Shelley in a promo pic
from the early 1980s
In 1980, with her modeling career winding down and with a publicity "jump-start" (believe it or not) from Charlie's Angels, Shelley seriously pursued an acting career... beginning with a stage play at the Westside Playhouse in Los Angeles. "I don't know how I got the guts to go right into a play immediately after leaving the series," Shelley said. "I started doing theater for the first time in my life although I'd never been on a stage before." Shelley starred alongside Meredith Baxter Birney and Annette O'Toole in the Jack Heifner play Vanities which was filmed for TV (in November 1980) as part of HBO's Standing Room Only series; it was aired in March of 1981. Shelley surprised her detractors and won critical acclaim for her role.
Shelley with Meredith Baxter Birney
and Annette O'Toole in a promo pic
for the play Vanities, 1980
"I guess I did get spunky," Shelley said, "I decided I was going to run my own life." She then went east to Allentown, Pennsylvania, to star in the Garson Kanin play Born Yesterday. Staged by the renowned Pennsylvania Stage Company, the play ran from September 29 to October 24 of 1982. "I am interested in developing my career as an actress and doing as much work in the theater as I can," Shelley said in 1982. PSC's 1982 staging of Born Yesterday starred Shelley alongside Michael O. Smith and Fritz Sperberg. Stephen Rothman, the executive director of the critically acclaimed Pasadena Playhouse, was the director. And Shelley wowed audiences (and her critics alike) with her performance. Shelley continued tackling live theater to further hone her acting chops. In 1983, she went back to Los Angeles to film another stage play for TV, Elizabeth Diggs's Close Ties, a Los Angeles Public Theater production which was presented at the Coronet Theatre in LA. Co-starring Kim Darby, Alan Oppenheimer, and Christopher Guest, the play was directed by Arvin Brown, the artistic director for the Long Wharf Theater in New Haven, Connecticut. Shelley again got excellent reviews for her performance.
Shelley in a promo pic
from the early 1980s
