A scrim of sadness covers
Farrah Fawcett’s career. Her stardom traced that cautionary Hollywood arc: meteoric fame followed by years spent trying first to overcome it, then, too late, seeking to recapture it.
And her last poignant appearances sometimes obscure a smaller, more gratifying story line of a celebrated beauty who worked against type to construct a more dignified second act.
There were many less successful performances as well and cameo roles in B movies, but Ms. Fawcett kept trying, and that’s more than can be said of many of today’s fading stars
She took on other ambitious roles, not as persuasively perhaps, but they were brave choices nonetheless: the Nazi hunter Beate Klarsfeld in a 1986 television movie; the heiress Barbara Hutton a year later; and in 1989, the wartime photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White.
Not all of her performances will stand the test of time, but what is worth remembering is how hard Farrah Fawcett tried.
clipped from: www.nytimes.com