(CNN) -- Farrah Fawcett, the blonde-maned actress whose best-selling poster and "Charlie's Angels" stardom made her one of the most famous faces in the world, died Thursday. She was 62.

Fawcett's death was confirmed by Paul Bloch, one of her representatives at Rogers and Cowan, an entertainment public relations firm.

Fawcett, who checked into a hospital in early April, had been battling anal cancer on and off for three years.

Bloch told CNN that Ryan O'Neal, Fawcett's romantic partner since the mid-1980s, and her friend Alana Stewart were with Fawcett at Saint John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California, when she died. Gallery: The life of Farrah Fawcett »

"Although this is an extremely difficult time for her family and friends, we take comfort in the beautiful times that we shared with Farrah over the years and the knowledge that her life brought joy to so many people around the world," O'Neal said in a written statement. Read more tributes to Fawcett

O'Neal is the father of Fawcett's son, Redmond O'Neal, born in 1985. Redmond O'Neal is in an intense rehabilitation program conducted in the Los Angeles county jail, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore told CNN on Thursday.

Fawcett's son was informed on Wednesday night by a grief counselor and a chaplain that his mother's death was imminent, and a grief counselor and chaplain also told him when she died, Whitmore said.

The young man, who is currently with a chaplain, has spoken with his father, Whitmore said.

Ryan O'Neal had recently told People magazine that the sex symbol was declining.

"She stays in bed now. The doctors see that she is comfortable. Farrah is on IVs, but some of that is for nourishment. The treatment has pretty much ended," he said in a story posted May 7.

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OMG! What a sad, sad day for real!!! Two icons dead.  I saw something online earlier today that said Farrah was back in the hospital, but I never went back to see if she had taken a turn for the worse.  Just a couple of days ago, Ryan O'Neal said he was going to marry her...just as soon as she said yes.  He wanted her to actually say the word, then he was going to marry her on the spot.  They were together a long time.  My heart is sad for him, as well as her son and the rest of her family.  May she rest in peace.