Emotional farewell as actress loses long battle with cancer

FARRAH FAWCETT, the model and actress whose poster adorned millions of teenage boys' bedroom walls, has died after a battle with cancer. She was 62.

She shot to fame as one of a trio of impossibly glamorous private detectives on TV's 'Charlie's Angels' in the mid-1970s and became a pin-up for a generation.

Fawcett died at St John's Heath Centre in Santa Monica, California, where she had just returned for treatment for complications from rectal cancer, first diagnosed three years ago.

Her longtime partner, actor Ryan O'Neal, was at her bedside. Close family and friends had gathered to say goodbye, and the actress was read the last rites as it became clear that she would lose her very public battle with the disease, which had spread through her body.

"After a long and brave battle with cancer, our beloved Farrah has passed away," O'Neal said in a statement.

"Although this is an extremely difficult time for her family and friends...{read the full article}