I never met her. Although, my family has some close friends that lived next door to her, when she was growing up in Houston. They said they could get her autograph for me. I laughed…it was during her reign on Charlies’ Angels, and I could have cared less about an autograph.
What I wanted was a date.
She was out of my league. Okay…waaaaaaaaay out of my league. At the time, she was already an item with Lee “The Six Million Dollar Man” Majors, and she was 10 years older than I was. None of that stopped me, and thousands of other guys just like me, from wishing we had a shot with Farrah.
My wife had a pet ferret back at the time. She named her “Fawsah Ferret.” (Sadly, the ferret was bisected by the family dog, Doobie. Doobie, I hear, was NOT named after the group.)
Farrah began her career as a model, then a pinup girl, followed by the Flavor of the Month on Charlies’ Angels. Unlike a majority of This Year’s Blondes, Fawcett had some talent behind the gleaming teeth, and was able to pull off serious roles (like The Burning Bed) surprising her fans and confounding her critics.
Her personal life, if you believe the tabloids, was a mess. It proves to me several things. First, money can’t buy happiness. She didn’t strike me as particularly happy, at least in public. I hope, for her sake, that this was just a public persona thing. I suspect, based on public reports of her tumultuous relationship with Ryan O’Neal, that this wasn’t. Some would say she lived a charmed life, in the public eye, beautiful, wealthy, successful. I guess that depends on the way you define “charmed” and “successful.”
The best thing I heard about her today, amongst all the friends and fans mourning her loss, was her description as a “devout Catholic.” For where Farrah is going, none of the money, the fame, the glamour, or any of the other trappings of Hollywood will count for a thing. If she was indeed a devout Catholic, she’s going to a better place – a place where she won’t have to worry about pain, gossip, or any of the other downsides of fame. Her fans should take comfort in that.
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