Farrah Fawcett close to the end

Apr 6, 2009, 9:20 GMT

(FILES) A file picture shows actress Farrah Fawcett hold a camera while she watches the Fall showing of Zang Toi during Olympus Fall Fashion week in New York, USA, 13 February 2004. According to reports on 05 April 2009, the actress has been hospitalized because of a new cancer setback. EPA/JASON SZENES

Farrah Fawcett is reportedly close to death.

The 'Charlie's Angels' actress is said to be unconscious and in a "critical but stable" condition at a Los Angeles hospital after her battle with cancer worsened last week.

Farrah was admitted to hospital last Thursday (02.04.09), and her former partner Ryan O'Neal, 67, is by her side.

A friend of the star said: "She's a fighter, but we get the sense she knows the end is coming. But we're all still praying for a miracle.

"She doesn't want this becoming a circus, so we wanted to keep her hospitalisation quiet."

Farrah, 62, was initially diagnosed with colon cancer in 2006, which was thought to have been successfully treated, but it returned in May 2007.

She has since undergone extensive chemotherapy and recently returned to the US from Germany where she had undergone experimental stem cell treatment.

Farrah had been filming her battle against the potentially deadly disease for a TV series called 'A Wing and Prayer' and wants others to learn from her experience with living with the illness.

In one interview in the documentary, she said: "I'm holding on to the hope that there is some reason I got cancer and that there is something, that may not be very clear to me right now, that I will do.

"As much as I would have liked to keep my cancer private, I have a certain responsibility to those fighting their own fights who may benefit about learning from mine."

Texas-born Farrah became one of the most famous pin-up stars of the 70s and found further fame playing glamorous Jill Munroe in TV series 'Charlie's Angels'. Despite being the show's biggest star she quit after its first run to pursue a more serious acting career, with roles in 'The Cookout', 'Extremities' and 'The Burning Red'.