What is stardom? To some it means money, bright lights, fans clamoring for a split second of your time. But to Farrah Fawcett, a woman we have loved since she was our December 1978 cover girl, stardom means freedom. "I can choose my own projects," she says in that sweet, melodic voice of hers--the kittenish voice of a tigress. "That means other people no longer can invent my image for me." It means that Farrah, who bravely quit TV's top-rated Charlie's Angels to test herself in films, the stage drama Extremities and a series of acclaimed television movies, never quits looking for new challenges.
Now she's doing another brave thing. Yes, the rumors are true: Farrah does Playboy. We spent ten days together on the isle of St. Barthélemy in the West Indies. The setting was gorgeous; Farrah made it look plain by comparison. What happened between us was just what you would expect: truth and beauty.
"I wanted to make an artistic statement," Farrah says. "For years I've dealt with an image of me that other people created. Fans hand me posters, pictures, T-shirts to sign, and they talk about having fantasies about me! I decided, if they're going to have fantasies, I'll give them what I think they should have.
"As much as I wanted this, it wasn't easy," she continues. Her famous lover-housemate-hero Ryan O'Neal "gave me courage. I'm shy, even with Ryan. After 14 years I still can't let him see me change clothes! But he said, 'You look incredible. You have the most beautiful body, not a flaw."' Ryan played Playboy photographer at home, shooting practice Polaroids until Farrah's doubts melted. On St. Bart's she surprised photographer Davis Factor, who had shot an Esquire Gentleman pictorial with her but hadn't met this new Farrah. "She amazed me," Factor says. "Farrah is shy about her body--don't ask me why, it's the body of an 18-year-old--and that shyness did not disappear. But something new did appear on St. Bart's. Something like the ultimate Farrah." Factor cites a blend of timing, setting and star that made "a moment that was meant to be."
More vital, perhaps, was a factor Farrah prizes most of all. "It's all about guts," she says. "It's about feeling what's right and then doing it." Best example: Before she flew to St. Bart's, Ryan asked, "How will you do this if you can't stand even me seeing you nude?" Farrah bit her famed lip and said, "Don't worry. When the time's right, it'll come to me."
Right again, Farrah.
