The Mane Event

Maybe it's just something you say when you're getting old to cover up the fact that you're, um, old, but they sure don't make 'em like they used to -- at least where Hollywood stars are concerned. That's what I think when I read about Ryan O'Neal and Farrah Fawcett.

By now you've undoubtedly read about Leslie Bennetts' Vanity Fair cover story about Farrah, in which we learn that moments after putting the casket of the "love of his life" in a hearse, O'Neal accidentally hit on his daughter, Tatum ("It had been a few years since we'd seen each other," she explained), and that Farrah supposedly wanted Ryan to stop taking his medication for leukemia so they could "die together." But while I dispute Bennetts' assertion that Ryan and Farrah were the "Brad and Angelina of their day"(truth be told, they were both clearly on the way down by the time they hooked up in '79: O'Neal had had a string of bombs -- including the disastrous sequel to "Love Story" -- and it had become abundantly clear that a movie career was not in the cards for Fawcett after her first couple post-"Angels" films bombed), it is true that these two never stopped having a never-ending STAR QUALITY, something that has kept millions of us following their every move 'till this bitter end.

As awful as I know he was, I will never deny that I was madly in love with Ryan ("What's Up, Doc?" is in my Top 5 all-time films -- and I happen to LOVE "The Main Event" too!) and was equally obsessed with all things Farrah as a boy . Their combined beauty -- with his and hers golden locks and million-dollar smiles, it would be hard to argue that these two weren't the most beautiful couple of all time -- juxtaposed with the fact that their relationship was so ugly in so many ways may have been the ultimate proof that fame, beauty and wealth could not guarantee happiness, but it certainly was irresistible to follow. If there are stars on this planet today whose lives are this fucked up and and even half as interesting, I have yet to hear about them.