Ryan O'Neal says he's not afraid to die

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NEW YORK, May 1 (UPI) -- Hollywood actor Ryan O'Neal, who is battling prostate cancer, says he is not afraid to die because, if he does, he will see his late partner, Farrah Fawcett.

O'Neal, 70, appeared on ABC's "The View" Tuesday to promote his new memoir, "Both of Us: My Life with Farrah," which chronicles his life with Fawcett, his longtime girlfriend, who died of anal cancer in 2009.

"I'm having things removed," O'Neal said, explaining why he wore a bandage on his nose.

Asked if he has the will to fight for his life, he replied, "I do, but if I don't make it, I'll be with my girl."

He went on to say his doctors are treating the cancer by "freezing the prostate" and are optimistic about his chances for recovery.

"Because of the kind of prostate cancer I have, I am a candidate for this cryopathy, it's called," he said. "Well, I'll be really cold."

Pressed to reveal whether he is afraid of dying, he said, "No."

"She wasn't either," he said of Fawcett. "I learned from her."

O'Neal said he wrote the book about his relationship with the onetime "Charlie's Angels" star about a year ago.

"It was a way to stay near her, honestly," he said. "I had kept journals, so I had our story and I got help to organize it and to be as honest as possible."

O'Neal, the star of "Love Story" and "Paper Moon," successfully battled leukemia in the late 1990s.