Immediately after leaving Charlie's Angels, Shelley jumped into theater-acting in 1981 via the play Vanities by Jack Heifner. In the following years, she ventured further and did Elizabeth Diggs' Close Ties, and later Born Yesterday. In 1989, she appeared in the John Krizanc play Tamara. She impressed her critics and detractors and received glowing reviews for her stage performances. In 1983, she appeared in the Martin Scorsese film The King of Comedy and held her ground acting-wise opposite acting legend Robert De Niro. Later, she appeared in the 1984 children's fantasy feature Troll with Michael Moriarty (who would later star in Law & Order) and the 1987 cult classic The Stepfather (with Terry O'Quinn and Jill Schoelen) directed by Joseph Ruben. Joseph Ruben was impressed with Shelley's performance in The King of Comedy and had no second thoughts casting her in his film. She would receive great reviews for her acting in Ruben's film. She also played a blind character in the 1989 suspense thriller Blind Fear. On TV, she delivered great work opposite acting veterans George Segal (Trackdown: Finding the Goodbar Killer, 1983), Dick Van Dyke and Sid Ceasar (Found Money, 1983). She worked with Paul Michael Glaser and Tony Danza (Single Bars, Single Women, 1984) with soap superstar Anthony Geary (Kicks, 1985) with Sela Ward and Brooke Adams (Bridesmaids, 1989). She also starred in two of her very own TV series - Cutter to Houston in 1983 with Alec Baldwin, and Jack and Mike from 1986-1987 with Tom Mason. All in all, she racked up a great body of work in the 1980s.
