The night Farrah Fawcett debuted on TV's "Charlie's Angels" in 1976, she transformed pop culture. Her feathery Medusa mane, mile-wide grin, architectural cheekbones and bra-free body made her an instant icon. In a red bathing suit, she became the star of the all-time best-selling poster. She sparked riots wherever she went. She only became more famous when she bolted "Charlie's Angels" after a single season, which resulted in lawsuits that account for her later turning up on the show in guest spots. Her personal life has been endless fodder for the press.
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When her marriage to Lee Majors ("The Six Million Dollar Man") ended in 1982 and when she began cohabitating with Ryan O'Neal (with whom she lived for 17 years and had a son), she made headlines. Whole articles were written about why she chopped her hair off in 1983. In this environment, it was really impossible for her to be taken seriously as an actress. Hollywood producers had chased her for movies when she was an "Angel," but because of her "Charlie's" contract, she lost out on starring in the 1978 megahit Foul Play. The films she did make--Logan's Run, Somebody Killed Her Husband, Sunburn, Saturn 3, The Cannonball Run--were pretty terrible. In a bold move to establish credibility, she took the rate of a woman who exacts revenge on the man who raped her in a 1983 off-Broadway production called Extremities (which in 1986 was made into a feature film, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe). In 1984, she played a vengeful battered wife in the critically admired TV movie The Burning Bed and was nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe. She won more Globe nominations for Nazi Hunter: The Beate Klarsfeld Story (1986) and Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story (1987) and another Emmy nod for Small Sacrifices (1989).
In 1995, when it looked as if Fawcett would continue to live a quiet life cranking out respected work in TV movies, things got odd. She posed nude, at 48, for a pictorial in Playboy's Christmas issue. Two years later, she showed up again in Playboy and starred in and coproduced Farrah Fawcett: All of Me, a Playboy pay-per-view special (later released on video) in which she used her naked body as a paintbrush. Then she made a now-infamous appearance on David Letterman's "Late Show," in which her spacey behavior had many believing she was either stoned or drunk. Her personal life was also making news. Months earlier she had split from Ryan O'Neal and started seeing James Orr, the director of her 1995 Chevy Chase comedy Man of the House. But as soon as that relationship began, Fawcett also started a relationship with the LAPD. In May of 1997, Orr's friend Kristen Amber Citron claimed that Fawcett stole $72,000 worth of her clothes from Orr's house (the police investigation failed to substantiate the charge). Things looked up when in early 1998 Fawcett received glowing reviews for her turn in The Apostle, but then she had a scuffle with Orr, which resulted in his arrest. Though today Fawcett, 53, says, "This 'life' stuff just keeps on comin', you know?" her career is back on track. She's currently shooting Jewel, a TV film about a mother dealing with a Down's syndrome child, and Robert Altman's new film Dr. T and the Women, in which she plays a woman who withdraws into childlike behavior because she is loved and watched too much, is due out this fall.
STEPHEN REBELLO: Why did you nix a cameo in the movie version of "Charlie's Angels"?
FARRAH FAWCETT: I only did the show for one year, but pretty much every three years since then they've wanted us to do a movie version or a special Movie of the Week. I just never wanted to. So when they talked about a cameo for this movie I said no right away.
Q: Not even for a sinful amount of cash?
A: That doesn't interest me. To do it, they have to have all three of us girls. [Laughs] We're sort of like a package deal, joined at the hip, and I'm usually the one who's not going to do it.
Q: It was reported in a gossip column that Kate Jackson basically didn't want to work with you and Jaclyn Smith, that she only wanted to cake part in the film if she could play evil and work against the two of you.
A: Oh, I don't believe that. I can't speak for them but what you can't take away from us is that we were and are good friends.
Q: How did you get cast in Dr. T and the Women?
A: Robert Altman saw my Playboy video, called me and sent me the script, which I loved. He told me at my first fining that he had seen the video and he admired my conviction at trying to do something artistic. He wanted me to play this woman who has a Hestia complex, who's loved and adored too much. She regresses and withdraws. Since then [laughs], I say to myself, "OK, I'm just having an attack of Hestia." I do feel that way sometimes. There's too much attention paid to me, whether it be at an airport, a party, a funeral, whatever.
Q: Wasn't there a tabloid report about how you insisted on an open set during your nude scene?
