Ryan O'Neal Remembers Farrah Fawcett: 'Cancer Is An Insidious Enemy'

Mar 25, 2022 by apost team

It has been over ten years since the beloved actress Farrah Fawcett succumbed to her cancer battle on June 25, 2009. The blonde-locked icon was America's sweetheart to millions of fans over a sprawling decades-long career in film, TV, and stage.

Fawcett was best known for her role as detective Jill Monroe in the hit television show "Charlie's Angels" in the 70s. She stood out as the beautiful girl with the beautiful hair—her signature feature. Everybody wanted the flipped-out winged hair that Farrah rocked, and she even created her own shampoo and starred in hair commercials.

Unfortunately, she started to lose that hair during her treatment for cancer. Her best friend Alana Stewart said that Farrah did what she could to keep it, and when she lost it during the last round of chemotherapy, it was a struggle.

At Farrah's request, Alana had faithfully recorded Farrah's entire battle with cancer for a documentary entitled "Farrah's Story." In it, audiences follow Farrah's journey as she is diagnosed and treated. At one point, Farrah learns that her tumors are gone, but they then sadly return. Her family was close to Fawcett during the last few days. 

The actress was once married to actor Lee Majors, whom she divorced in 1982 following nine years of marriage. After Majors, Fawcett's long-term partner was Ryan O'Neal, who is said to have been the love of her life. The two have one son together, Redmond O'Neal, and he was who she thought of on her death bed.

Keep reading to learn more about Fawcett's romantic history with Lee Majors and Ryan O'Neal.

Farrah Fawcett married Lee Majors on July 28, 1973. "She's so gorgeous," Majors said in 1976, "she's like a little girl. So cute, so beautiful inside."

As for Fawcett, she shared that when she met Majors, "It was love at first sight." She said at the time that Majors was her first priority. "I like my marriage and him being the most important thing in my life," she explained.

In an interview with People a decade after Fawcett passed from cancer, Majors admitted that at the height of their fame: "it was hard to get around. It was not quite as hard as it is today with everyone having a cellphone and the social media is so quick. Back then we only had to deal with the paparazzi at large. A lot of time you could evade them, but not all the time."

With both actors having such busy careers, it was difficult to spend time together. "It was very quick, and it lasted about almost 12 years," Majors said in the same interview. "But there was a year or so when I think I saw her two weeks in one year. It's very difficult with careers like that. This business is tough. Working 14 hours a day, both of you, and the days went by."

Unfortunately, the two were not meant to be together and divorced in February 1982. Although their marriage didn't last, their relationship will live on as it inspired the song "Midnight Train to Georgia." Even though the songwriter, Jim Weatherly, knew Fawcett and Majors, he used them more as muses for the characters in the classic tune.

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In 2012, Ryan O'Neal released a book titled: "Both of Us: My Life with Farrah." In the book, he shares details about his relationship with the actress, and how he felt the day he first saw her. "She's delightful, full of childlike warmth," O'Neal wrote, according to Biography. "There is no pretense or cattiness about her whatsoever, she's vibrant and wholesome, refreshing in this town."

The couple dated from 1979 to 1997, reunited in 2001, and then stayed together until Fawcett's passing in 2009. The pair decided never to marry. "Farrah and I have no plans to marry — nor do we have plans to separate," O'Neal said at the time. "Don't fix what ain't broken."

For the time they were apart, Fawcett and O'Neal took care of their son together. They got back together in 2001 after O'Neal was diagnosed with leukemia. "We pulled apart, but we never popped loose," he explained.

Fawcett took care of O'Neal while he was sick, and when she was diagnosed with cancer in 2006 he was there to return the favor. O'Neal opened up about their experience while Fawcett was still fighting the illness. "The hair is gone," he shared. "Her famous hair. I have it at home. She didn't care... How she carried all that hair I'll never know. She doesn't have a vanity about it."

It became clear that Fawcett was not going to recover, and O'Neal was devastated. "It's a love story. I just don't know how to play this one. I won't know this world without her," O'Neal said. "Cancer is an insidious enemy."

When Fawcett passed away in 2009, O'Neal was with her through the entire process. He said to People in 2019: "There was never a day I didn't love her."

Are you a fan of the late Farrah Fawcett? What do you think of her romantic history? Let us know and be sure to send this along to your friends and family.