Remembering Farrah Fawcett: A Look Back

They say celebrity deaths come in threes. That is the case with Farrah Fawcett. Two other celebrities have passed on within days, even an iconic one on the same day as Farrah's. However, the entire focus will be on Farrah Leni Fawcett. One thing is for certain I remember her always on my TV screen while growing up in the 1970's. There was a made-for-TV movie on one of the major TV networks; I think it was ABC, titled "The Great American Beauty Contest". This was a cheesy drama about some beauty pageant in the same vein as Miss America. Farrah had a small role as one of the beauty contestants. For some reason she stood out in this really lame TV movie. There was something so luminous, vibrant, and sweet about her on screen. She had this huge smile and perfect teeth. Her character was a very naïve person, but she had instant charisma. No, her character, T.L. Dawson, did not win at the end.

After I saw her in that TV movie I began recognizing this actress on TV commercials and as a guest star on many other TV shows such as Marcus Welby, M.D., McCloud, and Six Million Dollar Man. It wasn't until Charlie's Angels first came on that I wasn't too surprised to see Farrah Fawcett's time come for major stardom. Occasionally I watched the show, but I wasn't much into watching television at that point in time. What I definitely remember during her Charlie's Angels one year tenure was the enormous hype surrounding her. The sexy poster she posed for and her incredible hairdo was all over the place; magazine covers, talk shows, etc. It got to the point she was being blatantly overexposure. Her famous hairstyle or "Farrah do" caught the attention of a shy kindergarten teacher in England who would become a Princess and the most famous woman in the world, Princess Diana.

After she left the show Farrah starred in some feature films that bombed at the box office, not to mention received scathing reviews from the film critics. All in all most people thought her career was on a downward spiral. That all changed when a superb TV movie came out for Farrah Fawcett in 1984 titled "The Burning Bed". I hadn't seen it initially when it aired, however, what I remembered vividly was every one talking about how good an actress Farrah was. She literally gave a performance of a lifetime. I did in fact see the TV film and was utterly amazed by her depth of emotional range. That was something I wasn't aware she even possessed, because I got the impression her life was always smooth sailing. I mean she literally had it all: beauty, married to and dated extremely handsome men, and having a knack to be successful.

Farrah now had recognition and respect as a serious actress, which I was so happy for her. Even to this day I can't watch the movie "The Burning Bed", because films like that simply turn me off. There was an article I saw online that stated as a result of her performance in The Burning Bed this led many states across the country to enact laws against domestic violence, especially for women. Over the years she seemed to become tabloid fodder, especially with her battle with cancer. I did not want to watch her recent documentary. It was too painful. I'm glad I have these earlier memories of Farrah Fawcett, the fresh young ingénue who would later become an accomplished actress in her own right. That is what I want to remember her by.

SOURCES:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farrah_Fawcett