Ryan O'Neal Revealed He Proposed To Farrah Fawcett Days Before She Died But Sadly They Never Made It Down The Aisle

Oct 10, 2023

It has been over a decade since the beloved actress Farrah Fawcett lost her battle with cancer on June 25, 2009. The blonde-locked icon was America's sweetheart to millions of fans over a sprawling decades-long career in film, TV and stage.

Fawcett was best known for her role as detective Jill Monroe in the hit television show "Charlie's Angels" in the '70s. She stood out as the beautiful girl with the iconic hair — her signature feature. Everybody wanted the unique feathered hairstyle that Fawcett rocked, and she even created her own shampoo and starred in hair commercials.

Unfortunately, she started to lose that hair during her treatment for cancer. Her best friend Alana Stewart said that Fawcett did what she could to keep it, and when she lost it during the last round of chemotherapy, it was a struggle.

At Fawcett’s request, Stewart had faithfully recorded Fawcett's entire battle with cancer for a documentary entitled "Farrah's Story." In it, audiences could follow Fawcett's journey as she was diagnosed and treated. At one point, Fawcett learned that her tumors were gone, but they then unfortunately returned. Her family was close to Fawcett during the last few days. 

The actress was once married to actor Lee Majors, whom she divorced in 1982 following nine years of marriage. After Majors, Fawcett's long-term partner was Ryan O'Neal, who was said to have been the love of her life. The two have one son together.

Keep reading to learn more about the iconic actress’ romantic history with Majors and O'Neal.

Fawcett married Majors on July 28, 1973. "She's so gorgeous," Majors said in 1976.  

"She's like a little girl. So cute, so beautiful inside."

As for Fawcett, she shared that when she met Majors, it "was love at first sight." She said at the time that Majors was her first priority. 

"I like my marriage and him being the most important thing in my life," she explained.

In an interview with People a decade after Fawcett passed from cancer, Majors admitted that at the height of their fame, "it was hard to get around. It was not quite as hard as it is today with everyone having a cellphone and the social media is so quick. Back then we only had to deal with the paparazzi at large. A lot of time you could evade them, but not all the time."

With both actors having such busy careers, it was difficult to spend time together. "It was very quick, and it lasted about almost 12 years," Majors said in the same interview. "But there was a year or so when I think I saw her two weeks in one year. It's very difficult with careers like that. This business is tough. Working 14 hours a day, both of you, and the days went by."

Unfortunately, the two were not meant to be together and divorced in February 1982. Although their marriage didn't last, their relationship will live on as it inspired the song "Midnight Train to Georgia." Even though the songwriter, Jim Weatherly, knew Fawcett and Majors, he used them more as muses for the characters in the classic tune.

In O'Neal’s 2012 book titled: "Both of Us: My Life with Farrah," he shared details about his relationship with the actress, which began in 1979, and how he felt about her. 

"She's delightful, full of childlike warmth," O'Neal wrote, according to Biography. "There is no pretense or cattiness about her whatsoever, she's vibrant and wholesome, refreshing in this town."  

After separating in 1997, they got back together in 2001 and then stayed together until Fawcett's passing in 2009. The pair never married. "Farrah and I have no plans to marry — nor do we have plans to separate," O'Neal said at the time. "Don't fix what ain't broken." 

Later, O'Neal was diagnosed with leukemia, and Fawcett took care of him while he was sick. Then when she was diagnosed with cancer in 2006, he was there to return the favor.  

"The hair is gone," he shared. "Her famous hair. I have it at home. She didn't care. ... How she carried all that hair I'll never know. She doesn't have a vanity about it."

It became clear that Fawcett was not going to recover, and O'Neal was devastated. "It's a love story. ... I won't know this world without her," O'Neal said. "Cancer is an insidious enemy."

However, mere days before Fawcett passed, O'Neal revealed in an interview with Barbara Walters:

"I've asked her to marry me, again, and she's agreed."

When asked when they would marry, O'Neal said: "We will, as soon as she can, say yes," before joking that she could "just nod her head," considering her frail condition. The actor revealed he'd asked Fawcett many times to become his wife over the years.

"I used to ask her to marry me all the time," he said. "But ... it just got to be a joke, you know. We just joked about it."

Nevertheless, O'Neal was confident the couple would marry, as he told Walters: "I promise you, we will. ... Absolutely." Tragically, Fawcett passed away just days later before they could make it official. 

O'Neal was with Fawcett throughout her battle with cancer. He said to People in 2019: "There was never a day I didn't love her." 

O’Neal also detailed Fawcett’s final moments in his memoir. He wrote:

“I’m left alone with my love. I take her hand. I can still feel her pulse, but now it is fluttering. She’s trying to let go. Her heartbeat slows, then disappears. On the morning of June 25, Farrah slips into eternal sleep.”  

However, further details into Fawcett and O’Neal’s relationship were revealed during a court-ordered deposition O’Neal had to give as part of a lawsuit filed by the University of Texas at Austin in 2012. In the lawsuit, the university was seeking an Andy Warhol painting of Fawcett that O’Neal possessed. The university, which was also Fawcett’s alma mater, claimed the actress had left her entire art collection to it.

According to Radar Online, during the deposition, O’Neal confessed that he had cheated on Fawcett during the course of their relationship with a younger actress named Leslie Stefanson. A lawyer asked him whether on Feb. 18, 1997, “Miss Fawcett found you in the Malibu home in bed with another woman?” and O’Neal responded, “She did.”

The lawyer stated that after the incident, the Warhol painting that she had given him was returned to her. “The reason I gave it to her is because there was a new woman in my life and the painting was making her uncomfortable; that Farrah seemed to be staring down at her. And so I said, ‘Well, I can fix that,’” O’Neal said. However, when he tried to return the painting to her, Fawcett refused and said she liked the fact that the painting made O’Neal’s new partner uncomfortable, O’Neal said in the deposition, adding that Fawcett was a “funny girl.”

In December 2013, a Los Angeles jury ruled that O’Neal owned the Warhol portrait of Fawcett. The university then appealed the decision. The suit was only settled in 2014 when the university quietly dropped its appeal after spending more than $1 million in legal costs. 

Are you a fan of the late Farrah Fawcett? What do you think of her romantic history? Let us know then pass along this story to friends and family who remember the iconic actress.