Shelley with Cheryl Ladd on the set
of the Charlie's Angels episode
"Angel's Child"
Shelley joined the cast of Charlie's Angels in late May of 1979, for the 4th season of the hit TV series. After a long search, Shelley was finally offered the role of Angel Tiffany Welles which she gladly accepted. Rushed by reporters, she knew that she would be under siege from then on. "I'm a very private person and I hope to keep it that way. I'm prepared for the gossip and rumors," she told one reporter, "I was surprised by the amount of attention, but I had done a lot of press before. There was so much to do then, so you just deal with it." Shelley joined incumbent Angels Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd to complete Charlie's latest detective triumvirate. And fulfilling her contractual guest appearances/returns, Farrah Fawcett was joining them in three of the season's upcoming episodes. "Love Boat Angels," the season opener, topped the Nielsen ratings and Charlie's latest Angel trio was off to a great start.
Shelley, as well as Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd,
were featured in the Star Gazing section
of Photoplay magazine, 1980
By then, Shelley was juggling two careers, as Revlon's superstar model and as TV's latest superstar Angel. She had a modeling contract to fulfill with Revlon (as their Charlie Girl) so she had to fly to New York some days of the week. Then, she had to go back to LA to fulfill her acting contract with Charlie’s Angels. When asked whether she liked being a TV star, Shelley said, "Yes. I've got two parking spaces with my name on them. It's wonderful. Someone on the set asked me if I was scared, but it never even occurred to me. Before joining the cast, I thought the show was very well-produced. Really, it's a wonderful tongue-in-cheek fantasy; three terrific-looking girls running around packing pistols. And it's funny." Shelley was up for the challenge.
Jaclyn Smith with her mother on the set
of the Charlie's Angels episode
"Angel's Child"
