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Probably the most photographed face of the 70's, Farrah Fawcett is still one of the most recognized faces in America of all time.
She was born Farrah Leni Fawcett in Corpus Christi, Texas, on February 2, 1947 at 03:10 PM. At the time Farrah was born, her father was working on in a refinery. He and his wife had had another daughter, Diane, nine years before. Farrah was beautiful, even as a child. Before she was in school, people would stop her mother in the grocery store and with an odd presence, say, "She looks like an angel." In grade school Farrah would come home and entertain her parents by mimicking the nuns in her Catholic school. She grew up with straight white teeth and lots of blond hair. As she got older, the younger kids in the neighborhood would drop by just to look at her. As a teenager, she never went through a gawky stage and never had trouble with her skin, and of course, there was always the hair. She had a wide circle of admirers, drafted after graduation, not at all members of the high school aristocracy, would later carry on a correspondence with her from Vietnam and other places around the world. In 1965, Farrah entered the University of Texas at Austin. At parties, Farrah was so popular, that soon her roommate had to screen her calls. During her freshman year, she majored in microbiology, then changed her course to arts. Her mother visited Farrah frequently at university. Their relationship remains close till these days. She was selected one of the ten most beautiful girls on campus and her picture found its way into the hands of David Mirish, a show business publicist in Los Angeles. He called her at the University of Texas and told her she should come to LA to try her lucky in Hollywood. "I told him no, "said Farrah, "because, at that time, I was having too much fun. There were boys and the parties - I loved college - and at that time, I really wanted to become an artist." Two years later, though, the picture changed, and resulted in Farrah changing her mind. But the decision wasn't one stemming from subconciouness drives aimed towards fame and glory. Far from it... By that time she was dating football quarterback Greg Lott ("a most gorgeous person"), and before her final year, she rethought the offer. "Greg said, "Why don't you go?' I thought that meant he didn't care. He wants to go out with other girls - you know how dramatic everything seems when you are younger - so I thought, 'OK, I'll just show him!'" It was on the summer of 1968 that Farrah moved to Los Angeles. Her father drove her, among lots of suitcases of her clothes. Mirish came to meet them in the second day of their staying and in the next morning they were on a tour at the Universal Studios. Mirish arrange for Farrah to stay in the Hollywood Studio Club, a residence established by the YWCA in 1926 for women who come to Hollywood to find work in movies. Her room was at the top of three flights of steps and since no men were allowed to go past the first floor, it was Farrah's mother and her aunt that helped Farrah to unpack and arrange the room. Then they had a short trip to Vegas... then, it was time to say good-bye. Farrah took a plane back to LA. Her mother cried at the airport she was worried sick about her daughter, but it was time for her to stand on her own. Farrah didn't have much luck with Mirish. She made some appearances and got her picture in the local newspaper as Miss Boat Show and the like. On September 23, 1969, a little more than a year after her arrival in Hollywood, Farrah had her lawyer send Mirisch a letter saying that she no longer required his services and a check for $210,46 to settle the account. She got another agent and them a part in the movie Myra Breckinridge, with Mae West and Rachel Welch. Shooting the movie wasn't Farrah's happiest experience. West didn't want another all blonde in the picture, and Welch didn't want anybody else to have blonde streaks. Caught in between the two, Farrah went darker blonde, avoided West, tried in vain to befriend Welch and cried a lot in her dressing room. In meanwhile, Greg drove west for short visits every few weeks, but the romance was floundering. "It's hard to date long distance. He just thought I could make some extra money that summer - he never dreamed all this was going to happen". As Greg was fading out, Lee Majors came into Farrah's life. At that time, a 29 year old bachelor costarring with Barbara Stanwick on the ABC series "The Big Valley", Majors was enjoying all the perks of stardom. Lee's agent had seen Farrah's picture and mentioned and showed it to him. Farrah quickly received a message at her all girl rooming house that read: "Tell Farrah Fawcett that Lee Majors called and will pick her up at 7:30 for dinner". naturally, Farrah's response was hardly one than flattery. In fact, Farrah remembers thinking: "How dare he? Who does he think he is?". Fortunately, Lee recovered in Time to phone and apologize for his "brashness"- which in this case, was more a matter of excessive zeal in wanting to meet the lady whose picture immediately captivated him. He escorted Farrah to a Jim Weatherly concert on 28th July, 1968. "I was so nervous," Farrah said, "so worked up - I was going out with a movie star! When he picked me up at the Hollywood Studio Club where I lived with a roommate from Texas, he didn't say a word. We drove in silence for ten minutes. I thought, 'He can't stand me', but he finally mumbled something like 'You are more beautiful than your picture'. I didn't know then that Lee is very, very shy. And I am much more attracted to people like that who don't come on strong." After dating for some time, she moved to Lee's home. They got married on July, 28 1973, the same year he was cast as The six million dollar man. It was the fifth anniversary of their electric first date. Her sister, Diane, was matron of honor. Lee's best man was his father, Harvey Majors. Costume designer Theodora Van Runkle created original wedding outfits for the wedding party as a gift to the newlyweds. Around 150 people attended the wedding and reception. They left for a short honeymoon in Vegas because of Lee's commitment to his new series. By 1974, Farrah was appearing in any number of commercials and magazines advertisements, and people began to notice the coltish blonde, promoting cars, shaving cream, shampoo and toothpaste. Photos of her, old and new, started to show up on magazine covers, including American Cosmopolitan. She liked to play housewife for him, but Lee liked to hang out with men, at bars and places like that. At that time, Farrah was less undependable. She wanted their marriage to work. She'd forgive anything. But as much as Lee wanted Farrah to stay home for dinner, her career was blooming. A part in the sci-fi feature Logan's Run and Charlie's Angels of course. With the success of her TV series (see next page), Farrah started to become a far more undependable woman. A show that created it's own genre, Charlie's Angels became the apple of America's eye. At the time, 50 percent of America's TV sets were tuned into them. The show presented 3 female detectives, working for a man named Charlie, that is never seen on the show, only his voice. Farrah starred as Jill Munroe, the "athletic one", with Jaclyn Smith , Kelly Garret the "sweet one", and Kate Jackson, the "smart one". Though all three angels soared into popularity, it was Farrah who emerged as the most popular. Her sweet smile, with her tongue between her teeth, her hair, her voice, transformed her in the television queen. In the beginning, the show was supposed to be called "Alley Cats" (can you imagine calling them cats instead of angels?) and was a vehicle for Kate Jackson, but Farrah stole the show. Although the scripts were far from being well written, the girls transformed it into one of the most successful TV series of all time. The merit of the success of the show belongs to them, although one episode can be called great: "Angels in chains". In this episode, the angels go to jail and all the women in jail movie cliches are there, and the scene when the angels open their towels after the shower made the puritans of the time move on their chairs. But Farrah had disagreements with the producers and left the show after only one season. Cheryl Ladd was her replacement, but did not caused the same furor Farrah did. Farrah said after leaving the angels about her character: "I still don't know who Jill was. You are never going to win an Emmy on those scripts - there's no character development. Three or four time I went to the producers and said they weren't being far to me. Give me a show where Jill cries. Make her fall in love. What's her past like - did her father die? They'd say, 'Yes Farrah, uh-uh, just go do your job.'" Farrah returned for more 6 guest episodes. Although doing only in one season, Farrah still remains the most remembered of the angels. But all the fans are still waiting for a movie reunion featuring the original angels! |
