In 1978, Shelley got her first leading lady role opposite screenwriter, director, producer, and composer Joe Brooks in the film If Ever I See You Again. Shelley was cast in the role of Jennifer Corly, the main protagonist's love interest. Brooks told one reporter, during the audition process, "I saw scores of girls on the East Coast, the West Coast and points in between - and SHE walked in. I know that sounds overly dramatic. But when (Shelley) walked into the room, I turned to my assistant and said, 'She's got it! She's got the part.'" Shelley's side of the story, "I was amazed at how quickly Joe made up his mind. I didn't read for the part or take a screen test. I walked in and he told the other people in the room that I was the girl he was looking for."
Friday, March 31, 2023
1st Leading Lady Role
100 Gifts To Make 2
No Regrets
Immediately after leaving Charlie's Angels, Shelley was cast in the Jack Heifner three-character play Vanities and her performance surprised many critics as well as detractors. She received glowing reviews. She then ventured further into theater and was cast in Elizabeth Diggs' play Close Ties. She likewise 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."
The King of Comedy 1
2023 is the 40th anniversary of the Martin Scorsese film The King of Comedy. Released in 1983, the film was a satire that touched on themes regarding American media culture and the then growing cult of celebrity worship - a subject that has become more and more significant and prevalent nowadays. The film was about aspiring stand-up comic Rupert Pupkin (Robert De Niro) who would do anything to gain instant fame - even stalk his idol successful comedian and talk show host, Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis) - in order to impress his love interest Rita Keane (Diahnne Abbott). When he couldn't get past Langford's smooth production exec Cathy Long (Shelley Hack) for a guest spot on Langford's talk show, he teams up with a fellow stalker, the mentally unstable Masha (Sandra Bernhard), and kidnaps the talk show host. In exchange for Langford's freedom, he demands a guest spot from the show's production team and gets it. After his guest spot, he is arrested and incarcerated for what he had done. But upon his release, Rupert ironically gets a book deal and a show of his own.
The Charlie Face Case
Shelley was THE quintessential Charlie Girl and appeared on many, many ads for the brand around the world. In 1982, she appeared in an ad with the tagline "The Charlie Face Case!" It was a promo for The Charlie Face Case, a cosmetic case that contained everything anyone needed to achieve that fabulous Charlie look. It was a light blue cosmetic case that contained 6 eyeshadows, 2 blushes, 2 lip glosses and 2 brushes. It was only $11.50 for any $5.00 or more purchase from the Charlie Collection, which also included Charlie Body Silk, Charlie Concentrated Cologne Spray and Charlie Dusting Powder.
The ad also promoted Charlie's latest spring color and fragrance collection. For the eyes, lips, cheeks and nails, Charlie gathered bold adventurous new colors from the four corners of the Earth. Pearlfrost Aegeon, South Sea Coral, Irish Rose and Chile Frost were the latest worldly shades. And the essence of Charlie (the world-famous Charlie fragrance) was now in other fabulous fragrance forms. The ad included the brand's promo tie-up with American Express as well. All anyone had to do was take a trip and register at any Charlie counter to get a chance to win a "15-Day American Express Tour For Two." The grand prize winner would win a 15-Day Tour For Two to China, Hawaii, South America, Europe, Asia, or The U.S.A. Other lucky winners would win any of the 22 additional prizes listed on the entry blank. Of course, Shelley was featured in the ad, gorgeous and fabulous as always.
Latest IT Girl
"I couldn't believe it. What was I doing in the evening news," Shelley said in 1979. Charlie's Angels was entering its 4th season and Shelley was cast as the newest Charlie's Angel. She was known all over the world as THE Charlie Girl, but now that she had joined the cast of the phenomenal hit TV series, she had become Hollywood's new IT girl. The Supermodel was now Hollywood's latest Superstar; and many magazine and tabloid reporters, as well as paparazzi/photographers, rushed to cover her and talk to her. "Yesterday, I was a schnook, and today I can't get across the street" is how Shelley described her sudden rise to Hollywood fame. When she arrived in St. Thomas at the Caribbean, where her first Charlie's Angels episode was going to be shot, she was greeted by the paparazzi. "When I got off the plane, there were maybe eight million paparazzi. I looked around for Sophia Loren. It was for me. I couldn't believe it," she said astonished by the amount of attention her Angel casting was getting. "I had press people crawling in my windows," she told TV Tales: Charlie's Angels in 2002.
