It's September 1968, opening night of the first rock musical, Hair. Actress Marsha Hunt, 22, poses naked after the show in Patrick Lichfield’s London studio. With its notorious nude scene, Hair took the world by storm. It also launched Hunt’s career as a musician, actress, and internationally acclaimed writer.

Almost four decades later, Hunt again posed nude for Lichfield. Only five weeks earlier she had had her right breast and lymph glands removed to halt the spread of cancer. In Undefeated, Hunt describes how she transformed her personal crisis into an opportunity for others to change their perceptions of female sexuality and beauty. She describes throwing a hair-cutting party at the Hollywood home of her daughter, Karis Jagger; fighting against a hospital superbug; and falling in love on the Internet. Throughout, her sense of humor and indomitable spirit shine through.