Farrah Fawcett's First Choice in Career Wasn't Acting — and She 'Never Gave Up' on It After Getting Famous (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Alana Stewart (left) and Farah Fawcett.Photo:Kiss/Patrick McMullan via Getty

Kiss/Patrick McMullan via Getty

Long before she shot to fame as one member of the iconic first season trio ofCharlie’s Angels,Farrah Fawcetthad aspirations to be a different kind of creative — an artist specializing in sculpture.

In the mid-1960s, the Corpus Christie native attended the University of Texas at Austin to study art. But prior to graduating, Hollywood came calling.

“She wanted to do sculpture and art when she went to the University of Texas, and then she got discovered and came here [to Los Angeles] and her whole life changed.” Fawcett’s longtime friend Alana Stewart tells PEOPLE in a recent interview.

Even after her trademark feathered hair and bright smile led to her becoming a household name — and the subject of what is likely the best-selling pinup poster of all time — Fawcett never abandoned her creative pursuits.

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“She never gave up her art,” says Stewart, 79. “And even when she was battling cancer, when she had time, she would go in and work on her art. It was something she really loved.”

“She said one time that the reason she loved [art] so much was because it was just totally hers,” Stewart muses. “It wasn’t a script that someone wrote that she had to memorize, and it wasn’t like working with the director on how to play it. It was just her. It was 100% her creation.”

Farrah Fawcett in the 1970s.Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Stewart keeps a selection of Fawcett’s works — all of which were gifts from the actress — close at hand.

“I have a sketch that she did on my wall,” she says. “It’s beautiful. It’s a nude and it’s in black and white. And then I have a couple of her sculptures, which she gave me.”

Those sculptures — which are displayed in Stewart’s office — offer an ever-present reminder of her longtime friend.

“It’s a place I really like to be, because I feel like her spirit is there,” Stewart says. “And sometimes when I’m not sure about something … I’ll just think about it, and it’s like I get a message from her. I always call it ‘the Farrah chills.’ "

source: people.com