A gallant lady who led a gallant fight. It's too bad her story will be drowned out by the death of a freak.
On Jun 25, 1:50 pm, Eidem <[email protected]> wrote: > 'Charlie's Angel' Farrah Fawcett dies at 62 > LOS ANGELES – Farrah Fawcett, the "Charlie's Angels" star whose > feathered blond hair and dazzling smile made her one of the biggest > sex symbols of the 1970s, died Thursday after battling cancer. She was > 62. > > The pop icon, who in the 1980s set aside the fantasy girl image to > tackle serious roles, died shortly before 9:30 a.m. in a Santa Monica > hospital, spokesman Paul Bloch said. > > Ryan O'Neal, the longtime companion who had reunited with Fawcett as > she fought anal cancer, was at her side, along with close friend Alana > Stewart, Bloch said. > > "After a long and brave battle with cancer, our beloved Farrah has > passed away," O'Neal said. "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." > > She burst on the scene in 1976 as one-third of the crime-fighting trio > in TV's "Charlie's Angels." A poster of her in a clingy swimsuit sold > in the millions. > > She left the show after one season but had a flop on the big screen > with "Somebody Killed Her Husband." She turned to more serious roles > in the 1980s and 1990s, winning praise playing an abused wife in "The > Burning Bed." > > She had been diagnosed with cancer in 2006. As she underwent > treatment, she enlisted the help of O'Neal, who was the father of her > now 24-year-old son, Redmond. > > This month, O'Neal said he asked Fawcett to marry him and she agreed. > They would wed "as soon as she can say yes," he said. > > Her struggle with painful treatments and dispiriting setbacks was > recorded in the television documentary "Farrah's Story." Fawcett > sought cures in Germany as well as the United States, battling the > disease with iron determination even as her body weakened. > > "Her big message to people is don't give up, no matter what they say > to you, keep fighting," her friend Stewart said. NBC estimated the May > 15, 2009, broadcast drew nearly 9 million viewers. > > In the documentary, Fawcett was seen shaving off most of her trademark > locks before chemotherapy could claim them. Toward the end, she's seen > huddled in bed, barely responding to a visit from her son. > > Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith made up the original "Angels," > the sexy, police-trained trio of martial arts experts who took their > assignments from a rich, mysterious boss named Charlie (John Forsythe, > who was never seen on camera but whose distinctive voice was heard on > speaker phone.) > > The program debuted in September 1976, the height of what some critics > derisively referred to as television's "jiggle show" era, and it gave > each of the actresses ample opportunity to show off their figures as > they disguised themselves in bathing suits and as hookers and > strippers to solve crimes. > > Backed by a clever publicity campaign, Fawcett — then billed as Farrah > Fawcett-Majors because of her marriage to "The Six Million Dollar Man" > star Lee Majors — quickly became the most popular Angel of all. > > Her face helped sell T-shirts, lunch boxes, shampoo, wigs and even a > novelty plumbing device called Farrah's faucet. Her flowing blond > hair, pearly white smile and trim, shapely body made her a favorite > with male viewers in particular. > > A poster of her in a dampened red swimsuit sold millions of copies and > became a ubiquitous wall decoration in teenagers' rooms. > > Thus the public and the show's producer, Spelling-Goldberg, were > shocked when she announced after the series' first season that she was > leaving television's No. 5-rated series to star in feature films. > (Cheryl Ladd became the new "Angel" on the series.) > > But the movies turned out to be a platform where Fawcett was never > able to duplicate her TV success. Her first star vehicle, the comedy- > mystery "Somebody Killed Her Husband," flopped and Hollywood cynics > cracked that it should have been titled "Somebody Killed Her Career." > > The actress had also been in line to star in "Foul Play" for Columbia > Pictures. But the studio opted for Goldie Hawn instead. "Spelling- > Goldberg warned all the studios that that they would be sued for > damages if they employed me," Fawcett told The Associated Press in > 1979. "The studios wouldn't touch me." > > She finally reached an agreement to appear in three episodes of > "Charlie's Angels" a season, an experience she called "painful." > > She returned to making movies, including the futuristic thriller > "Logan's Run," the comedy-thriller "Sunburn" and the strange sci-fi > tale "Saturn 3," but none clicked with the public. > > Fawcett fared better with television movies such as "Murder in Texas," > "Poor Little Rich Girl" and especially as an abused wife in 1984's > "The Burning Bed." The last earned her an Emmy nomination and the long- > denied admission from critics that she really could act. > > As further proof of her acting credentials, Fawcett appeared off- > Broadway in "Extremities" as a woman who is raped in her own home. She > repeated the role in the 1986 film version. > > Not content to