Hey, Summer Campers!
The world is chock-full of former summer campers! They’re all over. And some are even famous celebrities now. They’re in the music business, professional sports leagues, movies, and television shows. Speaking of former summer campers/television stars, did you know that Farrah Fawcett was once a summer camper like yourselves? She went to Camp Arrowhead in Cleburne, Texas.
Situated alongside the Brazos River which runs between Glen Rose and Cleburne, Camp Arrowhead provided Farrah with 650 gorgeous acres among the rugged hills of Texas. Founded in 1934, Arrowhead is proud to have been the camp for a famous celebrity like Farrah, but camp director Sandra Schmitt has also noted, “They’re all famous to us,” in an article for D Magazine.
Born and raised in Corpus Christi Texas, Farrah had the usual family life with her parents and her one sister who was nine years older than her. Her beauty, however, was anything but usual. Attending high school at W.B. Ray High School, Farrah was voted ‘most beautiful’ by her classmates in all four years.
After high school she went on to study art at the University of Texas in Austin. In her freshman year, she was named one of ‘the ten most beautiful coeds on campus’—the first that a freshman had ever made the list. Photos of these ten, most beautiful coeds were sent to a number of Hollywood agencies where Farrah was shown great interest.
She turned down nearly immediate offers from a Hollywood agent named David Mirisch. Undeterred by her hesitation, though, David continued to call her for the following two years. After Farrah’s junior year, she finally thought she’d give Hollywood a chance.
She found work straight away in commercials and didn’t take long to start making appearances in television shows like ‘I Dream of Jeannie’, ‘The Partridge Family’, ‘The Six Million Dollar Man’, ‘The Dating Game’, and more. Possibly her biggest claim to fame came when she took the part of Jill Munroe in the television series, ‘Charlie’s Angels’.
Battling cancer for the last three years of her life, the world was saddened to see her life end at 62. But despite her hardships, “Farrah showed immense courage and grace throughout her illness and was an inspiration to those around her,” said Kate Jackson—good friend of Farrah’s and co-star on ‘Charlie’s Angels’.
Summer camp set Farrah on a journey that took her to the peak of popularity back in the 70’s. What track will you discover at summer camp? You can check out Camp Arrowhead for yourself right here and, as always, thanks for reading.
- John