Get Even More Visitors To Your Blog, Upgrade To A Business Listing >>

Remembering Farrah Fawcett SP VIVA

Most famous for playing Jill Munroe on Charlie's Angels, ageless angel Farrah Fawcett lived a life of holistic health and wellness.

Sure, she had laugh lines around her green eyes and tiny creases that appeared with her famous smile, but her legs were always long and slender, her waist was girlishly slim, her abdomen flat, and that wild mane of blonde hair looked as thick and lustrous as it did in 1976 when she first burst onto the scene as the sexiest of Charlie's Angels. Farrah Fawcett passed away in 2009, looking as young and beautiful as ever. Touted then and now as one of the most beautiful women in the world, Farrah Fawcett, the mother of Redmond O'Neal, always preferred to see herself as a serious actress and an intelligent woman. In 1990, Longevity magazine asked her about her youthful appearance. "I don't remember being particularly comfortable looking in the mirror during college, and maybe not ever," said the woman whose 1976 wet bathing suit poster sold 12 million copies. "Why," she mused with a touch of regret, "didn't I appreciate my looks then when I didn't have lines or fat?" Then she giggled and added, "But the one thing I'm more comfortable about now is, it doesn't matter as much."
Perhaps it didn't matter to Fawcett because she was one of the few actresses who successfully made the transition from bimbo roles, in movies like Sunburn and The Cannonball Run, to acclaimed dramatic parts in films like The Burning Bed and Extremities. So serious an actress is she that she puts her art ahead of her looks—almost. "One of my favorite actresses, Anne Bancroft, said to me, 'Never have a face-lift. The kind of roles that you can play, you need some age on you.'" Fawcett then added, "I love the way European actresses age—Jeanne Moreau and Anna Magnani. When they have circles under their eyes, they look tortured, passionate, and sexy." However, in the next breath Fawcett echoed a growing number of baby boomers: "I would never say never on plastic surgery."
Despite her admiration for older sex symbols, Fawcett always worked incredibly hard to stay youthfully fit. So much so, she said, giggling again, that one of the first times she had sex with Ryan O'Neal, Redmond's father and her companion, "he said it was like making love to [former Olympic gymnast] Olga Korbut because of my tight stomach and muscular body." Athletic all her life, Fawcett used exercise to manage stress which, in her case, is caused by never knowing where her, or O'Neal's, next job will come from. She explained that when stress hits, "I'll say to Ryan, 'I've got to play, let's go and play.' Either it's the release of endorphins or just getting physically exhausted, but it's foolproof."

Continued below.

Even when her life was relatively stress free, Fawcett kept to a challenging and well-rounded regimen: "Competitive sports are more fun than working out—Ryan and I play three straight sets of racquetball or squash three times a week, and I play tennis twice a week or I'll run one-and-a-half miles three times a week." She also lifted weights twice a week with O'Neal at his gym, and did 60 sets of sit-ups daily, a practice she was faithful to from age 12. Starting on an unrecorded day in the early 90s when she saw that her backside was starting to sag ("Aw, don't tell me I'm going to have to really start working on my butt," she recalled muttering to herself), Fawcett added a series of butt-sculpting lunges and squats to her regimen.
She also practiced yoga and did daily stretches with an Exerstik, a broomstick-like piece of equipment. Okay, so the terrific body was the result of a lot of hard work, but how did the actress account for that hair? "When I'm not working, the best thing I do is nothing," said Fawcett. Well, not quite. "I do put a heavy conditioner on, go in the sauna so it heats up and then leave it on the rest of the day, sleep with it and rinse it off the next day." She explained that the "best thing" she did for her dry skin is use aloe vera oils and a facial scrub a few times a week. In addition, she uses La Prairie's anti-wrinkle cream to help fight dryness.
Despite what Fawcett said about Moreau and Magnani, she, like many American women, is trying to figure out how to avoid the feeling of invisibility that often accompanies middle age. O'Neal helps, she says, because "he is very supportive and complimentary about the way I look today. He says I'm more beautiful now because I have character. And I say, 'Exactly what do you mean by that?'" Then, abandoning the girlish giggle, she gave a big laugh and said, "If it doesn't bother him, then it doesn't bother me."
Fawcett knew that she was a beauty and she capitalized on her assets, appearing in commercials for Noxzema and Max Factor. She even had her own shampoo which was extremely popular in the 70s. "It had to be rich. It had to be gentle. It had to have all the things she believes in. Like vitamins, minerals, proteins, and herbs. It had to be the best shampoo she ever used before Faberge put her name on it." This was just one of the advertisements for Farrah Fawcett Shampoo and Conditioner. Her beauty was a marketing executives dream and the product flew off the shelves. Just like her iconic red bathing suit. After she wore it in her 1976 poster, everyone had to have it. It now resides in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

Farrah Fawcett Ageless Angel

VIEW ALL VIDEOS
Born in Corpus Christi, Texas, Fawcett was the youngest of two daughters. She graduated from W.B. Ray High School where, not surprisingly, she was voted "most beautiful" by her classmates. She went on to study art at the University of Texas at Austin, but only made it until the end of her junior year. It was then that her parents finally gave her permission to follow her dream of moving to Hollywood. Upon arriving in California, her career almost immediately took off.
Fawcett was most famous for her role as Jill Monroe on the television series Charlie’s Angels. Though her character was extremely popular, she was only on the show for one season. In order to avoid a 7 million dollar breach-of-contract lawsuit, Fawcett agreed to make periodic appearances over the next few years of the show. Among her many and varied magazine appearances, Fawcett posed for Playboy magazine when she was 50 years old, and it was a top seller.
Unfortunately, her life took a turn for the worse. She was diagnosed with cancer in 2006. Fawcett wanted to document her experience. At first her prognosis was positive, which was attributed to her healthy life-style. The documentary was to be a story of hope and survival. Within her healthcare experience, she also learned the problems within the system. The glacial pace in which drugs received approval, the stubbornness of doctors trying to work with experimental treatments. Fawcett ultimately traveled to Germany for some of her care. And though she had a brief period where she was cancer free, it came back. The 2009 NBC documentary "Farrah’s Story," became her swan song. She was even nominated for an Emmy Award for Executive Producer. The show won and Emmy for Outstanding Non-fiction Special.
This angel passed away at the age of 62. Tributes to her death were everywhere because of the impact that she had on people’s lives. This beautiful blonde with the enigmatic smile and iconic hair brought joy to so many-through her photos, her television, movie and Broadway appearances. She was a true talent who was more than just a pretty face.

The post Remembering Farrah Fawcett SP VIVA appeared first on iLongevity.



This post first appeared on ILongevity – The Art And Science Of Staying Youn, please read the originial post: here

Share the post

Remembering Farrah Fawcett SP VIVA

×

Subscribe to Ilongevity – The Art And Science Of Staying Youn

Get updates delivered right to your inbox!

Thank you for your subscription

×