Sunday 2 Jan: Sunburn
She's not just a pretty face by Davidjames Smith
he was, without doubt, the sex symbol of the Seventies — the ubiquitous cover-girl, exuding a fresh, healthy beauty that typified a new era in clean-living California. Farrah Fawcett was just another Hollywood hopeful, striving to become an actress. But her face, with its dazzling white smile, capped by a cascading blonde mane, ensured her fortune. With a little help from Lee Majors, and the advantage of those fabulous features, Farrah made the grade more rapidly than most, ascending, through television walk-on roles, to Charlie's A ngels and on to movies such as Somebody Killed Her Husband and Sunburn, which you can see in most ITV areas today. Someone issued a Farrah Fawcett poster, and it sold six million copies in a year, side by side with the endless magazine covers sporting that smile. Even Andy Warhol was moved to say: 'She gets more famous every 15 seconds — she's going to be around for a very long time.' But, while the eyes of the world lingered on Farrah, the ears were ever ready to absorb the gossip about her. When her seven-year marriage to Majors faltered, the separation and subsequent divorce was played out in public. And, when her fledgling film career failed to take Farrah Fawcett: 'I'm obsessed by the need to do some good work,' she says. 'For the first time, I'm ambitious for a really good role.' off, everyone wanted to hear TVTIMES MAGAZINE 24 December 1982-7 January 1983
that she was struggling, even finished as an actress. Farrah was aware of the difficulties but she was unable to stem the gradual erosion of her self-confidence. The only escape route was her parents' home in Houston, Texas. 'I'm Farrah's friend, Wailing Wall and psychiatrist,' said her mother. 'She calls home whenever she's upset.' Farrah acknowledges the value of a safe and secure family, saying: 'My parents are the key to my success. They're perfect. It's tough in Hollywood, and it's tough in the grown-up world. The love and security they give me helps me cope better with things in my day-to-day life'. Part of the problem, she claims, was listening too often to the 'sound' advice of those around her. 'I've been knocked so much for doing things that other people wanted me to do that, from now on, I'm going to do things my own way.' And she's proved her point by appearing on stage for the first time, at Burt Reynolds' Florida theatre. She was nervous and unsure, but the reception of the audience and critics was overwhelmingly approving. 'Now, I'm obsessed with the need to do good work,' she says. 'For the first time, I'm ambitious for a really food role. With luck, I think I'L get it.' Farrah is now 35, but she's still striving to be recognised as an actress of talent. 109