by Patty E Padgett

Created on: June 29, 2009   Last Updated: June 25, 2010

Farrah Fawcett

I could start this off by stating that Farrah was one of the most envied sex symbols of her time but that is already a fact that has been expounded upon by every writer who has written an article about her during her career. Her beauty and her awe inspiring hair-do brought her fame. That, along with her role on Charlie's Angels quickly elevated her to stardom. So many women copied her famous hair-do. Hair dressers made millions offering that style to their clients. That is one contribution that Farrah made to the women of the world. A larger contribution was the subject matter and awareness that the movie The Burning Bed brought to light. Her role in the movie Small Sacrifices was also well received by her fans and the public at large. She appeared on numerous shows as the star, as a guest star, as a guest host, and on many sit coms. She did not want to be type-cast as an empty-headed blonde with a pretty face and beautiful body, however, so her awards for her dramatic roles were even more cherished by her . She had so much more to offer and wanted the world to know that. Her role on the stage in the play (and later the film version) of Extremities won her much acclaim and her acting ability in a live drama surprised even her closest friends and most avid fans. She gave it her all and it showed in her acting. She won an award for that particular play/movie for Best Performance by an Actress. Other awards were Best Performance by an Actress in The Burning Bed, and for Small Sacrifices, an award for Best performance by an Actress in a television series for Charlie's Angels. She additionally won an award for Best Supporting Actress in The Apostle.

However, the Farrah I want to write about is the one who didn't hide her cancer from the world. The one who did not let vanity take over; was not afraid to let the public see her suffering and the full human side of her. Many Hollywood actresses, singers, performers of all kinds put their vanity first and would never make their illness as public as Farrah did. I would be compelled to believe that there are few as unselfish as Farrah obviously was. She had a story to tell, a message to get across and she did it the way she did everything else, she put her all into it. She fought a good fight and left behind a legacy of knowledge about the dreaded cancer and a feeling of camaraderie with other cancer sufferers. In the eyes of the world, she became less of the untouchable star and more of the touchable, approachable human being.

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