/http://news-briefs.ew.com/2009/06/25/farrah-fawcett-2020-special/ |archive-date=January 8, 2014}} Walters followed up on the story on Friday's episode of 20/20. CNN's Larry King Live planned a show exclusively about Fawcett that evening until Jackson's death caused the program to shift to cover both stories. Cher, a longtime friend of Fawcett, and Suzanne de Passe, executive producer of Fawcett's Small Sacrifices mini-series, both paid tribute to Fawcett on the program. Coincidentally, de Passe had worked for Motown Records in the 1960s and '70s, and she had also played a major part in the development of the Jackson 5, which included Michael Jackson. NBC aired a Dateline NBC special "Farrah Fawcett: The Life and Death of an Angel" the following evening, June 26, preceded by a rebroadcast of Farrah's Story in prime time.{{cn|date=October 2023}}

That weekend and the following week, television tributes continued. MSNBC aired back-to-back episodes of its Headliners and Legends episodes featuring Fawcett and Jackson. TV Land aired a mini-marathon of Charlie's Angels and Chasing Farrah episodes. E! aired Michael & Farrah: Lost Icons and The Biography Channel aired Bio Remembers: Farrah Fawcett. The documentary Farrah's Story re-aired on the Oxygen Network and MSNBC.{{Cite news |url=http://au.eonline.com/shows/e_news/news/131295/michael-jackson-farrah-fawcett-tv-specials-slated |title=Michael Jackson & Farrah Fawcett TV Specials Slated |date=June 26, 2009 |work=E! Online |access-date=November 16, 2013}} BET aired the 2004 movie The Cookout, in which Fawcett had appeared.{{cn|date=October 2023}}

Larry King said of the Fawcett phenomenon:{{cquote|TV had much more impact back in the '70s than it does today. Charlie's Angels got huge numbers every week – nothing really dominates the television landscape like that today. Maybe American Idol comes close, but now there are so many channels and so many more shows it's hard for anything to get the audience, or amount of attention, that Charlie's Angels got. She was a major TV star when the medium was clearly dominant.{{Cite news |url=http://larrykinglive.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/25/larry-remembers-farrah-fawcett |title=Larry Remembers Farrah Fawcett |date=June 25, 2009 |work=Larry King Live |access-date=November 16, 2013 |archive-date=March 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140302154438/http://larrykinglive.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/25/larry-remembers-farrah-fawcett/ |url-status=dead }}}}

Kate Jackson said of her former castmate:

{{cquote|She was a selfless person who loved her family and friends with all her heart, and what a big heart it was. Farrah showed immense courage and grace throughout her illness and was an inspiration to those around her... I well remember her kindness, her cutting dry wit and, of course, her beautiful smile...when you think of Farrah, remember her smiling because that is exactly how she wanted to be remembered: smiling.{{Cite news |last=Dimond |first=Anna |url=https://tvguide.com/News/Farrah-Fawcett-Remembered-1007315.aspx |title=Remembering Farrah Fawcett: Celebrities and Friends Look Back |date=June 26, 2009 |work=TV Guide |access-date=November 16, 2013 |archive-date=October 19, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019033643/http://www.tvguide.com/News/Farrah-Fawcett-Remembered-1007315.aspx |url-status=dead }}}}

In March 2010, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences upset family and friends of Fawcett when she was excluded from the "In Memoriam" montage at the 82nd Academy Awards ceremony. The inclusion of Michael Jackson in the montage, though he was not primarily known for his film roles, only added to the controversy. Friends and colleagues of Fawcett, including Ryan and Tatum O'Neal, Jane Fonda and film critic Roger Ebert,{{Cite news |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1633436/farrah-fawcetts-oscar-omission-leaves-ryan-oneal-disappointed.jhtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107164753/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1633436/farrah-fawcetts-oscar-omission-leaves-ryan-oneal-disappointed.jhtml |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 7, 2012 |title=Farrah Fawcett's Oscar Omission Leaves Ryan O'Neal 'Disappointed' |last=Vena |first=Jocelyn |date=March 8, 2010 |work=MTV News |access-date=November 16, 2013}} publicly expressed their outrage at the oversight. AMPAS executive director Bruce Davis noted that Fawcett had been recognized for her "remarkable television work" at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards in September 2009. On the exclusion, he said: "There's nothing you can say to people, particularly to family members, within a day or two of the show that helps at all. They tend to be surprised and hurt, and we understand that and we're sorry for it."{{Cite news |url=http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2010/03/farrah-fawcett-missing-from-oscars-in-memoriam-.html |title=Farrah Fawcett missing from 'In Memoriam' at Oscars |last=O'Neil |first=Tom |date=March 10, 2010 |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=November 16, 2013 |archive-date=December 4, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204213339/http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2010/03/farrah-fawcett-missing-from-oscars-in-memoriam-.html |url-status=dead }}

