“She was smart. That was a trick that she
tried to keep from people.” ~Ryan
O’neal
Farrah Fawcett dies
at the way too early age of 62. A woman
who would present herself simpler than
she really was, and was profoundly
human. There was a real person behind
those pearly whites, and I’d like to
take you behind the pinup.
Sexually Suggestive
Start
Farrah Fawcett was always a
beautiful girl and was even voted one of the
"Ten Most Beautiful Coeds" in the University
of Texas at Austin. Her photo would appear in
Cashbox Magazine and picked up by a Hollywood
publicist. She would start her way like any
Hollywood hopeful and worked her way up, from
some seriously suggestive commercials To the
star she is today.
Selecting Superstardom
Fawcett would step
up from 30 second commercials to full
guest-starring roles. Most probably cast
for her pretty face, at the time, rather
than anything else, the next logical
step would be a smoking hot photo shoot.
Farrah selected 6 pictures out of 40
rolls of film. Her favorite was the one
that would become iconic. So iconic, in
fact, it sold between an estimate of
over 12 million copies, making it the
best-selling pinup poster of all time.
It’s the Tits - Charlie's
Angels
Some may argue that
Fawcett’s flip do was what brought on her
fame, but even she knew better:
“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.”
Seriously though, I’d say it was probably a
combination of attributes and coincidences.
Whether it was Fawcett’s extraordinary smile
or vibrance, or just the plain fact she was
attractive, or the blend of her
attractiveness with a bubbly role that had
her doing a lot of sporty activities,
something clicked with the audience. And
while Jaclyn Smith and Kate Jackson enjoyed
their share of fame, Farrah’s was phenomenal.
In Search of Substance
No one knew better than
Fawcett that it was all about her form, more
than her content, but the spectacular
celibritism of Charlie's Angels would later
on afford her the choice of some more
psychologically challenging roles. From the
controversial Extremities to the story of
domestic abuse, The Burning Bed, to the award
winning miniseries, Small Sacrifices. At the
same period, Fawcett would also give a series
of successful guest performances in Ally
McBeal, Spin City and The Guardian.
Substance after Form after Substance
After proving herself a serious actress,
Fawcett let her rigid rule of ‘no nudity’ go,
and decided to pose for Playboy three times,
within two years, meanwhile continuing to
pursue serious roles. One of those serious
roles would include the mentally ill wife of
Richard Gere, in Dr. T & the Women, that
would peak at a heartbreaking, and yet
beautiful nude scene.
A Reviling End
Though Fawcett’s
cancer would be reviled due to
criminal invasion of privacy, she was
never one to shy away from the
cameras. For three years, she’d have
the cameras documenting her struggle
with cancer. Her documentary, Farrah’s
Story, would leave a legacy of a
fighting Fawcett. A strong, kind
woman, with vulnerabilities- a human
being.
Rest in peace Farrah,
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