Although Farrah Fawcett, who has died of cancer aged 62, was not, by any stretch of the imagination, one of the great tragediennes of the age, there is a common misconception that anyone who looked like she did – an all-American cover-girl beauty, with tousled blonde hair, sparkling eyes, shining teeth and a broad, bright smile – could not possibly act, nor that she needed to.

Fawcett herself recognised this when she commented about Charlie's Angels, the crime-busting TV series that made her a star: "When the show was number three, I figured it was our acting. When it got to be number one, I decided it could only be because none of us wears a bra."

Consequently, Fawcett was mostly given roles where her trend-setting hairstyle was the most dramatic part of the film. However, when she was later offered meatier parts, she proved herself up to the task, and was nominated for three Emmy awards and five Golden Globes, though the...