Fawcett's television career began with an appearance as a showgirl in an episode of Mayberry RFD, alongside Forrest Compton and Norman Leavitt. She went on to appear in popular series such as I Dream of Jeannie, with Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman; The Partridge Family, with Shirley Jones and David Cassidy; and The Six Million Dollar Man, on the set of which she met Lee Majors, whom she married.

The couple formed their own production company, Fawcett-Majors Productions. It was at this point that Fawcett finally broke into modeling, and a famous poster of her in a swimsuit sold millions of copies.

The poster shot led Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg to look for a star vehicle to cast her in, and so Charlie's Angels was born. The series, which also starred Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith (and later spawned two movies with Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Lucy Liu) was a great success and ran for five seasons, though Fawcett left after one, appearing only in occasional episodes thereafter. Her character is remembered partly thanks to a haircut which became a popular fad, making her one of the icons of the 70s. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance.

After Charlie's Angels, Fawcett starred in a number of unsuccessful films, including the notorious Saturn 3 with Kirk Douglas and Harvey Keitel. Her marriage to Majors was crumbling, eventually to end in divorce. She moved in with actor Ryan ONeal, with whom she was later to have a child, voice actor Redmond ONeal, but the relationship was tumultuous and allegedly violent. Fawcett put this experience to use in 1984's The Burning Bed, in which she starred alongside Paul Le Mat and Grace Zabriskie as a battered wife; the performance won her an Emmy.

Farrah also won acclaim on Broadway for playing a rape victim in Extremities, which was later filmed. These meatier roles helped Fawcett to gain more control of her career, though she worked mostly on TV movies and gradually began to reappear on the small screen in shows like Ally McBeal, with Calista Flockhart and Greg Germann; Spin City, with Michael J Fox and Charlie Sheen; and The Guardian, with Simon Baker and Dabney Coleman.

In 1997 Fawcett separated from Ryan ONeal. She subsequently dated director James Orr, who was arrested for injuring her when trying to prevent her from vandalizing his house. She has also been romantically linked to businessman Greg Lott and tennis player Martin Barba. Fawcett also worked for charities that aimed to tackle domestic violence, as well as continuing her long-term fundraising efforts for the American Cancer Society.

Fawcett's controversial image has been compounded by allegations of drug abuse, though she has always denied having a problem. She also created a sensation when, at the age of forty-eight (and again at fifty), she stripped off to pose for Playboy. She later became the star of her own reality TV show, Chasing Farrah.

In 2006 Farrah was diagnosed with cancer, which she attempted to keep private for many months. But once the news was out the newspapers and media were full of speculation as to her condition, following her every move in her battle with the disease.

With that in mind, Fawcett decided to catalogue her fight with cancer in a documentary called, A Wing and a Prayer. By early 2009 Farrah's health began to give cause for conern as she travelled to Germany for treatment.

Ryan and Farrah's son, Redmond was arrested and jailed for his use of drugs but was given leave from the jail to visit his ailing mother as her weight dropped to 86lbs.

By mid June 2009 Farrah's conditioned worsened as the actress was admitted to hospital and news of friends and family were seen visiting her bedside to say their final goodbyes.

On June 25th 2009 it was announced that the former Charlie's Angel beauty had lost her 3 year battle with cancer and had passed away in Los Angeles.

YUDDY