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FARRAH FAWCETT

Everyone knows Farrah Fawcett as the American actress who rose to superstardom when she starred as the television series Charlie's Angels in the mid 1970s. During the 1970s, she appeared in numerous other television series, including The Six Million Dollar Man with her first husband, film and television star Lee Majors. But....there is much more to this legend of pop culture...she was also an artist!

In 1976, a photo shoot was arranged with photographer Bruce McBroom for a poster featuring Farrah Fawcett. McBroom says, "She picked that shot." Fawcett did her own hair and makeup. She posed in a red one-piece bathing suit from her closet with a Mexican rug she found in her home. It soon became the one of the most famous posters in American history with over 20 million sold.  In 2011, Fawcett's swimsuit and a copy of the poster were donated to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History to join its collection of culturally significant objects.

Before becoming an international sex symbol, Farrah Fawcett studied art at the University of Texas in the late 1960s. Her favorite mentor and professor was sculptor Charles Umlauf. She also modeled for Umlauf serving as muse for his drawings and sculptures. In 2017, the Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum explored their artistic friendship in an exhibit entitled Mentoring a Muse: Charles Umlauf & Farrah Fawcett.

In August 2000, contemporary artist Keith Edmier extended a formal invitation to the actress to join him in making a work of art. His works were inspired by pop icons of his youth and Fawcett was among his favorites – not only because she was an object of affection for most teenage boys, but he discovered that she was also an artist when he read an article in Dynamite, a popular teen magazine. Since she always loved to create art, she accepted and they began a two-year collaboration. which produced several sculptures (including two large-scale nude sculptures of each other) and numerous photographs and drawings. Photos: Fawcett working on her sculpture of Edmier and Edmier's sculpture of Farrah on display. Artful Circle saw these two on display at Marlborough Gallery in their lobby in midtown Manhattan. Note the details below - The FF + KE signature on the base and the real earring attached to the marble.

Want more? Did you know... The actress' art collection, including her 1980 portrait by Andy Warhol, was bequeathed by Fawcett to her alma mater, the University of Texas at Austin. When they received the collection after her death, the painting was missing! The university filed suit when they discovered that actor Ryan O'Neal claimed he was the rightful owner. In 2013, a Los Angeles court ruled that it belonged to O'Neal.

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