The Angels from the original Charlie's Angels TV series
(left or right) Jaclyn Smith, Shelley Hack, Kate Jackson,
Farrah Fawcett, Tanya Roberts and Cheryl Ladd
Charlie's Angels is an unforgettable and groundbreaking TV series that aired from 1976 to 1981. The premise was simple - three beautiful women working as detectives for a millionaire recluse named Charles Townsend. They got their assignments via speaker phone and weren't allowed any face time with the boss for his protection as well as their own. The series broke new ground because aside from having women as leads (a first for TV), it portrayed women as buddies, helping each other through jams and having each other's backs. It portrayed women as independent, liberated and capable of taking care of themselves without the help of men - which was perfect for the time when women's lib was at its peak. Kate Jackson, Farrah Fawcett (then Majors) and Jaclyn Smith played the first ever team of Angels in season 1. Cheryl Ladd, Shelley Hack and Tanya Roberts followed suit in seasons 2, 4 and 5 respectively. The series was a phenomenal hit around the world, and all the Angels garnered their own fan following and became superstars in their own right.
Tanya Roberts, October 15, 1949 - January 4, 2021
Born Victoria Leigh Blum, Tanya Roberts was the final Angel to join the original TV series. She rose to stardom when she was cast as Julie Rogers in the final season of Charlie's Angels, taking over from Shelley Hack who left the series in 1980. Tanya's big Angel break brought her to the attention of many Hollywood producers in the '80s. She starred in the cult films Hearts and Armour and The Beastmaster and was cast as Velda in Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer. In 1984, for the movie Sheena where she played the title character, she went blonde and stayed blonde from then on. She played Bond girl Stacey Sutton in 1985 for A View to a Kill opposite Roger Moore as James Bond. She suffered typecasting after that but in 1998 triumphantly returned to series TV via That '70s Show playing ditsy mom Midge Pinciotti. She left the series after three seasons to care for her ailing husband, returning as a recurring character after he passed away. She became very much visible in the celebrity convention circuit after and regularly met with her fans online via Facebook and the like. She was admitted at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after collapsing on Christmas eve 2020 and was erroneously declared dead in January 3, 2021. But after some clarification, she sadly passed away for real on January 4, 2021 from a sepsis developed from a urinary tract infection. She was a young 71. She is sorely missed and will forever be remembered as the gorgeous Angel Julie Rogers, as Sheena, as Stacey Sutton and as Midge Pinciotti by all her fans all over the world. R.I.P., dear Tanya.
Angels Reunions with Tanya Roberts throughout the years
top - Shelley Hack with Tanya and Mike Pingel; Jaclyn Smith
bottom - Kate Jackson, a fan and Tanya; Cheryl Ladd and Tanya
Tanya was one of Charlie's Angels and had met all the other Angels except for Farrah Fawcett. In 2009, she was interviewed by Retroality.TV at The Hollywood Show convention regarding her iconic Hollywood career as a Charlie's Angel, a Bond girl, Sheena and as Midge on That '70s Show. In the interview, she mentioned that already she met all the other Angels except for Farrah. She said, "Well, I'll tell you, I never met Farrah. I did golf tournaments. She did a couple of tournaments. But we never actually met." She met Kate Jackson at a 2004 celebrity convention; and she met Shelley Hack on that very day, that 2009 Hollywood Show convention. In 2013, she was spotted sitting beside Cheryl Ladd during the taping of a Dancing With The Stars episode: and she regularly ran into Jaclyn Smith around LA, as Jackie mentioned in one interview. On Tanya's death Jackie Tweeted, "Tanya joined Charlie's Angels for the final season, closing it out as it was initially intended with a redhead, a brunette and a blonde. She brought joy to so many people and had a career spanning decades. Good bye Angel. Rest in Peace." Cheryl Ladd posted on her Facebook page, "Rest in Peace beautiful girl." Farrah Fawcett passed away in 2009, and now Tanya this 2021. Good bye, Angels. We love you both.
