Collectiblog

It is with great sadness that I reflect on the passing of Farrah Fawcett, who died at a Santa Monica hospital this morning. She was 62.

Although it was commonly known that she was battling colon cancer for the past two and a half years (recently documented in the jarring NBC special Farrah's Story, which was viewed by 9 million people) it still hurts to lose someone so culturally significant. Fawcett wasn't merely an actress or a starlet, but a symbol of youth and beauty. She was as much an icon as a person, loved for reasons as varied as her numerous fans.

The sparkling Texas beauty arrived in Hollywood in the late '60s and almost immediately found herself garnering small parts on shows like I Dream of Jeannie, The Flying Nun and The Partridge Family. She turned heads in the outlandish cinematic farce Myra Breckenridge (which also starred a pre-famous Tom Selleck) in 1970, and, not surprisingly, was singled out that same year by Look Magazine as a face to watch. They couldn't have been more right.

Fawcett married actor Lee Majors in 1973, while still building her burgeoning resume, which included four appearances on her then-husband's show The Six Million Dollar Man. She had appeared in a number of TV commercials earlier in the decade (most notably for "creaming" Joe Namath's face for Noxema) but her 1975 gig as the Wella Balsam girl led to a paradigm shift in the world of pop culture.

Based on the shampoo ads, the Pro Arts poster company hired Farrah to pose for a pin-up. The poster was released right around the same time Charlie's Angels, her first blockbuster series, debuted. The combination was explosive. Suddenly, Fawcett was catapulted past the status of "It Girl" and directly to international star. Almost what seemed like overnight, everyone wanted anything associated with the glamour girl -- her poster ended up on a record-setting 12 million walls.

Fawcett's feathered coif became the hairstyle of the decade, far surpassing the Jackie O or the Dorothy Hamill by leaps and bounds. The combination of her wildly popular "jiggle" TV show and the iconic poster was magic, and her image was quickly merchandised in every imaginable format. Dolls, purses, shampoo, jewelry, T-shirts and countless magazines -- ranging from gossip rags to teen ‘zines -- flew off the shelves. A personal favorite from the era was the unlicensed "Farrah's Fawcetts," spigot-shaped pendants that were sold in the back of the tabloids and in gumball machines at the height of her fame.

It's hard to think of Fawcett without thinking of the fresh-faced, fluffy-coiffed sex symbol of the ‘70s, but part of the phenomenon of Farrah was that she was able to transcend the hype and reinvent herself as a serious actress. Although legions of fans were disappointed when she opted out of Charlie's Angels after its first season, the decision proved wise as it led her to the more serious roles she desired. After getting her feet wet in a few lighter cinematic roles, Fawcett proved she was a true talent in 1984 with her Emmy-nominated portrayal of a battered woman in The Burning Bed.

Her equally dramatic part in the Broadway play "Extremities" (and the subsequent film adaptation in 1986) left no doubt that Fawcett was more than just a pretty face. As recently as 2003, she was still gaining accolades for her dramatic prowess with her guest spot on The Guardian, which also earned her an Emmy nomination. Always more self-aware than she may have seemed, Farrah appeared in TV Land's seven-part reality series, Chasing Farrah, and more recently allowed her illness to be the subject of the documentary A Wing and a Prayer: The Fight for Farrah's Life.

There are stars, there are divas and, less frequently, there are pop-culture phenomenons. Fawcett was all of these. In fact, she exceeded all definable terms and will remain an icon of such huge proportions that will never be forgotten, and forever be missed.

Photos courtesty Getty Images Entertainment and Wire Images.