1970s glamor icon Farrah Fawcett remembers Charlie’s Angels star’s 76th birthday in photos

Farrah Fawcett would have turned 76 this Thursday, almost 14 years after her tragic death after a long battle with cancer.

She gained international fame in 1976 when she starred alongside Jaclyn Smith and Kate Jackson in a season of Charlie’s Angels.

That same year, she posed in a skin-tight red swimsuit for an iconic poster that made its way onto bedroom walls across America.

With her luxurious blonde mane and megawatt smile, Farrah became one of the reigning glamor icons of the 1970s.

However, over the decades she has been plagued by personal problems, including a tumultuous relationship with Ryan O’Neal.

Americana: In 1976, she poses in a tight red swimsuit for an iconic poster; pictured at a memorial donation at the Smithsonian in 2011

Farrah’s acting career began on television in the 1970s with her husband Lee Majors, a television mainstay eight years her senior.

She starred in films such as the Gore Vidal adaptation Myra Breckenridge and the sci-fi camp classic Logan’s Run.

In 1976, the combined impact of her performance in Charlie’s Angels and her Sexpot swimsuit poster brought her worldwide fame.

By the late 1970s, her star completely eclipsed her husband’s and attracted the attention of romance heartthrob Ryan O’Neal.

Lee and Farrah’s marriage was already crumbling by this point, and Ryan remembers her complaining to her husband, “Lee, remember when we first got married, and we were in Nevada, and you had me in ‘ saw another little cabin and went to a bar? You told me to move out, go to bed and wait for you, but you never came back.’

In 1979, her marriage to Lee was on fire and Farrah took Ryan in and began a tumultuous relationship, which unfolded under the impact of his infidelity.

Their son Redmond, born in 1985, grew up with serious addictions and mental health issues, so Ryan told Vanity Fair in 2009: “He’s been in 13 rehabs. He’s had a terrible life.”

Meanwhile, Ryan’s daughter, Tatum O’Neal, claimed he “beat” Farrah. “He had a terrible temper and was very violent,” Tatum told Talk magazine.

Looks great: By the late 1970s, Charlie’s Angels made her an international star, although she only appeared in the show’s first season

Bombshell: With her luxurious blonde mane and seductive physique, Farrah became one of the reigning glamor icons of the 1970s

What a trio: She was pictured in a promotional photo for the first season of Charlie’s Angels with her co-stars Jaclyn Smith (right) and Kate Jackson (left).

Legs for days: She appeared on several Playboy magazine covers, including in 1978, two years after becoming a television superstar

Sizzling sensation: One of the times she returned to Playboy was for the 1995 Christmas issue

Farrah herself told TV Guide in the 1990s, “Sometimes Ryan breaks my heart. But he’s also responsible for giving me confidence.”

During their romance, her career took off quickly, earning Emmy nominations for the TV movies The Burning Bed and Small Sacrifices.

She also brought her acting talent to the stage and received critical acclaim for her role in the 1983 Off-Broadway show Extremities.

In 1997, she gained even more recognition for her role in The Apostle as the unfaithful wife of a preacher, played by Robert DuVall.

The situation was reversed in Farrah’s personal life – that’s when she finally dumped Ryan after she caught him in bed with another woman.

Rumors of her content issues also surfaced in 1997 when she went on David Letterman’s show sounding insane and insane.

She adamantly denied having a drug problem, and Ryan later explained: “She didn’t need any drugs. I couldn’t even get her to smoke a joint. I was the stoner; She’s one of those people who flossed every night and took care of themselves. When I saw her on Letterman, I thought she was performing.”

Farrah went on Letterman to promote her latest Playboy cover, and Ryan explained that “she thought she was Playmate-esque.”

Flashback: However, she has been dogged by personal problems over the decades, including a tumultuous relationship with Ryan O’Neal, with whom she was pictured in France in 1984.

Do you remember when: Farrah’s acting career began on television in the 1970s with her husband Lee Majors, a television mainstay eight years her senior; They were pictured in 1969

Loved: Farrah and Ryan, pictured in 1989, had a whirlwind relationship that ended a few years after she met him with another woman in 1997

Later years: She reunited with Ryan in 2001 and he stayed with her until her death in 2009 after two brutal bouts of cancer; The couple is pictured in 2004

Complicated: Farrah told TV Guide in the 1990s, “Sometimes Ryan breaks my heart,” adding that “he’s also responsible for giving me confidence.”

She reunited with Ryan in 2001 and continued acting into the 2000s – but her career was cut short by two brutal bouts of anal cancer.

Farrah was diagnosed with the disease in 2006 and went into remission in 2007, but later that year it came back and metastasized.

She refused a colostomy and flew to Germany to get what a friend of hers said: “Alternative treatments are not allowed in the US.”

Farrah and her friend Alana Stewart filmed their grueling final battle with the disease for a documentary that aired just a month before her death.

When Farrah succumbed to her illness in June 2009, her death was overshadowed by Michael Jackson’s that same week.

Ryan, who stayed with Farrah until her death, went to her funeral and flirted with a woman he didn’t recognize as his daughter Tatum.

Remember when: Farrah’s acting career was boosted by Charlie’s Angels and she appeared in films such as The Cannonball Run, a 1981 film with Burt Reynolds

Recognition: During her romance with Ryan, her career took off and she received Emmy nominations for the TV movies The Burning Bed and Small Sacrifices

Face to face with the best: In 1997, she gained even more recognition for her role in The Apostle as the unfaithful wife of a preacher, played by Robert DuVall