Actress Farrah Fawcett Loses Battle With Cancer, Passes Away At 62

CNN reports the sad news that Farrah Fawcett, the actress whose best-selling poster and "Charlie's Angels" stardom made her one of the most famous faces in the world, has died. She was 62. Earlier today ABC News reported that a Catholic priest had given actress Farrah Fawcett her Last Rites. 

ABC will air a special 20/20 on her battle this evening, describing it as "from her Glory Days as a pinup girl whose figure graced a generation of teenagers' walls, to her valiant fight against cancer, at 62, Farrah Fawcett has become a symbol of the will to live." 

Fawcett was diagnosed with anal cancer in 2006, and began treatment, including chemotherapy and surgery.

Actress Farrah Leni Fawcett was born February 2, 1947. A multiple Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominee, Fawcett shot to international fame in 1976 due in part to her role as private investigator Jill Munroe in the TV series Charlie's Angels. Fawcett went on to become a respected and critically acclaimed actress, appearing off-Broadway and in highly rated television movies such as The Burning Bed, Nazi Hunter: The Beate Klarsfeld Story, Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story, Margaret Bourke-White and Small Sacrifices.

Fawcett won kudos for her 1983 role in the off-Broadway stage production of the controversial play Extremities, written by William Mastrosimone. She followed Susan Sarandon in the role, in which she played a would-be rape victim who turns the tables on her attacker. In 1986 Fawcett appeared in the movie version of Extremities, which was also well-received by critics, and for which she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama. Fawcett was set to make her Broadway debut in the 2003 play Bobbi Boland at the Cort Theatre but the production closed in previews.

A two-hour documentary on her cancer battle titled, "Farrah's Story", which was filmed by Fawcett and friend Alana Stewart, aired on NBC on May 15, 2009. The documentary was watched by nearly 9 million people in its premiere airing and it was re-aired on the broadcast network's cable stations MSNBC, Bravo and Oxygen.

Fawcett became a major pop culture figure thanks to her iconic hairstyle which was emulated by millions of young women and whose poster sales broke records, making her an international sex symbol in the 1970s and 1980s. 

She is survived by her son, Redmond O'Neal. His father is her longtime love Ryan O'Neal.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.

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