continue playing victims, she switched type. She played > a murderous mother in the 1989 true-crime story "Small Sacrifices" and > a tough lawyer on the trail of a thief in 1992's "Criminal Behavior." > > She also starred in biographies of Nazi-hunter Beate Klarsfeld and > photographer Margaret Bourke-White. > > "I felt that I was doing a disservice to ourselves by portraying only > women as victims," she commented in a 1992 interview. > > In 1995, at age 50, Fawcett posed partly nude for Playboy magazine. > The following year, she starred in a Playboy video, "All of Me," in > which she was equally unclothed while she sculpted and painted. > > She told an interviewer she considered the experience "a renaissance," > adding, "I no longer feel ... restrictions emotionally, artistically, > creatively or in my everyday life. I don't feel those borders > anymore." > > Fawcett's most unfortunate career moment may have been a 1997 > appearance on David Letterman's show, when her disjointed, rambling > answers led many to speculate that she was on drugs. She denied that, > blaming her strange behavior on questionable advice from her mother to > be playful and have a good time. > > In September 2006, Fawcett, who at 59 still maintained a strict > regimen of tennis and paddleball, began to feel strangely exhausted. > She underwent two weeks of tests and was told the devastating news: > She had anal cancer. > > O'Neal, with whom she had a 17-year relationship, again became her > constant companion, escorting her to the hospital for chemotherapy. > > "She's so strong," the actor told a reporter. "I love her. I love her > all over again." > > She struggled to maintain her privacy, but a UCLA Medical Center > employee pleaded guilty in late 2008 to violating federal medical > privacy law for commercial purposes for selling records of Fawcett and > other celebrities to the National Enquirer. > > "It's much easier to go through something and deal with it without > being under a microscope," she told the Los Angeles Times in an > interview in which she also revealed that she helped set up a sting > that led to the hospital worker's arrest. > > Her decision to tell her own story through the NBC documentary was > meant as an inspiration to others, friends said. The segments showing > her cancer treatment, including a trip to Germany for procedures > there, were originally shot for a personal, family record, they said. > And although weak, she continued to show flashes of grit and good > humor in the documentary. > > "I do not want to die of this disease. So I say to God, `It is > seriously time for a miracle,'" she said at one point. > > Born Feb. 2, 1947, in Corpus Christi, Texas, she was named Mary Farrah > Leni Fawcett by her mother, who said she added the Farrah because it > sounded good with Fawcett. She was less than a month old when she > underwent surgery to remove a digestive tract tumor with which she was > born. > > After attending Roman Catholic grade school and W.B. Ray High School, > Fawcett enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin. Fellow students > voted her one of the 10 most beautiful people on the campus and her > photos were eventually spotted by movie publicist David Mirisch, who > suggested she pursue a film career. After overcoming her parents' > objections, she agreed. > > Soon she was appearing in such TV shows as "That Girl," "The Flying > Nun," "I Dream of Jeannie" and "The Partridge Family." > > Majors became both her boyfriend and her adviser on career matters, > and they married in 1973. She dropped his last name from hers after > they divorced in 1982. > > By then she had already begun her long relationship with O'Neal. Both > Redmond and Ryan O'Neal have grappled with drug and legal problems in > recent years. > ________________________________________ > > Billy Bob's Daughter Indicted in Babysitting Death > Los Angeles (E! Online) – Amanda Brumfield, the estranged daughter of > Billy Bob Thornton, was indicted Wednesday in Florida on murder > charges for the 2008 death of a 1-year-old girl Brumfield was > babysitting. > > The 29-year-old daughter of Thornton and ex-wife Melissa Gatlin is > facing counts of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and > aggravated manslaughter. Per the Orlando Sentinel, a tearful Brumfield > appeared in court accompanied by her lawyer. A judge rejected her > request for bail and ordered her held in jail. > > Brumfield told investigators the infant, Olivia Garcia, died on Oct. 3 > after tumbling head-first out of her playpen. But the medical examiner > ruled the fall could not have caused the child's fractured skull and > authorities say Brumfield waited more than two hours before calling > paramedics. > > In the wake of her arrest last month, the 53-year-old Thornton > released a statement through his publicist indicating that he had been > estranged from Amanda and had "no contact with her for quite some > time." He also offered condolences to the Garcia family. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Diamond Headz" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/michaellenz?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
