Farrah Fawcett Dies of Cancer at 62

Farrah Fawcett, an actress and television star whose good looks and signature flowing hairstyle influenced a generation of women and, beginning with a celebrated pinup poster, bewitched a generation of men, died Thursday morning in Santa Monica, Calif. She was 62. Her death, at a Santa Monica hospital, was announced by her spokesman, Paul Bloch, The Associated Press reported.Ms. Fawcett had been battling anal cancer since late 2006, and to an extraordinary degree the fight was played out in public, generating enormous interest worldwide. Her face, often showing the ravages of cancer, became a tabloid fixture, and updates on her health became staples of television entertainment news.  In May, her cancer battle was chronicled in an NBC prime-time documentary, “Farrah’s Story,” some of it shot on home video. An estimated 9 million people viewed it. Ms. Fawcett had initiated the project with a friend and producer, Alana Stewart, after she first learned of her cancer.  Ms. Fawcett’s doctors declared her cancer-free after they removed a tumor in 2007, but her cancer returned later that year. She had been receiving alternative treatment in Germany and was hospitalized in early April for a blood clot resulting from that treatment, according to her doctor, Lawrence Piro. Her cancer had also spread to her liver, Dr. Piro told The A.P. Ms. Fawcett’s career was a patchwork of positives and negatives, fine dramatic performances on television and on stage as well as missed opportunities. She first became famous when a poster of her in a red bathing suit, leonine mane flying, sold more than twice as many copies as posters of Marilyn Monroe and Betty Grable combined. SOURCE:NYTIMES.COM