Farrah Fawcett: Pinup, Angel, gutsy actor

Her career should have ended in 1981. She was a poster, then an Angel and then just another piece of beautiful scenery in "Cannonball Run." The next step should have been a failed TV pilot, a "Love Boat" cameo and then maybe an infomercial for some kind of skin-care line.

But Farrah Fawcett always had the moxie to take her career seriously, even when others didn't. Her next mainstream role was in the harrowing and controversial television movie "The Burning Bed," which established the pinup girl as a serious actress — and someone whose next 25 years would be unpredictable and interesting.

Ms. Fawcett, 62, died Thursday at a Santa Monica hospital with longtime companion Ryan O'Neal and actress Alana Stewart at her side.

Ms. Fawcett's three-year battle with a rare anal cancer was reflective of her career, which was filled with false tabloid rumors. There were also a few dubious achievements. Even in death, no story about Ms. Fawcett should go beyond the fourth paragraph without mentioning her rambling 1997 interview on "The Late Show With David Letterman," which — with apologies to Paula Abdul — set the standard for spaced-out live appearances on network television.

Ms. Fawcett was a lot of things, starting with goddess. She reached her peak of mainstream popularity in 1976, when a poster of the then-unknown actress, smiling almost blindingly in her red one-piece swimsuit, was released. Within six months, the poster sold 5 million copies, outstripping records of such previous sex symbols as Betty Grable and Marilyn Monroe. It wound up selling a reported 12 million copies.

Later that year, she debuted on the Aaron Spelling series "Charlie's Angels" as Jill Munroe, a character whose lines were forgotten instantly but whose hairstyle was endlessly copied.

But after one season of "Angels" and an appearance in "Cannonball Run," Ms. Fawcett made the first of several risky career decisions. Still in her prime, she appeared in the 1982 Off-Broadway play "Extremities," portraying a rape victim who seeks revenge. She returned to television in 1984, looking haggard as Francine Hughes in "The Burning Bed." The movie dealt with abuse and vigilante justice, and garnered Ms. Fawcett her first of three Emmy award nominations.

Her role in "The Burning Bed" may have not have been particularly subtle, but it proved to mainstream audiences that she had unexpected range. She settled into a second career as a TV movie tough girl, reprising her role in the 1986 "Extremities" TV movie, and in 1989 she portrayed a deranged mother who shoots her children in "Small Sacrifices," based on the book about Oregon's Diane Downs by Seattle author Ann Rule. She was a frequent guest star on network TV shows in more recent years, usually playing serious roles.

Her career highlights arguably came in her early 50s, when she returned to feature films. Ms. Fawcett co-starred with Robert Duvall and appeared in a Robert Altman film — garnering praise as Duvall's movie wife in "The Apostle" in 1997 and playing a small role in Altman's "Dr. T and the Women" in 2000. That was arguably Altman's worst film, but it still made the point: Who in 1976 would have believed that Farrah Fawcett would be making movies 15 years later with the guy who directed "Nashville"?

Unfortunately for Ms. Fawcett's legacy, almost nobody saw "The Apostle" and "Dr. T and the Women." And pretty much everyone either owned or had a boyfriend or brother who owned The Poster.

The 1970s version of a viral video, the Farrah Fawcett poster was the kind of sensation that could only happen spontaneously. A few pieces of trivia about this iconic wall hanging, first released in 1976:

• Ms. Fawcett did her own hair;

• For the backdrop, photographer Bruce McBroom used an old Indian blanket that had been covering the front seat of his '37 Chevy;

• The photo was shot in the back of then-husband Lee Majors' Bel-Air home;

• No ice was used during the making of this poster.

Some actors are typecast by a TV show, others by a movie. Ms. Fawcett was typecast by a giant, glossy photo taken before she had landed her first major acting role. But even if the rest of her life never completely eclipsed that image, she deserves respect for doing everything possible to make her career more than that moment in time.

Few masters of their craft ever become a pop-culture phenomenon. And few pop-culture phenomena ever have the patience and skill to pursue their craft with passion and hard work. Farrah Fawcett did both. She journeyed beyond the two-dimensional limits of her dizzying first few years in Hollywood, and left behind an admirable career.

The Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.