Since the adored actress Farrah Fawcett lost her fight against cancer on June 25, 2009, it has been almost a decade since her passing. During her expansive, decades-long career in cinema, television, and stage, the legend with the blonde locks was known as “America’s Sweetheart” to millions of admirers.
In the 1970s, Fawcett rose to fame playing the part of Jill Monroe, a private investigator, on the popular television drama “Charlie’s Angels.” She was instantly recognizable as the stunning young woman with the unforgettable hair that became her defining characteristic. Everyone wanted to have the distinctive feathery hairdo that Farrah Fawcett had, and she went so far as to develop her very own shampoo and feature in advertisements for it.
Unfortunately, when she was undergoing treatment for her disease, she began to lose her hair. According to her closest friend Alana Stewart, Fawcett tried all in her power to maintain it, and it was a challenge for her to lose it during the last round of chemotherapy treatment.
Stewart had obediently documented Fawcett’s whole fight against cancer for a documentary that was going to be named “Farrah’s Story.” Fawcett had requested that Stewart do this. In it, viewers were able to follow along with Fawcett’s journey as she received a diagnosis and treatment. Fawcett was given the good news that her tumors had disappeared at one point, but sadly, they reappeared at a later time. During the last few days of Fawcett’s life, her family was at her side.
The actress was previously married to the actor Lee Majors, from whom she was divorced in 1982, after the couple had been married for a total of nine years. After her relationship with Majors ended, Fawcett had a long-term relationship with Ryan O’Neal, who was said to be the love of her life. They have one kid together as a couple.
Continue reading to find out more about the renowned actress’ past relationships with Majors and O’Neal, which were romantic in nature.
On July 28, 1973, Fawcett tied the knot with Majors. In the year 1976, Majors said, “She’s so gorgeous.”
“She reminds me of a little child. So adorable, the very best on the inside.”
According to Fawcett, when she first saw Majors, it “was love at first sight.” During that time, she said that obtaining her major was her top objective.
“I like my marriage and him being the most important thing in my life,” according to her.
In an interview with People conducted ten years after Fawcett’s death from cancer, Majors stated that during their time at the pinnacle of their celebrity, “it was difficult to get around.” It was not quite as challenging as it is now, when almost everyone has a mobile phone and the speed of social media is much faster. When we were in that situation, the only problem we had was with the paparazzi in general. You were able to sidestep them the majority of the time, but not always.”
Due to the fact that both performers had such demanding jobs, it was difficult for them to find time to spend together. “It was very quick, and it lasted about almost 12 years,” Majors recalled in the same interview. “It was a very quick turnaround.” “However, there was a period of time—perhaps a year—during which I believe I saw her for a total of two weeks in one calendar year. Having a profession like that makes things extremely challenging. This industry is notoriously difficult. Both of you were putting in 14-hour days at the office, and the weeks flew quickly.”
In February of 1982, the couple realized that they were destined for separate paths and filed for divorce. Despite the fact that they were unable to keep their marriage together, the song “Midnight Train to Georgia” was written on their love for one another. Even though the song’s creator, Jim Weatherly, was familiar with Fawcett and Majors, he drew inspiration from them more than anything else when creating the characters in the timeless music.
In the book that O’Neal published in 2012 under the title “Both of Us: My Life with Farrah,” he discussed his feelings for the actress and provided specifics of his relationship with her, which started in 1979.
O’Neal is quoted in Biography as saying, “She’s delightful, full of childlike warmth,” about the subject. “There is no pretense or cattiness about her whatsoever, she’s vibrant and wholesome, refreshing in this town.”
They had broken up in 1997 but reconciled in 2001 and remained together until Fawcett’s death in 2009. Prior to that, they had been together from 1997 until 2001. The two individuals were never married. O’Neal was quoted as saying at the time, “Farrah and I do not have any plans to marry — nor do we have any plans to separate.” “Don’t fix what ain’t broken.”
Later on, O’Neal was given a diagnosis of leukemia, and Fawcett was the one who tended to his needs when he was ill. The next year, in 2006, he was there for her when she received the devastating news that she had cancer.
“The hair is gone,” he disclosed to me. “Her much-talked-about hair. It is in my possession at home. She couldn’t be bothered…. I’ll never understand how she managed to carry all of that hair. She is not vain in the slightest about it.”
It became quite evident that Fawcett would not pull through this, and O’Neal was utterly heartbroken. “It’s a love story. … I won’t know this world without her,” O’Neal said. “Cancer is an insidious enemy.”
O’Neal, however, disclosed this information in an interview with Barbara Walters only a few short days before Fawcett died away:
“I’ve asked her to marry me, again, and she’s agreed.”
When asked when they would be married, O’Neal said, “We will, as soon as she can say yes,” before joking that she may “just nod her head” given her fragile state. This was in response to the question of when they would marry. The actor said that during the course of their relationship, he had often proposed to Fawcett the idea of their getting married.
“I used to ask her to marry me all the time,” stated the man. “But… you’ve got to recognize that this is all just a joke. We just made light of the situation.”
Despite this, O’Neal was certain that the pair would tie the knot, as seen by the statement that he made to Walters: “I promise you, we will…. Absolutely.” Fawcett sadly died unexpectedly only a few days later, before they were able to make the announcement public.
O’Neal stayed at Fawcett’s side for the whole of her fight against cancer. In 2019, he said in an interview with People, “There was never a day that I didn’t love her.”
In his book, O’Neal also provided a description of Fawcett’s dying moments. It was written here:
“I’m all by myself with the one I adore. I shake hands with her. I can still feel her pulse, but it is flickering now instead of being steady. She is making an effort to let go. Her pulse weakens and eventually stops completely. On the morning of June 25, Farrah drifts off into a slumber that will never end.”
However, further information on Fawcett and O’Neal’s relationship was disclosed during a deposition that O’Neal was required to provide by the court as part of a case that was brought forward by the University of Texas at Austin in the year 2012. In the litigation, the university sought to have O’Neal hand up a painting of Farrah Fawcett by Andy Warhol. O’Neal owned the picture. The university, which was also Fawcett’s alma mater, said that the actress had bequeathed all of her artwork to the institution in her will.
According to Radar Online, during the deposition, O’Neal said that he had cheated on Fawcett with a younger actress called Leslie Stefanson when they were involved romantically. O’Neal and Fawcett were in a relationship at the time. When a lawyer questioned him if “Miss Fawcett found you in the Malibu home in bed with another woman?” on February 18, 1997, O’Neal replied, “She did.”
The attorney said that following the occurrence, the Warhol artwork that his client had previously loaned to him was returned to her. “The reason I gave it to her is because there was a new woman in my life, and the painting was making her uncomfortable because it seemed like Farrah was staring down at her. I gave it to her because I didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable.” As a result, I said, ‘Well, I can change that,'” O’Neal explained. However, when he sought to return the artwork to her, Fawcett refused and stated that she enjoyed the fact that the painting made O’Neal’s new partner uncomfortable, according to what O’Neal claimed in the deposition, adding that Fawcett was a “funny girl.” Fawcett had previously told O’Neal that she liked the fact that the picture made O’Neal’s new partner uncomfortable.
A jury in Los Angeles decided in December 2013 that O’Neal was the rightful owner of the Warhol picture of Fawcett. After then, the university filed an appeal against the verdict. The lawsuit wasn’t resolved until 2014, when the institution, after spending more than one million dollars in expenditures for legal representation, secretly abandoned its appeal.