by Lynette Alice

Created on: June 26, 2009

Born February 2, 1947, Farrah Fawcett grew to become a woman known as one of the biggest sex symbols of an era filled with beautiful women in high profile entertainment outlets. While most people remember her as Jill Monroe, the sexy feather haired blond crime fighter of Charlie's Angels fame, she was much more than that. In some regards she was a reluctant sex symbol looking to shake the image and be seen and appreciated as a thespian and not just a pretty face. The story of her life and death is no different from most people in that it had it's highs and lows. What makes her life special in retrospect is the way she chose to lead it.

Farrah Leni Fawcett was the youngest of two daughters born to James and Pauline in Corpus Christie, Texas. When asked how she ever wound up with such an unusual name she always supplied the same answer which was that it was a name her mom made up because she thought it sounded good when paired with her last name. Mom must have been on to something, because in an industry where names are commonly changed to stand apart from the pack, Farrah never had to do that. In fact she was one of the few select celebrities that was known by one name alone like Liza and Marilyn.

Farrah was raised Roman Catholic and attended her parish school until the ninth grade by most reports when she entered public school. She later went on to the University of Texas at Austin where she was a good but not stellar student and a sister of Delta Delta Delta sorority. Her ideas for the future changed when she appeared in a photo shoot of the ten most beautiful coeds on campus. She was spotted by a publicist/agent and encouraged to move to Hollywood to take a shot at the big time after he spotted her photo. With her parents blessing to give it a try, she packed up and headed west in 1969 after finishing her junior year.

Early on Farrah mostly found work in commercials, and plenty of it. She was the dream face for an advertiser to associate with and had no problem landing deals with Well Balsam, Noxzema, Fabrege, Ultra Bright, and Mercury. That wasn't her only exposure though as she found her way onto the small screen as well on Owen Marshall: Counsellor at law, I dream of Jeannie, and the Six Million Dollar Man where she met her future husband Lee Majors.

It was 1976 when everything seemed to turn in her favor. Her agents sold a distributor on the idea of a poster of her. The resulting poster was the now famous "wet red bikini" shot with her big hair and dynamite

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