It has been over ten years since the beloved actress Farrah Fawcett succumbed to her cancer battle on June 25, 2009. The blonde-locked icon was America’s sweetheart to millions of fans over a sprawling decades-long career in film, TV, and stage.
Fawcett was best known for her role as detective Jill Monroe in the hit television show “Charlie’s Angels” in the 1970s. She stood out as the beautiful girl with the beautiful hair — her signature feature. Everybody wanted the flipped-out winged hair that Farrah rocked, and she even created her own shampoo and starred in hair commercials.
Unfortunately, she started to lose that hair during her treatment for cancer. Her best friend Alana Stewart said that Farrah did what she could to keep it, and when she lost it during the last round of chemotherapy, it was a struggle.
At Farrah’s request, Alana had faithfully recorded Farrah’s entire battle with cancer for a documentary entitled “Farrah’s Story.” In it, audiences follow Farrah’s journey as she is diagnosed and treated. At one point, Farrah learns that her tumors are gone, but they then sadly return. Her family was close to Fawcett during the last few days.
The actress was once married to actor Lee Majors, whom she divorced in 1982 following nine years of marriage. After Majors, Fawcett’s long-term partner was Ryan O’Neal, who is said to have been the love of her life. The two have one son together. Read on to find out more about Fawcett’s complicated love life and the relationships that mattered most to her.
Falling In Love
Farrah Fawcett married Lee Majors on July 28, 1973. “She’s so gorgeous,” Majors said in 1976, “She’s like a little girl. So cute, so beautiful inside.” As for Fawcett, she shared that when she met Majors, “It was love at first sight.” She said at the time that Majors was her first priority. “I like my marriage and him being the most important thing in my life,” she explained.
In an interview with People a decade after Fawcett passed from cancer, Majors admitted that at the height of their fame: “it was hard to get around. It was not quite as hard as it is today with everyone having a cellphone and the social media is so quick. Back then we only had to deal with the paparazzi at large. A lot of time you could evade them, but not all the time.”
With both actors having such busy careers, it was difficult to spend time together. “It was very quick, and it lasted about almost 12 years,” Majors said in the same interview. “But there was a year or so when I think I saw her two weeks in one year. It’s very difficult with careers like that. This business is tough. Working 14 hours a day, both of you, and the days went by.”
Unfortunately, the two were not meant to be together and divorced in February 1982. However, they had separated back in 1979, and Fawcett began dating actor Ryan O’Neal. They stayed together for many years and welcomed a son named Redmond James Fawcett O’Neal in 1985. Fawcett and O’Neal were together until 1997 and then reunited once again in 2001, this time staying together until Fawcett’s death in 2009.
Together In Sickness And Health
In 2012, O’Neal released a book titled: “Both of Us: My Life with Farrah.” In the book, he shares details about his relationship with the actress and how he felt the day he first saw her. “She’s delightful, full of childlike warmth,” O’Neal wrote, according to Biography. “There is no pretense or cattiness about her whatsoever, she’s vibrant and wholesome, refreshing in this town.”
The pair decided never to marry. “Farrah and I have no plans to marry — nor do we have plans to separate,” O’Neal said at the time. “Don’t fix what ain’t broken.”
For the time they were apart, Fawcett and O’Neal took care of their son together. They got back together in 2001 after O’Neal was diagnosed with leukemia. “We pulled apart, but we never popped loose,” he explained.
Fawcett took care of O’Neal while he was sick, and when she was diagnosed with cancer in 2006, he was there to return the favor. O’Neal opened up about their experience while Fawcett was still fighting the illness. “The hair is gone,” he shared. “Her famous hair. I have it at home. She didn’t care… How she carried all that hair I’ll never know. She doesn’t have a vanity about it.”
It became clear that Fawcett was not going to recover, and O’Neal was devastated. “It’s a love story. I just don’t know how to play this one. I won’t know this world without her,” O’Neal said. “Cancer is an insidious enemy.”
When Fawcett passed away in 2009, O’Neal was with her through the entire process. He said to People in 2019: “There was never a day I didn’t love her.”
Her Living Legacy
Although they had been together at the time of her passing, Fawcett did not leave her trust with O’Neal. Instead, she left most of her $4.5 million fortune to her son Redmond in a trust fund overseen by her business manager, according to People.
She also set up very strict regulations on how to spend the money. The principal on the account could only be used for health-related matters, while the interest could be used however Redmond wanted. This was done as a way to help Redmond, as he had issues with drug addiction for many years, according to People.
Even though O’Neal wasn’t left with much following Fawcett’s passing, he did end up with a very important item – an Andy Warhol portrait of the “Charlie’s Angels” icon herself. In 2013, CNN reported that O’Neal won a court case involving the ownership of the portrait, as it was originally set to be sent to the University of Texas. The university had claimed that the portrait was left to them in Fawcett’s will.
However, the lawsuit revealed more of Fawcett’s relationship history. According to ABC, the lawsuit revealed a love triangle involving Fawcett, O’Neal and Fawcett’s college boyfriend named Greg Lott. The latter said that he dated Fawcett during their undergraduate studies at the University of Texas and had gotten back together in 1998, staying together until her death in 2009. ABC reported that Fawcett left $100,000 in her living trust to Lott.
It’s clear that Fawcett had a complicated love life but did what she could to protect those that mattered most to her. Now, her legacy continues to live on through loved ones.
Did you know about Farrah Fawcett’s dating history? What do you think about the way she divided up her trust? Let us know, and be sure to pass this along to your loved ones.
