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Farrah Fawcett Dies After 3 Year Battle With Cancer

KTLA News

12:50 PM EDT, June 25, 2009

ANGELES -- Farrah Fawcett has died after a long battle with cancer.

Fawcett, 62, died at John's Medical Center in Santa Monica at 9:28 a.m. Thursday morning with her longtime love, Ryan O'Neal and her friend Alana Stewart by her side.

Her death brings an end to a 3 year battle with anal cancer which later spread to her liver.

Fawcett, a native of Texas, is the daughter of James Fawcett and Pauline Evans.

She attended University of Texas in Austin, graduating with a degree in Microbiology, but still wanted to be an actress.

After winning a campus beauty contest, she was spotted by an agent, who encouraged her to pursue acting.

After graduating, she moved to Los Angeles. Her all-American look helped her easily land roles in various television commercials for such products as Ultra-Brite toothpaste, and Wella Balsam shampoo.

In 1968, she met actor Lee Majors, star of the popular TV series "The Big Valley" (1965).

In 1970, she won her first major role in the film adaptation of the Gore Vidal novel Myra Breckinridge (1970).

In 1973, she and Majors married, and the following year, she won a recurring role in the crime series "Harry O" (1973).

A supporting role in the science fiction film Logan's Run (1976) brought her to the attention of producer Aaron Spelling.

She cast her what was to become her trandmark role in the TV series "Charlie's Angels" (1976).

She played a private investigator who works for a wealthy and mysterious businessman, along with two other glamorous female detectives, played by Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith.

The show immediately became the most popular series on television, earning record ratings and a huge audience.

Farrah left the show was at its peak to pursue a movie career.

The move drew a negative reaction from many fans. As a result of that and some poor script choices, her career briefly hit a slow spot.

In addition, she and Majors separated in 1979.

In 1981, she met Ryan O'Neal, a friend of her husband's, and they began became friends and spent a great deal of time together. In 1982, she filed for divorce, which Majors readily agreed to. Soon, she and O'Neal were a couple and moved in together.

She made a major comeback when she starred in the searing story of a battered wife in TV movie, The Burning Bed (1984), based on a true story. Her performance landed her nominations for both an Emmy and Golden Globe.

The following year, she and O'Neal became the parents of a son, 'Redmond O'Neal'. She tried to continue her momentum with a starring role in Extremities (1986), but while she garnered some positive reviews, the show was not well-received.

In 1995, she surprised her fans by posing for "Playboy" at the age of 48 ad it became the magazine's best-selling issue of that decade.

Her relationship with O'Neal was deteriorating, however, and in 1997, they broke up. The breakup took a toll, and at that time she received very bad publicity when she appeared on "Late Show with David Letterman" (1993) and gave a rambling interview, sparking rumors of drug use.

The couple eventually reunited, but never married.

http://www.courant.com/ktla-farrah-fawcett-obit,0,5277639,print.story