Shelley with Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd
in a promo pic for Charlie's Angels, 1979
Shelley became Charlie's 5th Angel 1979 when she joined the cast of Charlie's Angels. Her character was Tiffany Welles was a classy Boston-bred (originally Connecticut-bred) policewoman who was the daughter of one of Charlie's oldest friends. She was chosen from among a bevy of beautiful actresses which included Kim Basinger, Michelle Pfeiffer, Connie Sellecca and Shari Belafonte. In May of 1979, Bond Girl Barbara Bach was announced the newest Angel. But it was quickly retracted and Shelley was announced as Charlie's newest Angel, with the approval of not just Spelling-Goldberg but also of incumbent Angels Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd.
a writeup about newest Angel Shelley from 1979
Upon the announcement of Shelley's Angeldom in 1979, almost immediately, tongues began wagging about how Charlie's new trio didn't get along, how the Angels set was in turmoil. Writeups began to come out about Cheryl not wanting Shelley in the show because she's blonde as well, about how Jaclyn not wanting Shelley cast because she was competition for the "classy Angel" title. The stories were numerous and many of them were ridiculous if not hilarious. The truth is Cheryl and Jaclyn both felt comfortable with her and knew they could work with Shelley. Jaclyn even said she was the perfect fill in for Kate Jackson.
