When Lee Majors met Farrah Fawcett, she was a young college student who came to Hollywood with her parents. This meeting led to a well-known love story.
Lee Majors was born in Kentucky, but he lost both of his parents before he turned two years old. He managed to go to college by playing football at Eastern Kentucky State College. Unfortunately, injuries to his shoulder, knee, and nose kept him from becoming a professional football player.
After leaving Kentucky for Los Angeles, he planned to become a high school coach and work in the recreational department. However, his football friends introduced him to acting instead.
After studying and working hard in the movie industry, Lee Majors became famous for playing the character Heath. Heath was the mischievous son of Barbara Stanwyck on the popular TV show “The Big Valley,” which aired on ABC.
Later on, he appeared in other TV shows like “Owen Marshall” and “The Men From Shiloh.” Thanks to these performances, he got the role of the “Million Dollar Man” in 1973. Majors was happy and honored to get this role, and it made him so famous that he couldn’t even go to bars without guys wanting to challenge him to arm wrestling.
Now, let’s talk about Farrah Fawcett. She was born in Texas to a father who worked in the oilfield. She grew up as a devout Catholic and went to the University of Texas, where she was voted the college beauty queen.
A person who promotes things saw Farrah Fawcett’s picture and asked her to come to Hollywood. So, two years later, her parents took her there. She got jobs as a model and started showing up in commercials for things like shampoo and toothpaste.
Now, let’s talk about when she met Lee Majors. After she got to Hollywood, a person who works in publicity for Lee Majors saw her picture. So, Lee Majors left her a message in the place she was staying.
He called her and invited her to dinner at 7:30 p.m., which made her a bit annoyed. But later, he called again to say sorry for being so bold. When they met, Farrah Fawcett fell in love with him right away. He took her to a disco, and she ordered a drink with coke and scotch.
The date didn’t last long because she felt sick and had to go to the ladies’ room. The next day, Lee Majors sent her 13 yellow roses. He also said nice things about her, like how she’s so gorgeous, like a little girl, cute, and beautiful inside.
Lee Majors got married for the first time when he was 17 in Kentucky. He had a child named Lee Jnr. with his first wife, but they got divorced. Then, he met Farrah Fawcett and they got married in 1973.
At that time, Lee Majors was playing a bionic robot in a TV show called “The Six Million Dollar Man,” and Farrah Fawcett was his biggest supporter. She was also working as a model for brands like Ultra Brite, Noxzema, and Wella Balsam.
In their marriage, they had a rule that Farrah Fawcett had to be home from work on time to cook for him.
The couple lived in a beautifully adorned French house in Bel Air, over the hill from Wilt Chamberlain. She also fondly called her husband a big “grump head.”
Lee Majors was skeptical about Fawcett getting into the TV business, as he was worried about the people she would have to work with. Fawcett claimed she had the same insecurities about him.
In 1976, Fawcett rose to fame when casting directors picked her to act in “Charlie’s Angels.” The movie poster, which showed Fawcett in a red one-piece bathing suit, sold 12 million copies.
In 1977, actress Farrah Fawcett and actor Lee Majors arrived at the Los Angeles International Airport. Farrah became a huge star and a symbol of beauty for both men and women after her role in “Charlie’s Angels.” Her famous hairstyle from the show, known as the “Farrah Do,” became popular worldwide.
While working on the movie, she and her husband Lee Majors found it tough to avoid the Paparazzi. During her nationwide tour to promote her upcoming movie “Sunburn,” Farrah announced that she and Majors were separating.
At 32 years old, after 11 years of marriage, Farrah explained that the expectations in their marriage were causing problems. Lee Majors wanted a traditional wife who would clean, cook, and be dependent. Even though she still liked cooking and cleaning, she couldn’t be dependent anymore. She felt bad for him as he tried to be understanding and protective.
Their marriage had difficulties because of Farrah’s sudden fame and busy schedule. Both had left successful TV shows to pursue movies. Fans were upset when Farrah left “Charlie’s Angels” after just a year, and the movie industry stopped offering her roles, thinking she only wanted to be a sex symbol.
Despite feeling guilty, Farrah refused to give up. She wanted to rely on herself more and make her own decisions. This led to less reliance on advisers and her husband. Although Lee Majors believed she didn’t need him anymore, Farrah wanted a different kind of relationship. They separated in 1979 and finalized their divorce in 1982.
After her separation from Lee Majors, Fawcett started a relationship with actor Ryan O’Neal, known for appearing in the movie “Love Story” in 1970.
The couple were involved for two decades and had a son together, Redmond. Even though they never married, their long-lasting relationship is tagged as a great one in Hollywood.
They broke up in 1997 after 17 years, but they reunited when O’Neal was diagnosed with cancer four years later. Fawcett stayed with him till he recovered, but she was diagnosed with cancer in 2006.
Farrah Fawcett had a tough time. The same year she found out she had anal cancer, her mother passed away. This kind of cancer was very rare back then, affecting only about 5 Americans each year.
She went to The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute, where Doctor Lawrence Piro took care of her. Even though they couldn’t cure her cancer, they could treat it.
Her partner, Ryan O’Neal, moved in with her and they went to Germany for strong cancer treatment. Sadly, she died at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California, when she was 62.
After people heard she was gone, Lee Majors, her ex-husband, said he and his wife Faith were sad about it. He talked about how she fought really hard against the disease and called her an angel on Earth. Majors also told People Magazine that he was the one who chose the famous picture of her for the “Charlie’s Angels” poster.
The actor also pulled up a magazine picture that appeared in a 1977 edition cover of People Magazine. He and Fawcett were running towards a camera in the photo.
Majors explained he and Fawcett communicated some time before her death. He explained their marriage was complicated because of their careers as they both worked 14 hours a day.
In 2016, Lee Majors talked on stage during an event about a time when he only spent two weeks with Farrah Fawcett in a year. But he also mentioned that he’s proud to have been with his current wife for more than two decades.
Even though he was 84 years old at that time, Lee Majors kept busy by voicing a character, Jeff Tracy, in a show called “Thunderbirds Are Go.” He liked to keep working and staying active.