A: Ludicrous. There's a scene at a shopping mall in which my character regresses into this childlike state and thrashes around in a fountain taking her clothes off. It was a closed set. Even when I'm intimate with someone I don't like them to see me without clothes. After 17 years with Ryan [O'Neal], if he walked in on me and I wasn't dressed, I'd pick up a towel and cover myself. I'm basically shy.
Q: When you read about yourself, what really gets your dander up?
A: Anything that says, "Friends are concerned" and goes on from there. [Laughs]
Q: There's often a druggy connotation to the stories.
A: Stories about me make it seem as if I'm holed up in some motel room shooting up or something. Anyone who knows me knows that my time off is spent either at the gym or playing paddle tennis or in the ocean.
Q: What's your favorite story about yourself?
A: Once I read that I was sitting in the front of a gym smoking crack cocaine or doing whatever you do with methamphetamine before going in for a workout. I don't even know if that's physically possible. Don't people reading tabloids stop to ask themselves those questions? There was an article about someone seeing a huge baggie of cocaine being delivered to me. Someone explained to me that even dealers don't carry that much around.
Q: These sorts of stories have followed you around for years.
A: Tell me about it. I remember when I had my Faberge shampoo contract and I was going into Mexico with Jose, my hairdresser. We had a baggie of bleach and another of six lemons because Ryan liked Bloody Marys and you could only get limes in Mexico. They stopped us going into customs. First, they confiscated the lemons--OK, no big deal. Then they thought the bleach was cocaine so they wanted to test it by tasting it and putting it in their noses. My assistant kept saying, "No, don't!" Well, they did. It tasted terrible and my assistant kept saying, "I tried to tell you."
Q: So, the drug stuff is a misconception?
A: Yes. I take no drugs. I don't drink either. I don't like the taste. The only thing I'll have is a glass of champagne, which I like. I will also have a shot of tequila, which I always do when I arrive in a new country. You sec, my body gets attacked by stomach viruses, because I don't drink. It's almost like you get punished for keeping your body too pure.
Q: How do you explain why so many people in the industry say that you act like you're on drugs?
A: I can get giggly. [Laughs] The other night, we shot until five in the morning. Two of my good friends were in town, so the next night we went to dinner and I was so exhausted and giggly that people could have looked at me and said, "My God, what is she on?"
Q: Why did you come off as incoherent during your appearance on "Late Show with David Letterman"?
A: People who know me know that when I'm uncomfortable, I go into a little act. I try to change the subject and get real giggly. I was nervous, and when I went into the theater there were already 150 or so people yelling, "Farrah! We love you!" Of course, you don't hear that when you're watching the show, so even my mother said later, "Why did you keep looking over to the right?" I said, "Because people were screaming and wouldn't even let me finish a story."
Q: What kind of reviews did your family give you?
A: Before I went on the show, I talked with my mother and said I didn't know how I was going to do it because I'd taken a red-eye to New York. My mother said, "Just go out and have fun." So I've since blamed it all on her.
Q: There was a rumor that you were drinking before the show started.
A: One story said that Id had a drink and actually set it down just before going out onstage. What happened was I had lipstick in my hand because during breaks when my lips get dry, I put some of that on. The hairdresser didn't think I knew I had it in my hand, so she tried to get it out of my hand but the top fell off. On my way out, I stopped to pick up the top and people thought I set down a drink.
Q: You did the show to promote your Playboy video. Were you happy with how it turned out?
A: My problem is not with Hugh Hefner, who I thought was an extraordinary visionary for his time. I think that the company and people I was dealing with were misogynistic. I come from an art background. I don't have a problem with the female body except when it's presented in a pornographic way. In Europe, people don't have this problem with nudity. I thought I could elevate Playboy and prove that, in America, you can accept the female body. I wanted a video in which the body is about the gesture of an arm, the flow of a back, the power of sensuality. It became ugly. You can't fight a corporation and just be one woman, one child-woman, one woman-child, whatever I am. I don't think you have to spread your legs, shave and open yourself up to be beautiful. I went so far as to try and buy up all the videos. I tried to get an injunction. That's when they called me "sexist."
Q: Why sexist?
A: When we were trying to get the injunction, my attorney made me promise not to speak. I was bored with the whole thing and was writing on the bulletin board "XX=truth, XY=confusion." The guy who was going to testify against me said I was sexist and I said, "That's not sexist, it's a biological fact. I majored in biology. XX chromosome is a female, XY is a male. That's from God." He said, "Some of us think God is a woman," and I was like, "Right, surely mat's you." Legally, we were at odds for a long time. Then, I just let it go.
