This year marks the 50th anniversary of the iconic television series, Charlie’s Angels. One of the three actresses, Farrah Fawcett, sat down with The Weekly to talk about her success with the film and her marriage.
Farrah Fawcett was married to Lee Majors until 1982; they had no children. She went on to have a relationship with actor Ryan O’Neal, with whom she had a son, Redmon James Fawcett O’Neal, in 1985. Their relationship was tumultuous with allegations of abuse. Following that relationship, Farrh dated Canadian filmmaker James Orr until 1998. They broke up after he was convicted of assaulting Farrah.
In 1998, Farrah and her boyfriend from college, football star Greg Lott, rekindled their romance and were together until her death from cancer in 2009. She was 62 years old.
Read on for our EXCLUSIVE conversation with Farrah Fawcett from the 24 August 1977 issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly.
Please note that this archival piece has been edited from its original format.
EXCLUSIVE: Why Farrah Fawcett wasn’t afraid of success
Whether it is the perfect smile, the tumbling golden locks, the sparkling green eyes or the combination of all three, the world’s current sex symbol, cover-girl pin-up and heart-throb is the beautiful Farrah Fawcett-Majors.
The model wife of Six Million Dollar Man Lee Majors has, in less than a year, surpassed all previous competitors. A poster of the willowy blonde has already sold 5,000,000. And her film and television earnings are very quickly making her a multi-millionaire.
But behind the looks that have already shattered countless teenage hearts is an unassuming small-town girl from Texas, the high school beauty whose picture was spotted by a sharp-eyed publicist who lured her under contract to Hollywood in 1968, to seek her fortune as a model.
Prior to her “big break”, Farrah had an eight-year career in commercials and small TV and film roles and married actor Lee Majors.
Then she took part in Charlie’s Angels, a show nobody thought could possibly be a success. Another cop show with the twist of women in the lead roles. But it surpassed expectations and worked well. The show soared to the top of the US television ratings, easily beating the Six Million Dollar Man.
“It was the old Marilyn Monroe syndrome. Nobody took a pretty girl seriously,” says 29-year-old Farrah. “I am one more girl who’s proved that not all blondes are dumb.”
Farrah grew up in Texas, the daughter of a wealthy oilman in a closely-knit southern Catholic family.
She studied microbiology in college, changed to art and then left, just like thousands of dreamers before her, lured by the tinsel glamour of Hollywood. She was an immediate success as a model. Her stunning looks sold everything from cars to shampoo. They also sold her to her future husband.
“Lee’s publicist showed my photograph to him and he called me up and said he’d like to meet me,” she says.
“I was out, but when I got home I found this brusque message from him saying: ‘Please tell her I’ll be by at eight to pick her up’.”
That was eight years ago. “All I could think of at the time was how rude he was,” says Farrah.
“When he called, I was all prepared to turn him down. But I changed my mind when he said he was sorry. We’ve been together ever since and married nearly three years ago.”
Now her marriage is the main prop to her astounding success. Despite the gossip that constantly has her splitting from 36-year-old Lee, she is firm in her commitment to him as ever.
“At the beginning of our marriage, I’d whip up a good meal, and we’d take the food to our bedroom, where it is very cosy. After we’d eaten, I would want to start the dishes, but Lee would say, ‘forget about them’. He’d want to kiss and everything. When he wanted to go to sleep, I’d have to do the dishes, which would be the worst thing in the world for me. So I told him, ‘If you want me in the bedroom, you’ll have to get someone to do the dishes.’ He hired a housekeeper the next day.”
At the moment, her schedule makes it impossible for Farrah to start a family. But she has always wanted children.
One of the most frequent questions Farrah is asked, and one she worries about most, is how much competition there is between Lee and herself.
She is now a bigger star than her husband, and very soon she will be earning a great deal more than he does. But she considers the problem philosophically.
“When you really love somebody, I don’t think competition really enters into it,” she says assuredly. “Lee is very happy and very proud about what is happening to me, just as I am about him. Besides, he is like my teacher. There’s no competition because I consider myself on a different level of acting.
“The only thing that has been an issue is my artwork. I have a talent for sculpting and painting. I have sold a couple of things to an art dealer, but Lee doesn’t really want me to sell anything; he wants to keep it all.”
An added complication is that Lee is a more than usually competitive man. He has given up playing celebrity tennis because he can’t stand the disappointment if he misses a shot. And friends still talk of the look on his face as he stood at the top of a ski slope preparing to start his wobbly descent, when Farrah whooshed past him, “making me look like a snow plough.”
He has never been back on skis since.
The one place Farrah really cares about winning is the one place that Lee can always beat her.
“I must admit I am very competitive on the tennis court. I have much better strokes than Lee, but I just can’t beat him. When he socks the ball real hard, I just cannot keep up.”
In fact, Farrah would never be recruited into the Germaine Greer ranks. Her weapons are her looks, her feminine wiles and skills.
“There are things I cannot do. God made men stronger, I think, though not necessarily more intelligent. He gave women femininity and intuition.”
“I don’t think all the flak ‘Charlie’s Angels‘ gets from Women’s Liberals is justified. We have a show with three female stars, and that is a step forward for a lot of girls.
“Sure, on the show I don’t wear a bra, but neither do the other girls. Neither do 90 per cent of the girls you see on the street. I go to Beverly Hills and look around and say ‘wow’ when I see all the braless women.”
She added disdainfully: “Now they’re calling me about putting my pictures on bedsheets and pillowcases.”
If she’d never appeared on Charlie’s Angels, Farrah would still be one of the best-known faces in America through her cosmetics modelling. A million women buy their make-up hoping it will make them look like her. But in her heart, Farrah wants to be accepted as an actress.
“I’m pretty conservative with my money. I’m very fortunate, and I do have a nice life, and I’m interested in an acting career. But money comes first. You work too hard in this business not be paid well.”
And she adds with an unexpected determination. “I’m the only one who knows what I’m truly worth, and at this point in my life, I am not going to compromise.”
Words: Adam Edwards
This exclusive feature has been edited from its original format.
With thanks to Trove.
