Farrah Fawcett was born on February 2, 1947 in Corpus Christi, Texas to Pauline (Evans) Fawcett and James Fawcett.

She was always beautiful, even as a young girl, and her senior class of W.B. Ra High School (Corpus Christi) in 1965 voted her “Best Looking” senior.

She went to college for two years (1965-1967) at the University of Texas-Austin, majoring in microbiology, eventually changing her major to art. In 1968, she left Texas to move to California to pursue a career as a model and actress.

She decided that she wanted to become an actress, and quickly made her way onto television in 1969, appearing in the episodes of a few popular television shows in 1969, including, The Flying Nun (her debut), I Dream of Jeanie, Mayberry R.F.D and Three’s a Crowd. Her big screen debut also came in 1969, when she appeared as Patricia in Myra Breckenridge.

She continued to do television in the early 1970’s, appearing on more shows, including appearing in a few episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man (with her husband) in 1974. A year earlier, she got married to Lee Majors, the star of the show. She changed her name to Farrah Fawcett-Majors during the time period of their marriage. Her and Majors formed a production company, Fawcett-Majors Productions.

By the mid-1970s she was also modeling and began to make a name for herself in the entertainment industry. In 1975, she was awarded the Golden Apple Award for Female New Star of the Year. Then, after a poster of her posing in a bathing suit sold millions of copies, producers knew it was time to capitalize on this Texas beauty. So in 1975, Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg contacted Farrah about co-starring in a television show about three crime solving women detectives. The show, Charlie’s Angels became a huge hit the following year (1976) and Farrah’s career climbed to an all-time high in the role of Jill Monroe. She also started a fashion trend and every girl wanted to have blond hair and a “Farrah Fawcett” haircut. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe award for this role.

Although the show was receiving great reviews and ratings after its first season, Farrah was not happy and decided to leave the show. After lawsuits for breaking the contract, she came to an agreement to appear in 12 more episodes over the following two seasons.

In 1979, she was not happy with her marriage to Lee Majors and they separated for a few months, and eventually received a divorce in 1982.

After leaving Charlie’s Angels, she tried to further pursue her career as an actress and starred in three movies over the next three years: Somebody Killed Her Husband (1978), Sunburn (1979) and Saturn 3 (1980). Unfortunately for her, none of the movies did very well at the box office.

Farrah dated actor Ryan O’Neal for beginning in 1980, until they broke up in 1997. During this time, they did not get married, but had a son together, Redmond O’Neal in 1985.

In the 1980’s, Farrah’s acting career turned back to television, where she once again gained some credibility, beginning with the made for TV movie, Murder in Texas in 1981 and The Burning Bed. For her role in Burning Bed, she was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special, and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV. Even with the critical acclaim, she never received the same heights she did in the mid 70s. She also appeared on Broadway and received acclaim for her acting in the play Extremities.

She continued to appear on television, and occasionally in the movies over the next two decades. Some of her acting highlights included Nazi Hunter: The Beate Klarsfield Story (1987 Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV), Extremities (1987 Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama), Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story (1988 Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV), Small Sacrifices (1990 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Special, and 1990 Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV), Good Sports (it is worth mentioning this short lived television with her boyfriend O’Neal) and The Apostle (1998 Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Female). More recently, she has been nominated for another Emmy Award (in 2003) for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her appearance in an episode of The Guardian.

In 1995, her fame brought her a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1995, Farrah also made waves when she got naked and appeared nude in Playboy magazine. The December 1995 issue, in which she appeared was the highest selling issue of the 1990’s for Playboy. She also appeared in the magazine again two years later in 1997.

When she is not working, she is very active in many charities, including work with the American Cancer Society, and working to fight domestic violence.

You can now catch Farrah in the star of her own reality TV show, Chasing Farrah. 

Credit: popstarsplus.com