Shelley in a promo pic from 1979
Shelley joined the cast of Charlie's Angels, as Angel #5 Tiffany Welles, in 1979 during the 4th season. But by 1980, she had left the series. "I never expected to be there more than a year and I wasn't," Shelley told TV Tales: Charlie's Angels in 2002. "So I did my year and I moved on," she added, "That was just fine. That was plenty for me." Unfortunately, while the series made her a Hollywood superstar overnight, it also typecast her as a bimbo as soon as she left it and (just like every Angel cast in the series) she had to prove her worth as an actress, which was an uphill battle.
a writeup about Shelley, post-Charlie's Angels, 1982
"Understand," she said in 1982, "I have no regrets about being a Charlie's Angel. It made me well-known, which is an obvious plus." Immediately after leaving Charlie's Angels, Shelley was cast in the Jack Heifner three-character play Vanities and her performance surprised many critics and detractors. She received glowing reviews. She later landed a coveted role in the Martin Scorsese film The King of Comedy which had Robert De Niro and Jerry Lewis as lead stars. "I couldn't work because I read for The King of Comedy and got the part," she said, "The picture was delayed and I couldn't take a chance of doing anything else." But her gamble payed off. She was able to hold her own in her scenes opposite De Niro and she received glowing reviews for her performance as well.
