Hundreds of mourners have paid tribute to Farrah Fawcett as the "Charlie's Angels" star was laid to rest in a private ceremony in Los Angeles. The 62-year-old actress died last Thursday after a three-year battle with anal cancer, news that was quickly overshadowed by the death of the King of Pop Michael Jackson later that day. Fawcett's 24-year-old son Redmond, her child with longtime companion Ryan O'Neal, was granted compassionate leave from a prison cell to attend.
Both Ryan and Redmond O'Neal served as pallbearers for the service, held at Los Angeles Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angeles. Fawcett emerged as a pop culture icon in the 1970s and 1980s after her role in "Charlie's Angels" and appearance in a famous poster wearing a red swimsuit that would come to be her defining image. During the 1970s, Fawcett was married to "Six Million Dollar Man" star Lee Majors, from whom she separated in 1979. In 1982 she began her long romance with actor O'Neal.
After splitting from O'Neal in the 1990s, Fawcett faded from public view, although she appeared in Robert Altman's 2000 comedy "Dr T and the Women" in a cast that included Richard Gere, Helen Hunt, Laura Dern and Kate Hudson. In recent years Fawcett's health was the subject of intense scrutiny by a voracious tabloid media. News of her cancer fight broke in October 2006, sparking an outpouring of support from fans and well-wishers.
In 2007 she declared that months of grueling chemotherapy had seen her beat the cancer despite "excruciating pain and uncertainty." "It never occurred to me to stop fighting - not ever," she said. However, in April this year it emerged that the cancer had returned and the actress was gravely ill. *AFP
