Lifestyle | Farrah Fawcett Farrah's Swimsuit Donated to Smithsonian Iconic swimwear takes its place in American culture archive By Nick McMaster Posted Feb 2, 2011 2:50 PM CST Copied Objects from the private collection of Farrah Fawcett's estate, including the red swimsuit from her iconic 1976 poster, right, are seen at the Smithsonian. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) The red swimsuit—you know, that one—worn by Farrah Fawcett on a pinup poster that sold more than 12 million copies in the '70s has been donated to the Smithsonian Institution, the LA Times reports. Ryan O'Neal and Nels Van Patten—a friend who was present when the photo was taken—bid farewell to the swimsuit along with other Fawcett memorabilia before it was committed to the archives. The LAT rounds up an old quote from a pop culture professor at Syracuse University about Fawcett and the poster: "If you were to list 10 images that are evocative of American pop culture, Farrah Fawcett would be one of them. That poster became one of the defining images of the 1970s." Fawcett died in 2009 of cancer at age 62. Read These Next A former NFL Pro Bowler has died at age 36. The massive AWS failure exposed a big problem with the internet. Backlash for Trump nominee who said he has 'a Nazi streak.' A man ended up dead after trying to steal from Spirit Halloween. Report an error