Farrah Fawcett dying as her story hits US TV

Farrah Fawcett, the 1970s screen icon, is dying. The Texan actress, 62, who starred in the original Charlie's Angels and spawned a million imitations of her trademark hair flip, was too ill to watch a special screening of Farrah's Story, a documentary about her battle with anal cancer.

The two-hour film, which covers Fawcett's struggle with the illness after she was diagnosed with a recurrence of the cancer she thought she had beaten, will be shown on American television today. The actor Ryan O'Neal, Fawcett's partner since 1982, said of the film: "At the time, I didn't know if anybody would ever see it. But at some point, the footage took on a life of its own and dictated that it be seen"

As she drifts in and out of conciousness, O'Neal has also talked about his wish to marry her. "She's still a little bit hesitant. I'm working though, I'm working," he told Entertainment Tonight. "You know she's been married, I've been married," said Ryan. She's said 'We have a good thing,' but I said 'You said that 30 years ago, shouldn't there be a sea change?' Maybe there is, you never know."

Fawcett has taken such a large amount of medicine that she was barely able to recognize her own 24-year-old son. Redmond O'Neal, who was sent to prison after being found guilty of violating a drugs probation order, visited his mother at her Los Angeles home wearing handcuffs and a jumpsuit. She even failed to notice that he was dressed up in prison garb.