Loved ones gather to mourn Fawcett

Friends and family of Farrah Fawcett will bid a final farewell to the actress at a private ceremony in Los Angeles.

Ms Fawcett died last week aged 62 following a long-running battle with cancer.

Her funeral will take place on Tuesday evening at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown LA.

The Charlie's Angels star died in her hospital bed last Thursday. Her long-time partner Ryan O'Neal was beside her when she died.

Announcing the death he said: "After a long and brave battle with cancer, our beloved Farrah has passed away.

"Although this is an extremely difficult time for her family and friends, we take comfort in the beautiful times that we shared with Farrah over the years and the knowledge that her life brought joy to so many people around the world."

The former Charlie's Angels star's battle against illness had been the focus of a moving documentary released just weeks before her death.

Born in Texas in 1947, the actress rose to fame in the 1970s through the highly successful Charlie's Angels. Fawcett played the role of Jill Munroe in the detective series, winning a People's Choice Award in the process.

Her fame was confirmed through the sales of posters depicting the actress in a one-piece red swimming costume, a picture which adorned the walls of many teenage boys' bedrooms in the late 1970s.

She also won female fans as a result of her hairstyle, with the "Fawcett do" a popular request at hairdressers of the time.