As questions abound about the death of pop icon Michael Jackson, funeral arrangements for Thursday’s other fallen star — actress Farrah Fawcett — have been announced.
Longtime partner Ryan O’Neal is organizing a private ceremony that will take place at 4 p.m. PT June, 30. It will be by-invitation-only.
Fawcett, 62, died just a few hours before Jackson Thursday after a long battle with anal cancer. The actress was best known for her role in the television series "Charlie’s Angels" and for a red-bathing-suit pin-up.
She was given her last rites on Thursday morning, as O’Neal and several friends were with her during her last hours at a Los Angeles hospital.
Earlier this week O’Neal said he planned to marry Fawcett. "I’ve asked her to marry me, again, and she’s agreed," O’Neal told Barbara Walters in excerpts of an interview broadcast on ABC’s "Good Morning America" Friday.
"She’s gone. She now belongs to the ages. She’s now with her mother and sister and her God," O’Neal said in a statement released Thursday. "I loved her with all my heart. I will miss her so very, very much. She was in and out of consciousness. I talked to her all through the night. I told her how very much I loved her. She’s in a better place now."
The actress had been very public with her battle with cancer. "Farrah’s Story," a two-hour NBC documentary about her illness, which the actress shot with friend Alana Stewart, aired May 15. O’Neal told the press that Fawcett’s blood pressure rose as she watched and was heartened by the film, which will be re-broadcast at 9 p.m. Friday.
The result was a tremendous public outpouring of support and sympathy. One posting on Newsday just before her death, summed it up: "God Bless you! You were so strong the whole time you were sick and never stopped smiling! The world will never forget that "Special" Charlies’ Angel!!!"
She had been deemed cancer-free in February 2007, but three months later, doctors found a small malignant polyp in the same area. The cancer later spread to other parts of her body, including her liver.