Q: While all of this was going on trouble was brewing between you and boyfriend James Orr. Why?
A: I saw a side of him that I'd never seen before. Almost a Jekyll and Hyde, I'm not used to someone just snapping.
Q: What about those reports that you stole Orr's friend's clothes?
A: Do I need somebody else's clothes? It all raised such a commotion. There were helicopters going over my house and journalists outside. To me, it was all ridiculous. I was very vulnerable and I was so taken aback when the police wanted to even talk to me about it.
Q: I think the incident fed into the stories that have followed you for years about taking things that don't belong to you, even shoplifting.
A: Yes! This all started when I came to L.A. I bought a pair of stockings and there was a run in them so I took them back and they wouldn't exchange them. It's different in Texas. They take things back and give you another pair. This lady at the store said, "No, you made the run in them," and I said, "Why would I bring them back if I did that?" I asked them to call the manager and they did. The manager refused to exchange them. I don't back down so I said, "Fine, I'm taking these," and I took a new pair and walked out. The next thing I know, some security person called the cops and took me in over a pair of stockings. [Laughs] It gets better. On the way to the station, the cop asked me out, even though he was wearing a wedding ring. I had to go to court and they asked, "Would you do it again?" and I said, "Absolutely." So, they put me on probation and said I had to have three visits with a psychiatrist. [Laughs] Can I go on the record with you to say I've never been to a psychiatrist other than those three visits?
Q: You just did. It must be difficult trying to figure out if people want to be with you or your fame.
A: Friends say, "Before you date this guy, you'd better do a background check. Ask for last year's tax returns." What? I'm going to ask this about a guy I'm dating? Now I do ask, "Are you involved? Arc you married?" Some of them say, "Sort of." I say, "This is a yes or no question." I was calking with this guy on the phone and when he gave me one of those answers, I said, "Oh, so you are when you want to be. Don't call me anymore, OK?"
Q: You're taking better precautions these days?
A: Yes, but it's not a fun way to do things. I like spontaneity, the infatuation. You know the fun part of the relationship. I like the beginnings, those first few months before you find our who they really are. The time before the "How dare you to have slept with someone in college" phase.
Q: Do you have problems reading men?
A: I've been involved with people who've done drugs and I haven't known because I've never seen them do them. I had an argument with this guy I was dating for a short time and I said, "That behavior is unacceptable," and he said, "Well, I've had 10 beers." I couldn't believe it. Oh, I'm getting sad just talking about this. It brings back bad memories. [Lets out a sob and takes moments to compose herself] I think it's because my mother always told me to look for die good in people. [Sobbing] When you do that, it's not realistic. See, I haven't really dated a lot. I went from Lee Majors to Ryan to going out with Jim [Orr]. It's hard to meet new people. When you get co where I am, it's even harder.
Q: How is it with you and Ryan O'Neal today?
A: He called me the other day during I forget what trauma and said, "Just forget what people say. They've been doing it to you for 20 years." Separating from each other was hand. We went through a couple of years when it was difficult for us to even speak. I thought I could make Ryan happy, to be on his level, I started to be more negative. You can't fix or change things. The press was always tough on us, especially on him. He's like a bear--he's gruff and brutally honest. I was attracted to that. The whole time we were together, there were stories about us fighting and being unfaithful. They'd say I was kissing a pro football player in Benedict Canyon, which really upset Ryan, I was so intent on disproving it that I cracked down the story and found that it was a green Rolls with the license plate "PRO." And I told the journalist, 'That's Ryan's car. Patrick Ryan O'Neal. It was Ryan I was kissing."
Q: A tabloid recently reported that you'd had major cosmetic surgery done. True?
A: Somebody faxed me that. It said I'd had chin implants or cheek implants, nose changed. I'm like, "Huh? When?" I don't chink I necessarily look better right now, so, OK, thank you. This all depends on how much weight I have on me. If my face is fuller, I look younger.
Q: Do you think your being such a big icon makes people feel they can say anything they want about you?
A: People have always been critical of the way I look. I remember going into the ladies' room at the Polo Lounge and being in one of the stalls and a woman said, "I don't think Farrah's hair looks good." Now I've gotten into the habit of saying, "I'm in here," because otherwise I have to stay in the stall until they leave.
