The True Farrah Fawcett Revealed — ‘She Was the Marilyn Monroe of the ‘70s’ (Exclusive)

It’s almost unimaginable that nearly 10 years has passed since Farrah Fawcett lost her battle with cancer, and nearly as impossible to fathom that this would have been her 72nd birthday. The reason for that is simple: how do you think of her without having her role as Jill Munroe on Charlie’s Angels or her iconic poster from the 1970s come to mind? Which in itself is kind of unfair, when you consider that she was a four-time Emmy Award nominee and six-time Golden Globe nominee, only one of which was for Charlie’s Angels.  

“Everyone just thinks of Farrah as a poster,” notes author, pop culture historian, and ultimate Angelologist Mike Pingel, who also spent two years working as the actress’ assistant and runs the ultimate Charlie’s Angels site. “People think she’s hair and she’s teeth and she’s a smile; she’s just that all-American California girl. Which she’s not. She’s an award-nominated actress for her work in films, on television and in the theater, such as Extremities and The Burning Bed. Point is, her career was not only a poster or Charlie’s Angels, but was one that the industry tipped their hat to as many times as they did.

“The thing is,” he continues, “when you’re on a hit show, that’s what you’re identified by. And all the Angels, at one point or another, didn’t want to talk about Charlie’s Angels, because they wanted to be recognized for what they were doing then, or their current roles, or their nominations, and so was Farrah at the time. And it’s hard when you’re on the number one show and it’s a worldwide phenomenon. Her poster itself was a phenomenon. Her face was everywhere, on every magazine cover, on billboards. There were actually magazines in the ‘70s that didn’t even have articles about her, but would just put her on the cover anyway. There’s one cover that says, ‘There’s nothing about Farrah Fawcett in this magazine.’ They just put her on the cover, because it sold magazines.” She is also still “selling”, this time for the Farrah Fawcett Foundation, which is designed to help with patient care and financial assistance for those battling cancer. It’s there that proceeds for things like the lipstick and Mego doll bearing her name and likeness is going.

What’s so amazing is that here we are in 2019, and those images of Farrah are the ones that still come to mind. “She was the Marilyn Monroe of the ‘70s,” Mike offers. “She is the ‘70s.”

To learn more about the life and career of Farrah Fawcett, just scroll down.