Acting, the fabulous Farrah Fawcett way

Farrah Fawcett

Farrah Fawcett is from Corpus Christi, Texas.  Her name was later changed to "Farrah" as Farah is an Arabic word for joy.

Fawcett began her acting career on televison.  In the late 1960s and early 1970s Fawcett did guest spots and TV commercials for products such as Noxema shaving cream.  She also appeared on TV's The Dating Game.

In April 1976, a poster company Pro Arts Inc., that had started out making anti-war posters, started to hear about a young up-and-coming beauty named Farrah Fawcett doing Wella Balsam shampoo commercials.  She did a photo shoot for them, and the "famous poster with her in red swimsuit" became the beginning of history.

The history behind the photo - Fawcett arranged to have Bruce McBroom, a freelance photographer with whom she had worked before, do the shoot, and he did.  

McBroom took the pictures by the pool at Farrah's Bel Air, California home. For the back drop, McBroom used the worn, old Indian blanket covering his 1937 Chevrolet car seat.

Fawcett's continued success in telelvsion happen when she was cast as Jill Monroe in TV's Charlie's Angels.  The show aired in the fall of 1976.

Around the same time, her swimsuit poster was released. It went on to sell a still-unrivaled 12 million copies and she became known for her tousled hair and bright smile.  

Farrah Fawcett & Ryan O'Neal have been companions for a long time.  Here is their story.

God gave women intuition and femininity. Used properly, the combination easily jumbles the brain of any man I've ever met."

Charlie's Angels became a huge hit, winning Fawcett a People's Choice Award, but after just one year Fawcett left the show. As settlement to a lawsuit stemming from her early departure, Fawcett appeared three more times as a guest star in each of seasons three and four.

After Angels, Fawcett achieved critical praise and the first of three Emmy Award nominations as a serious actress for her role as a battered wife in the based on facts 1984 TV movie The Burning Bed. The project is noted as being the first TV movie to provide a nationwide 800 number that offered help for others in the situation, in this case victims of domestic abuse.

In addition to Charlie's Angels, other television shows Fawcett made appearances on were: I Dream of Jeannie, Three's a Crowd, The Partridge Family, Children of the Dust, Jewel, Chasing Farrah... and Farrah's Story (2009).

Fawcett's acting took her from commericials and telelvison to stage and film.  Some of her films are:  Love is a Funny Thing (1969), Logan's Run (1976), Saturn 3 (1980), The Cannoball Run (1981), Man of the House (1995), The Cookout (2004) and A Wing & a Prayer: Farrah's Fight for LIfe (2008). 

The two-hour documentary, Farrah's Story, filmed by Fawcett and friend Alana Stewart, aired on NBC on May 15, 2009. 

Ryan O'Neal in awe of Farrah's courage 

Ryan O'Neal (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)