Q: Does that hurt your confidence?
A: The only thing I'm confident of these days is my ability to act. That's completely the opposite of what used to be.
Q: When did people first notice you could act?
A: I can remember the exact day and moment. It was on The Burning Bed after a courtroom scene. Everyone on the whole set changed their attitude toward me. I still see that happen every time. Looking a certain way is a blessing and a curse. You don't get the roles. I could have done The Burning Bed or a role like that earlier in my career, but I never had the opportunity. When that project came along and I said I wanted to do it, the network people said, "Who wants to see Farrah Fawcett looking unattractive?"
Q: Were you ambitious back then?
A: Ryan says I'm the least ambitious actress he's ever met. Back then, I wouldn't read material in galleys or books and try to option it.
Q: How was it working with Richard Gere in Dr. T and the Women?
A: I met him sitting in my hairdresser's car in the early morning. I was getting a little sleep. Suddenly, knock-knock-knock. I look up--hair wet, no makeup, half-asleep--and it's Richard Gere. He was so gracious. Meeting him, I felt what some people must feel meeting me. He has the image of being extremely attractive and sexual--and he is very attractive--but very kind and wonderful to work with. I adore him.
Q: It's interesting that you replaced Goldie Hawn in Dr. T and the Women when she replaced you in Foul Play.
A: It is. The posters had already been made of Chevy Chase and me in Foul Play when ABC wouldn't let me do the movie.
Q: Is there a twenty something contemporary equivalent of Farrah Fawcett?
A: I thought that Cameron Diaz in There's Something About Mary embodied traits that I have. There's something about her that strikes home.
Q: Are you saying that Cameron Diaz is like you or that her character in There's Something About Mary like you?
A: My friends kept telling me that her character in Mary is like me. That's what my life was like at the University of Texas.
Q: You mean that guys went nuts for you?
A: [Laughs] Well, OK, yes.
Q: Were you aware in college of what your looks could do for you?
A: No. I lived in the dorm and I'd get these phone calls about modeling or acting jobs and it would spread through the dorm, "Hollywood's calling." I wasn't aware of anything except that most of my life I've been hit on.
Q: When you first came to Hollywood were you picked up by the town's skirt-chasers?
A: Yes! [Laughs] When I first came to L.A. I didn't know the rules. I met with Jack Nicholson about a project he was going to direct. Jack is Jack. I know him now. He said something for the shock value. If I told you what he said, people reading it out of context or not knowing Jack would go, "How rude, how awful."
Q: We're all grownups here.
A: [Laughs] Jack said, "If I take the camera and put it in a certain ... place and your legs are apart and it's ... right here... would you be able to do that?" And I said, "Oh, no." If I'd been smart and said, "Of course I can," I would've gotten the role. It wasn't required for the role at all--he was just seeing how I'd react.
Q: What about Warren Beatty?
A: I was walking out of Saks on Wilshire when a black Lincoln with dark windows pulled up. I can't say that was out of the ordinary, OK? [Laughs] The windows rolled down and this bearded man in sunglasses said, "Hi, how are you?" and I said, "Fine," and kept walking. He said, "Wait, wait, I'm Warren Beatty," and I started laughing, saying, "You are not," He insisted he was, so I said, "Take off your sunglasses," and he had those eyes and I said, "Oh, my God--you are!" He asked for my phone number and called four or five times. One night he called and said, "Where do you live? I'm just on my way home; can I come by and see you for 10 minutes?" I said, "I have to work tomorrow, I'm ready for bed and my roommate is asleep." He said, "Can't you come out to the car for 10 minutes?" [Laughs] I was in my robe and slippers and I had my hair set on those big orange juice can-sized rollers. He didn't seem to mind. [Laughs] We're friends now and we laugh about it. Nothing happened. Was I out of my mind? I mean, I was single. He was single.
Q: No other memorable encounters with him?
A: We both lived on Mulholland and we'd see each other at parties over the years. He sent me the script for Dick Tracy to consider and I met with him, but I was doing something else.
Q: Is there anything about yourself you'd want to change?
A: No. I am who I am. I'll go around in rollers and if I'm on location in the woods and my trailer is miles away, I will go to the bathroom in the bushes. There's no way my makeup lady would do that, for instance. But that's who I am.
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Stephen Rebello wrote about heartthrobs from Down Under for the August issue of Movieline.