File:Farrah Fawcett - Hollywood Walk of Fame.JPG]]

The red one-piece bathing suit she wore in her famous 1976 poster was donated to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History (NMAH) on February 2, 2011.{{cite news |url=https://huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/02/farrah-fawcett-farrah-fawcett-red-swimsuit-smithsonian_n_817518.html |title=Farrah Fawcett's Red Swimsuit Goes To Smithsonian (VIDEO) |publisher=Huffingtonpost.com |date=February 2, 2011 |access-date=February 21, 2012 |first=Hilary |last=Moss}} Designed by fashion designer Norma Kamali,{{cite news |last=Dodes |first=Rachel |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2009/06/25/norma-kamali-who-designed-fawcetts-iconic-poster-suit-rembers-the-star/ |title=Norma Kamali, Designer of Swimsuit from Farrah Fawcett Poster, Remembers the Star |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=June 25, 2009 |access-date=February 21, 2012}} it was donated to the Smithsonian by her executors and was formally presented to NMAH in Washington, D.C., by her longtime companion Ryan O'Neal.{{cite news|last1=Fiegel|first1=Eric|last2=Payne|first2=Ed|title=Farrah's swimsuit makes the Smithsonian|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/celebrity.news.gossip/02/02/farah.fawcett.swimsuit/index.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20131116045409/http://edition.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/celebrity.news.gossip/02/02/farah.fawcett.swimsuit/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 16, 2013|access-date=November 16, 2013|newspaper=CNN|date=February 2, 2011}} The iconic image of Farrah in a red swimsuit has been recreated in a limited edition Barbie doll with a gold chain and the girl-next-door locks.

In 2011, Men's Health named Fawcett in its list of the "100 Hottest Women of All-Time", ranking her at No. 31.{{cite web|title=The 100 Hottest Women of All-Time|url=http://www.menshealth.com/sex-women/hottest-women-all-time|work=Men's Health|access-date=January 3, 2012|year=2011}}

The song "Midnight Train to Georgia" had initially been inspired by Fawcett and Lee Majors.{{cite web|title=Ten Questions with Jim Weatherly|url=http://nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com.s164288.gridserver.com/Site/feature?entry_id=6406|publisher=Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame|access-date=June 13, 2015|date=September 29, 2008|archive-date=September 23, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220923103723/http://nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com.s164288.gridserver.com/Site/feature?entry_id=6406|url-status=dead}} Songwriter James Dawn "Jim" Weatherly phoned Majors, who was one of his friends, but it was Fawcett who actually answered the call. Weatherly and Fawcett chatted briefly and she told him she was going to visit her mother and was taking "the midnight plane to Houston". Although Majors and Fawcett were both successful by that time, Weatherly used them as "characters"[http://www.goldminemag.com/article/hop-aboard-the-midnight-train-to-georgia-with-gladys-knight-the-pips "Hop aboard the midnight train to Georgia with Gladys Knight & The Pips"], goldminemag.com; accessed March 12, 2014. in his song, about a failed actress who leaves Los Angeles and is followed by her boyfriend who cannot live without her. Eventually the genders were swapped to a failed actor who leaves Los Angeles and is followed by his girlfriend, a train replaced the plane, and Houston was changed to Georgia. The recording by Gladys Knight & the Pips attained the number 1 position on the Billboard chart in 1973.[http://retro-hits.com/1973_n1s.htm 1973 "Number One Hits - Rock And Pop Music - Retro Hits - The Tunes You Grew Up With"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130313055538/http://retro-hits.com/1973_n1s.htm |date=March 13, 2013 }}, retro-hits.com; accessed February 25, 2014.

In 1980, O'Neal facilitated a meeting between Fawcett and artist Andy Warhol, who created two portraits of Fawcett during their time together. Fawcett later lent the portraits to The Andy Warhol Museum. Following a 2013 court case between O'Neal and the University of Texas, which had been named by Fawcett as the recipient of all of her artwork, one of the portraits was deemed the property of O'Neal. The portrait was valued at between $800,000 and $12 million during the court case.{{cite news|title=Andy Warhol portrait of Farrah Fawcett belongs to Ryan O'Neal, court rules|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/dec/20/andy-warhol-farrah-fawcett-ryan-oneal?|access-date=December 21, 2013|newspaper=The Guardian|date=December 20, 2013}}

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