Emotional farewell as actress loses long battle with cancer
Farrah Fawcett pictured in 2006. Photo: Getty Images
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Friday June 26 2009
FARRAH FAWCETT, the model and actress whose poster adorned millions of teenage boys' bedroom walls, has died after a battle with cancer. She was 62.
She shot to fame as one of a trio of impossibly glamorous private detectives on TV's 'Charlie's Angels' in the mid-1970s and became a pin-up for a generation.
Fawcett died at St John's Heath Centre in Santa Monica, California, where she had just returned for treatment for complications from rectal cancer, first diagnosed three years ago.
Her longtime partner, actor Ryan O'Neal, was at her bedside. Close family and friends had gathered to say goodbye, and the actress was read the last rites as it became clear that she would lose her very public battle with the disease, which had spread through her body.
"After a long and brave battle with cancer, our beloved Farrah has passed away," O'Neal said in a statement.
"Although this is an extremely difficult time for her family and friends, we take comfort in the beautiful times that we shared with Farrah over the years and the knowledge that her life brought joy to so many people around the world."
Wedding
It was not clear if the planned wedding ceremony to the actor, revealed last week, had taken place. O'Neal (68) and Fawcett have been romantically involved off-and-on since 1982. The couple have a son, Redmond, together, but had never married.
Last month, he told 'People' magazine that the cancer had spread to her liver and that her treatment had effectively ended.
"It's a love story. I just don't know how to play this one. I won't know this world without her," he said.
Fawcett (62) was diagnosed with rectal cancer three years ago and had surgery to remove a tumour, but the cancer returned. Millions watched a documentary about her three-year struggle with painful treatments and dispiriting setbacks last month.
In the documentary, 'Farrah's Story', Fawcett was seen shaving off most of her trademark locks before chemotherapy could claim them.
Last month, the actress said: "I'm holding on to the hope that there is some reason that I got cancer and there is something -- that may not be very clear to me right now -- that I will do."