All About Sewing Knits 5
Simplicity The Fashion Magazine for Women Who Sew was a booklet the Simplicity Pattern Company came out with to showcase their latest patterns. The Simplicity Pattern Company had been manufacturing sewing patterns since 1927, giving fashionistas on a budget and sewing aficionados the ability to create clothes in a reliable manner. The booklet featured the latest patterns Simplicity had come up with at the time. It also showed readers what they could do with them and how to play around with them by using fabrics and trims to personalize the fashion must-haves featured in it.
Friday, March 24, 2023
A Modern Woman
Shelley's third foray into series television was Jack and Mike in 1986. The show explored the life of journalist Jackie Shea (played by Shelley) and restauranteur Mike Brennan (played Tom Mason), a married couple with busy careers trying to make their marriage work. The yuppie phenomenon exploded in the 1980s when more and more women began entering the workforce, climbing up the corporate ladder and holding positions previously held exclusively by men in past generations. The other cast members were: Nora Adler (Jacqueline Brookes), Jackie’s editor; Anthony Kubecek (Kevin Dunn), Jackie's assistant; Carol (Holly Fulger), the head waitress at Mike's restaurant, Brennan's Grill; and Rick Scotti (Vincent Baggetta), an attorney who appeared occasionally. The series was filmed on location in Chicago, Illinois.
100 Gifts To Make 1
Shelley appeared on many issues of what was known as the Seven Sisters group of magazines. The Seven Sisters magazines were Woman's Day, Redbook, McCall's, Ladies' Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, Family Circle and Better Homes and Gardens. They all catered to married women with children rather than single working women. The magazines featured homemaking and crafts, food and nutrition, health and fitness, beauty and fashion advice and articles. Shelley appeared on the November 1970 issue of Woman's Day magazine.
Seinfeld Trivia
A Casualty of War 9
Shelley appeared in the first installment of the telefilm series Frederick Forsyth Presents. It was a set of six telefilms by internationally acclaimed author Frederick Forsyth; and they were all original spy thrillers. The first of them, A Casualty of War, was aired in December of 1989. The film was about the efforts of the British Intelligence to uncover an arms smuggling operation in Europe. In the film, Shelley played Monica Browne, the love interest of retired British secret service agent Tom Rowse (played by English actor David Threlfall) who was recruited to intercept an arms shipment from Libya to the IRA. But Monica had her secrets.
That Charlie Girl Shine
Shelley was THE quintessential Charlie Girl and appeared on many, many ads for the brand around the world. In 1979, she appeared in an ad with the tagline "To Shine or Not To Shine." It was a promo for the many lipstick and lipglosses that could be achieved with Charlie's new shades and colors - for the many different styles, occasions and moods every woman finds herself in. For the "Smooth On Matte Softness" look, there was Charlie's Lip Rouge in the earthy shades of Sienna, Earth and Plum. For the "Slip On A Shine" look, there were Charlie's Extra-Extra Shine Creme Lipstick and Creme Lipgloss in Berry Pink, Fresh Coral and Sunbeige - as well as Lipgloss in Shell Pink. And for the "Summer In A Glow" look, there was Charlie's Extra-Extra Shine Frost Lipstick in Goldfrost Berry Pink, Fresh Coral and Sunbeige - as well as Lipgloss in Goldfrost Shell Pink.
Angels 1979
"THE CHARLIE GIRL IS THE NEW CHARLIE'S ANGEL" was the headline that dominated entertainment news in late-May of 1979. Shelley had been cast as Charlie's 5th Angel in the show's 4th season and the entire world was excited to see THE Charlie Girl fight crime as one of Charles Townsend's cherubs. "Believe it or not, the headline 'Charlie Girl becomes the new Charlie's Angel' carried a lot of weight," said Ed Lakso, a writer/producer in the series. Executive producer Aaron Spelling told TV Guide, "We hired her 40 percent from the screen test and 60 percent from the personality test." He added, "We decided she was a nice person with sparkle and intelligence." According to People magazine, Shelley Hack as Tiffany Welles was going to bring a classy "Tiffany touch" to the series. "She was sort of like the debutante," co-Angel Jaclyn Smith said about Revlon's Supermodel. "Shelley seemed like a doll and we were going to have a lot of fun working together," said her other co-Angel Cheryl Ladd. "Jackie, Cheryl and I hit it off immediately," Shelley said. "Put your ear to the wall, all you'll hear is laughter," she added. On September 12, 1979, Charlie's Angels 4th season debut episode, "Love Boat Angels," topped the Nielsen ratings.
