Angel Number 5

Shelley with ABC exec Seymour Amlen

at the 52nd Academy Awards ceremony,

April 1980

Charlie's Angels was a groundbreaking TV series about women detectives who were smart, independent, self-reliant, and breathtakingly gorgeous. It was very first female buddy-buddy show; and it ran for five seasons and going though six Angels all in all - played by Kate Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Jaclyn Smith, Cheryl Ladd, Shelley Hack, and Tanya Roberts. But the show had a difficult time getting on the air. At the time, nobody believed that an action-packed TV series starring women would ever garner an audience. TV execs dismissed the concept as the worse idea they ever heard. But ABC network's Head of Programming Fred Silverman believed in the potential of the show and ordered a pilot. Silverman's right-hand man, VP of ABC Entertainment Seymour Amlen, told TV Tales: Charlie's Angels in 2002, "It showed promise, but it was a risk." As we now know, Charlie's Angels was a phenomenal success, a huge hit worldwide and has been rebooted many times ever since.

a screen cap of Seymour Amlen

from TV Tales: Charlie's Angels, 2002

Shelley became Angel no. 5 in 1979. Her character, Tiffany Welles, was written as a Smith College graduate, a girl from the East who was not a voluptuous sexpot... and Shelley fit the bill perfectly. Shelley's a Smith College graduate, she was born in New York and grew up in Connecticut, and she had that classic model shape and beauty. Plus, she was already known worldwide as THE Charlie Girl - the Revlon brand's Supermodel and spokesperson. And this association with Revlon Charlie played in Shelley's favor. The headline "THE Charlie Girl Becomes A Charlie's Angel" was just what the show needed to gain even more viewers and popularity.

Shelley with ABC exec Seymour Amlen

at the 52nd Academy Awards ceremony,

April 1980