_Allan_
Jun 26th, 2009, 11:38 AM
2:51pm UK, Friday June 26, 2009
Mark Stone, Sky News reporter
US actress Farrah Fawcett, who has died aged 62 after losing her battle with cancer, was one of the most iconic celebrity figures of the 1970s.
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2009/Apr/Week1/15256797.jpg
Farrah Fawcett pictured in the 70s
Her red swimsuit poster sold more than 12 million copies; to date, a record that is unsurpassed.
The poster was her ticket to achieve the fame she craved; the desire to switch from being an unknown shampoo model to a Hollywood star.
Just a few months after the poster was first released, she was receiving the calls she wanted and in 1976 she won the part of Jill Munroe in Charlie's Angels.
"She was so glamorous and fabulous," showbiz writer Ashley Pearson told Sky News.
"Producers ended up calling her which lead to her getting an agent, which led to her of course getting Charlie's Angels."
As one third of a private detective team working for a mysterious man named Charlie, Fawcett became an immediate hit.
Quickly though, she became far more than just a pin-up. She set the trend.
Ryan O'Neal and Farrah Fawcett
Fawcett with long-time companion Ryan O'Neal
Her hairstyle became a must-have at hair salon's across the US and beyond. She had as many female fans as male.
"She had beautiful hair, a beautiful figure. She was this sunshine California girl. And that was what people fell in love with. Every girl wanted to look like Farrah," Pearson said.
Fawcett was born in Texas in February 1947. She married actor Lee Major, the Six Million Dollar Man, in 1973. His name helped her launch her career.
But he was reportedly unhappy with her success in her own right. The couple split in 1979.
Her big screen success came in 1981, staring alongside Burt Reynolds and Roger Moore in The Canonball Run.
In 1984 she proved her ability as a serious actor. She was nominated for an Emmy in The Burning Bed, in which she played an abused wife who eventually murders her husband by setting his bed alight.
Source: Sky News (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Showbiz-News/US-Farrah-Fawcett-Dies-At-62-She-Was-One-Of-The-Most-Iconic-Celebrities-Of-The-1970s/Article/200906415319781?lpos=Showbiz_News_Second_World_New s_Article_Teaser_Region_2&lid=ARTICLE_15319781_US_Farrah_Fawcett_Dies_At_62% 2C_She_Was_One_Of_The_Most_Iconic_Celebrities_Of_T he_1970s)
Mark Stone, Sky News reporter
US actress Farrah Fawcett, who has died aged 62 after losing her battle with cancer, was one of the most iconic celebrity figures of the 1970s.
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2009/Apr/Week1/15256797.jpg
Farrah Fawcett pictured in the 70s
Her red swimsuit poster sold more than 12 million copies; to date, a record that is unsurpassed.
The poster was her ticket to achieve the fame she craved; the desire to switch from being an unknown shampoo model to a Hollywood star.
Just a few months after the poster was first released, she was receiving the calls she wanted and in 1976 she won the part of Jill Munroe in Charlie's Angels.
"She was so glamorous and fabulous," showbiz writer Ashley Pearson told Sky News.
"Producers ended up calling her which lead to her getting an agent, which led to her of course getting Charlie's Angels."
As one third of a private detective team working for a mysterious man named Charlie, Fawcett became an immediate hit.
Quickly though, she became far more than just a pin-up. She set the trend.
Ryan O'Neal and Farrah Fawcett
Fawcett with long-time companion Ryan O'Neal
Her hairstyle became a must-have at hair salon's across the US and beyond. She had as many female fans as male.
"She had beautiful hair, a beautiful figure. She was this sunshine California girl. And that was what people fell in love with. Every girl wanted to look like Farrah," Pearson said.
Fawcett was born in Texas in February 1947. She married actor Lee Major, the Six Million Dollar Man, in 1973. His name helped her launch her career.
But he was reportedly unhappy with her success in her own right. The couple split in 1979.
Her big screen success came in 1981, staring alongside Burt Reynolds and Roger Moore in The Canonball Run.
In 1984 she proved her ability as a serious actor. She was nominated for an Emmy in The Burning Bed, in which she played an abused wife who eventually murders her husband by setting his bed alight.
Source: Sky News (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Showbiz-News/US-Farrah-Fawcett-Dies-At-62-She-Was-One-Of-The-Most-Iconic-Celebrities-Of-The-1970s/Article/200906415319781?lpos=Showbiz_News_Second_World_New s_Article_Teaser_Region_2&lid=ARTICLE_15319781_US_Farrah_Fawcett_Dies_At_62% 2C_She_Was_One_Of_The_Most_Iconic_Celebrities_Of_T he_1970s)