Farrah Fawcett: 1947-2009

It is a sad, sad day for EM personally today because Farrah Fawcett, the first and only pin-up girl of my childhood and as important to my adolescence as any public figure was, has died today of cancer at age 62. She had battled the disease for quite some time and even had a prime-time television special documenting her fight and all the steps she took to try and get better. It was dramatic and extremely sad. The photo above was a poster on my bedroom wall for years as a kid (and I'm sure one that everyone has seen before). For me, this poster was the Internet before there was one (well that, and trying to make out what you were seeing on scrambled cable). You had to use your imagination. I spent many a night and day staring up at the poster, especially the middle part of it, because it showed (God forbid) Farrah's nipple poking through her swimsuit. You have to understand what this kind of image means to a 9- or 10-year-old boy to appreciate it. And note, that she's wearing a "swimsuit" not a bikini, and still had this mesmerizing way about her that you didn't need to see everything (though by God, you wish you could). I remember watching "Charlie's Angels" just to see Farrah on the screen, not because I enjoyed the show. I actually couldn't tell you anything about any of the episodes. I just knew this was my only way of seeing my dream girl once a week for an hour. That perfectly feathered hair just melted me every time I saw it. The commercials she did for shampoo and toothpaste did the same. On non "Charlie's Angels" nights, I remember just turning on the TV in hopes that one of the commercials would come on so I could stare. Where was TiVo when I needed it? I hated Joe Namath after he got to do that Noxema commercial with Farrah and she rubbed cream all over his face. She also did commercials for the Schick Speed Styler, the Mercury Cougar automobile and Farrah Fawcett Faberge Shampoo, among others. And in the Ultra Brite commercials, Farrah's teeth were so damned white! How the hell did she do it? And her smile, oh her smile. It actually reminds me of someone I know, who has a similar smile (you know who you are) though I don't think I ever made the connection until just now. Back to Farrah. Anyone who knows me, knows that I prefer brunettes. Farrah was a blonde, obviously, but for some reason she's the person that registers with me when I think of iconic visions of my childhood. I hated when she was Farrah Fawcett-Majors for those years. Call is jealously, whatever. I mean, come on, it wasn't enough that the Six-Million Dollar Man had superhuman everything, he had to have Farrah too? It was all too much for a little boy and his crush. I remember getting very excited hearing that Farrah would pose in the December 1978 issue of Playboy Magazine. I know I saw those photos at some point in my life (I remember the cover as you can see here) but I couldn't tell you anything else about them now, except that Farrah did not pose nude inside. That's right, did NOT pose nude. Playboy wanted her so much that they were willing to do a non-nude pictorial just to be able to have her on the cover. I simply remember the anticipation of it all and how it consumed me until ... bam ... there the pictures were and I was like "WTF?" Disappointing then, but admirable of Farrah now (she didn't pose nude until 1995 on the occasion of her 50th birthday and by then I didn't want to see her that way. I preferred to remember her from the late 70s) When the 1980s came, my love (or at least my lust) for Farrah began to fade. She never became a big movie star or a supermodel or anything that kept her in the spotlight too much after that. So I guess my affections for my angel whittled away as well and I moved on to other things. I never forgot about Farrah though. She would pop up every now and then and I'd give it the appropriate attention and continue on with daily life. It wasn't until 1997 when Farrah appeared on the "Late Show With David Letterman" that she returned to my consciousness as more than a fleeting thought. It was the infamous interview when Farrah -- how shall we say this? -- simply didn't seem to be herself. Many speculated she was on drugs and made fun of her ditziness that night for quite some time afterward. I'm not sure what happened, but Farrah later told Howard Stern that it was just her way of joking around with Letterman and that her behavior had been misunderstood. I never knew the truth. Maybe I didn't want to know. I do remember laughing then and ever afterward when jokes were made at her expense. Perhaps that was my way of dealing with what seemed to be a sad revelation that my once beloved Farrah wasn't that vibrant woman from the 1970s that I had loved so much. After that I stopped keeping track of Farrah until hearing about her illness. I watched the special that NBC broadcast about her fight with cancer and it was awful to have to see her that way. It made me really sad and made me hope that her suffering wouldn't have to endure too much longer. That day came today at age 62. I love you Farrah. Always have. Always will. May you RIP now with the other Angels.

This is the "other" Farrah poster I had on my wall:


Here is a video tribute to Farrah, perfectly set to the song "More Than a Woman" by the Bee Gees:


Here's one final tribute, a cheesier one but with many different pictures than the one above, set to the song "I Honestly Love You" by Olivia Newton-John