Goodnight, Angel

In sad but expected news, Farrah Fawcett has passed away at age sixty-two after a long and valiant fight with cancer. She was one of the most iconic sex symbols of all time, as well as a sadly underrated actress.

Most people will name the camp TV classic Charlie's Angels as her biggest claim to fame, but she was only on the show for one season (as well as a few guest appearances). Because of her enormous sex appeal, it was difficult for her to be taken seriously as an actress, but that changed in 1984 with a performance that would redefine her career.

Small Sacrifices/The Burning Bed

Like Cher in her Oscar-nominated dramatic turn in Silkwood, Farrah shocked the world with her gritty, Emmy-nominated performance as a battered wife in The Burning Bed. She would appear in a string of dramatic roles through the eighties, including Extremities, Nazi Hunter: The Beate Klarsfeld Story, Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story, and another Emmy-nominated turn as a murderous mom in Small Sacrifices.

Her relationship with Ryan O'Neal kept her in the tabloids, and the last couple of years have been spent publicly fighting cancer, but hopefully she'll be remembered as a talented woman who brought a little sunshine into people's lives, even gay boys who were able to see past the outer beauty.