farah_fawcett_poster
That hair! That smile! That nipple! SPRUNG!

It’s been a rough week on pop-culture icons.  Ed McMahon died Tuesday followed by Farrah Fawcett yesterday morning and Michael Jackson the same afternoon.  Each of these figures had a tremendous impact on our modern culture. 

Farrah

Sweet, glorious Farrah.  Her name even sounds like sex.

That poster?  I never owned it.  But my friend Stevie Whitworth?  His big brother owned it.  And when he wasn’t around, Stevie and I would sneak into his room and just look at it.

Look at it!

By today’s standards it is incredibly modest, but back then?  Smokin’ hot!

Most folks my age remember Farrah from her days on Charlie’s Angels.  I was never a fan of Charlie’s Angels.  My brother was.

My fascination – beyond the poster – was her marriage to the coolest man alive in the eyes of my nine-year-old self, Colonel Steve Austin, The Six Million Dollar Man.  Okay, she was married to Lee Majors who played Steve Austin, but still!  How cool is that to be married to a bionic person?!?  How she could trade a nifty cyborg for Ryan O’Neal is quite beyond me.

fawcett-do
Fawcett's hairstyle was very influential and repeated everywhere.

True, O’Neal was in A Bridge Too Far (awesome movie), but he was also in that Streisand Main Event movie.  Yech.

For me, Farrah was not ever an actor that grabbed me.  I saw the Burning Bed and a handful of Charlies Angels eps.  But none of those spoke to me.  She was a sex object (to use the language of the 70s).  I objectified the hell out of her.

As a pre-sexual boy, I knew I liked how she made me feel “down there,” I just didn’t know what it meant. I’m pretty I sure I know what it means now.  The world seems less sexy without her.

mcmahoned1Ed McMahon

Forever recognized as a side-man, Ed McMahon epitomized the role.  He was a man that went to great lengths making others look good.  Johnny Carson, Jerry Lewis, and Dick Clark all benefited from McMahon’s generous, supporting performance as emcee/straight man.

I have a child’s memories of his work on the Tonight Show and on the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon.  I remember him primarily as a pitchman.

He poured beer for Budweiser, delivered checks for Pubishers Clearinghouse, and sold insurance.

A great salesman was he.

michael-jackson-thrillerMichael

I strongly disliked Michael Jackson from the get-go.

I suppose that’s not true.  I kinda liked the Jackson 5ive cartoon.  But since then?  Creepy sonuvabitch.

And not in a good way.

He had that whole stranger danger vibe going on.  Joe Jackson, what’d you do to your boy?

Dislike him as much as I do, there’s no denying the King of Pop’s impact on our culture.  I mean, without Jacko – who would Corey Feldman dress like?  At least we still have our Coreys.

Michael Jackson was 50 years old (holy crap!) and is survived by Bubbles the Chimp.

Bubbles could not be reached for comment.

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