Farrah Fawcett’s death at age 62 raises memories of her visit to Mission Viejo eleven years before the community became a city. She played in a tennis match known as the Challenge of the Network Stars. The event attracted over 5,000 spectators and was televised by CBS.
Farrah, an accomplished player, enjoyed her match against Bill Cosby, which she won 5-4 in a 9-point tiebreaker. The photos by AP were taken on April 4 during that 1977 MV event.
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It appears that even the Mission Viejo Dispatch has to be politically correct these days.
In the article on Farrah Fawcett, The MV Dispatch (June 26) referred to the tennis match in which she played in Mission Viejo as a tennis match known as the “Challenge of the Network Stars,” when in reality, it was called, “Celebrity Challenge of the Sexes.”
Farrah was one of twenty-four motion picture stars, man vs. woman, in twelve different sports events held in the community of Mission Viejo between March 30, through April 3, 1977. Some of the other Hollywood stars who participated in events included
Redd Foxx, Phyllis George, Elliott Gould, Bill Cosby, Tony Randall, Flip Wilson, and Lloyd Bridges among many others. This was just one of the many fun events that were available free of charge, to the residents of this young and developing community.
[Editor's Note: Thanks to Art for the deeper history and for his founding role in developing the community during those early years. We found one or two references to the "Sexes" name; the majority used "Network Stars."]
In 1977 at least 2 shows were taped in Mission Viejo, “Celebrity Challenge of the Sexes” in April, and in November, “Celebrity Challenge of the Sexes 2″. The other series, which was erroneously referred to in the article, had at least 7 shows, and was called “Battle of the Network Stars” (check out http://www.imdb.com for most things TV or movie). While Farrah participated in the first “Battle…” show, it was both “Celebrity Challenge…” shows where she was in Mission Viejo playing tennis. In the first show, she played Bill Cosby, the basis of your article. However, she returned to MV, and at the then Marguerite Recreation Center, she played Dick Van Patten for “Celebrity Challenge of the Sexes 2″ (which I was lucky enough to be in the stands for). She lit up MV back then, proved her talent in the years to follow, and showed us her courage in fighting what eventually took her life. What a woman!
Thanks Art for giving the additional info – those were the great days of Mission Viejo – what a blast!
They had Tennis at the rec center and bowling at Saddeleback Lanes!
Bill Cosby vs. Farrah Fawcett-Majors in tennis, Redd Foxx vs. Roz Kelly in billiards, Elliott Gould vs. Brenda Vaccaro in Basketball, Stefanie Powers vs. Tony Randall in swimming, Lloyd Bridges vs. Cindy Williams in a bicycle race, Robert Conrad vs. Penny Marshall in the obstacle course, Phyllis George vs. O.J. Simpson in Ping Pong, Gabe Kaplan vs. Susan Howard in bowling, Ed Asner vs. Lola Falana in a marathon, McLean Stevenson vs. Kathy Crosby in golf. Kristy McNichol vs Dan “Grizzly Adams” Haggerty in a skateboard competition.