All About Sewing Knits 4
Simplicity The Fashion Magazine for Women Who Sew was a booklet the Simplicity Pattern Company came out with to showcase their latest patterns. The Simplicity Pattern Company had been manufacturing sewing patterns since 1927, giving fashionistas on a budget and sewing aficionados the ability to create clothes in a reliable manner. The booklet featured the latest patterns Simplicity had come up with at the time. It also showed readers what they could do with them and how to play around with them by using fabrics and trims to personalize the fashion must-haves featured in it.
Sunday, March 19, 2023
Supermodel to Superstar
Shelley was a certified Supermodel by the mid-1970s and was known all over the world as THE Charlie Girl, Revlon's Superstar Model. So it was not surprising that Hollywood eventually came knocking on her door. Shelley's acting debut was a memorable bit role as a vacuous WASP in the 1977 Academy Award winning Woody Allen film Annie Hall. In 1978, she got her first leading lady role in the film If Ever I See You Again (which spawned the hit Roberta Flack single of the same title). Shelley was also under consideration for the role of Holly Goodhead in the James Bond film Moonraker, but the part eventually went to Lois Chiles. 1979 bought Shelley a guest-starring role in the TV series, Married: the First Year and a voice over part in the feature film, Time After Time, which was directed by her then boyfriend Nicholas Meyer. She also snagged the lead in the TV movie Death Car On The Freeway. But it was her casting as Tiffany Welles in the hit TV series Charlie's Angels that made Shelley a Hollywood Superstar.
Hairdo Guide 1967 B
Shelley was one of the models who regularly appeared on the pages of Seventeen magazine since the beginning of her modeling career. In fact, one of her first covers was for the November 1964 issue of the mag. She also regularly appeared on other Seventeen magazine outings such as their booklets/guide books. In 1967, she appeared on the pages of the Seventeen Hairdo Guide booklet.
Angels in the Sunshine State 8
Look-In magazine was a kiddie/teen UK magazine that featured two-page comic/picture strips of the most popular television shows of the era. Subtitled as "The Junior TV Times," its first issue came out in 1971 and its final issue came out in 1994. Many popular American TV series were featured in the mag including Kung Fu, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, CHiPs, Battlestar Galactica, Mork and Mindy... and, of course, Charlie's Angels.
A Casualty of War 8
Shelley appeared in the first installment of the telefilm series Frederick Forsyth Presents. It was a set of six telefilms by internationally acclaimed author Frederick Forsyth; and they were all original spy thrillers. The first of them, A Casualty of War, was aired in December of 1989. The film was about the efforts of the British Intelligence to uncover an arms smuggling operation in Europe. In the film, Shelley played Monica Browne, the love interest of retired British secret service agent Tom Rowse (played by English actor David Threlfall) who was recruited to intercept an arms shipment from Libya to the IRA. But Monica had her secrets.
Shelley said she read Forsyth's books as a young girl and found them to be "very macho, exciting Cold War stuff." In the film, she was the only American among the predominantly British cast. She laughed this off and said, "Yes, I'm the token." But she enjoyed working with her British co-stars and found their approach to their craft very interesting. The telefilm was shot in England, Germany and Yugoslavia. It was initially released on VHS and subsequently on DVD.
The Charlie Preppie Look
Shelley was THE quintessential Charlie Girl and appeared on many, many ads for the brand around the world. In 1979, she appeared in an ad that promoted the "Charlie Preppie Look," which was created by the Revlon brand for the May Company stores. It was a look achieved with Charlie's clear and delicious new plum shades - Fresh Fresh Eye Color in Silverfrost Rose or Silverfrost Plum, Blushiest Blush in Cocoa Plum, Extra Extra Nail color in Wine, Extra Extra Shine Lipstick in Sheer Raisin, and the Lashiest Mascara in classic Black. To get the look, interested customers could just call the Cosmetic Dept. in any of the May Company stores for an appointment with the makeup artists stationed at their cosmetic counter. And with any Charlie purchase, customers also had a chance to use the Charlie photo booths located near the cosmetic counter for a strip of four photos that fit right into the Charlie Preppie Look folder. Also, for every $5 Charlie purchase, they got a packet of 3 cleansing and moisturizing treatments for their particular skin type. Shelley, of course, appeared in the ad, looking downright preppie and Charlie Girl gorgeous as always.