Jaclyn Smith’s Absence From Farrah Fawcett’s Funeral Had a Heartbreaking Reason

Jaclyn Smith is opening up about the heartbreaking reason she missed the funeral of her Charlie’s Angels co-star, Farrah Fawcett.

Smith, 80, is best known for her role as Kelly Garrett on the beloved TV series alongside Kate Jackson and Fawcett. In the years that followed the series, which ran from 1976 to 1981, she has tackled a variety of unique professional pursuits. She continued to act, with roles on The District and Shear Genius. Never one to slow down, she parlayed her career into the design world, becoming an entrepreneur with Kmart and then with the Home Shopping Channel. But in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly to promote her memoir, I Once Knew a Guy Named Charlie, Smith revealed the painful reason she wasn’t able to attend Fawcett’s funeral after the beloved star died of anal cancer in 2009 at age 62.

“I was in Houston at my mother’s hospital bedside when I learned that Farrah had passed,” Smith recalled. “Mom was okay at the time, and she insisted that I go to Farrah’s funeral. She asked her doctor to assure me it was fine for me to go, and he did.”

However, Smith was alerted as soon as she landed that all was not fine at home.

“Once the flight landed, I checked my messages. I’d received a call from Mom’s doctor that she’d taken a turn for the worse. Immediately, I turned around and flew right back to Houston,” she said.

Smith’s mother was on a respirator and went on to die just months after Fawcett, in August 2009, at 95. Smith called it “the most traumatic experience of my life” and an “unfathomable loss.”

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Still Honoring Fawcett

 While Fawcett may have passed, her friends will never forget her legacy. Just last year, Smith attended the Farrah Fawcett Foundation 2025 Tex-Mex Fiesta at The Rustic in Dallas, Texas, alongside Morgan Fairchild, Donna Mills, and Alana Stewart.

Fawcett’s Cancer Battle

Fawcett announced her diagnosis in a public statement, sharing her mission to overcome the battle.

“Throughout the journey of my life, I have maintained a strong faith in the power of the human spirit to overcome adversity. I deeply believe in one’s own positive will to overcome even the most daunting challenges,” Fawcett wrote, PEOPLE shared.

She continued, “I am resolutely strong and I am determined to bite the bullet and fight the fight while going through the next six weeks of cutting-edge, state-of-the-art treatment.”

Fawcett started the organization the following year. While she was given a clean bill of health in 2007, her cancer returned a few months later. Doctors told her it had metastasized to her liver, and she died in 2009.

In honor of Fawcett’s legacy, the organization raises funds for HPV-related cancer research, patient assistance funds during treatment, and prevention programs to help spread the word.

Related: Fans Can’t Believe ‘Charlie’s Angels’ Legend Jaclyn Smith Is 80 After Seeing These Stunning New Photos