The Passing Of An Angel

To say she was a star in the series Charlies Angels misses much of who she was. Farrah was multiple Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated American actress. She was the "face of an era."

I remember her when she was in the Ultra Brite commercial. The jingle when: "Mother had a feeling, I might be too appealing. So mother never told me about...Ultra Brite." Then she smiled that big smile. I was still a very young girl wondering what I would look like when I was a grown woman and I was certain I wanted to look like her.

While I NEVER watched Charlies Angels I couldn't help but know who she was. She was the woman in the one piece red bathing suit who's picture adorned every teenage boys bedroom. She was the woman who's hair style adorned every teenage woman's head whether the cut flattered them or not. She will always be associated with her work on Charlies Angels even though she was only on there for one season.

Fawcett won critical acclaim for her 1983 role in the off-Broadway stage production of the controversial play Extremities, written by William Mastrosimone. She followed Susan Sarandon in the role, in which she played a would-be rape victim who turns the tables on her attacker.

Her role as a battered wife in the fact-based TV movie The Burning Bed earned her her first of three Emmy Award nominations. It was one that was very relevant to me as I was a battered woman.

She was nominated for Golden Globe awards for roles as Beate Klarsfeld in Nazi Hunter: The Beate Klarsfeld Story and troubled Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton in Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story, and won a CableACE Award for her 1989 portrayal of groundbreaking Life Magazine photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White.

Her role in the miniseries Small Sacrifices earned her a second Emmy nomination and her sixth Golden Globe Award nomination. Diane Down's story had happened when my youngest son was little and I couldn't imagine a mother who would kill her children to be with a man. The miniseries was adapted from a book written by one of my FAVORITE authors, Ann Rule.

On June 22, 2009, The Los Angeles Times and Reuters reported that Ryan O'Neal has said that Fawcett has agreed to marry him. I honestly felt uncomfortable with Ryan saying that they'd marry even if he had to nod her head yes. Obviously they loved each other enough to stay together all these years but it's unfortunate that they didn't marry sooner, (IMHO).

Farrah Fawcett died on June 25, 2009, at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California. She was 62.