More Than A Pretty Face

Shelley in a 1980s promo pic

Shelley was a busy working actress in the 1980s. After her career-boosting appearance on Charlie's Angels, she was determined to prove that she was more than just a pretty face. She immediately tackled stage a via the Jack Heifner play Vanities and gained critical praise for her work. Other stage roles soon followed. She was praised for her work in Elizabeth Diggs's play Close Ties and Garson Kanin’s Born Yesterday. At the same time, she was getting more serious feature film work. She appeared in Martin Scorsese's The King of Comedy and much later in Joseph Ruben's horror classic The Stepfather. She also got to work in TV movies with seasoned actors such as George Segal, Dick Van Dyke, Sid Caesar and Paul Michael Glaser.

Shelley in a 1980s promo pic

L.A. Premiere

a pic of Shelley

at the L.A. movie premiere

of Tempest, 1982

In the 1980s, Shelley was often spotted and captured by the paparazzi at events around Hollywood. In August of 1982, she was photographed at Mann's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California, at the Los Angeles premiere of the movie Tempest starring John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands, Susan Sarandon, Vittorio Gassman, Raul Julia and Molly Ringwald. She was seen at the event hanging around with Canadian producer Pierre David. Aside from the cast, other attendees included Dudley Moore, Kristy McNichol, Erin Gray, Debra Winger, Elliott Gould, Lynn Redgrave, Jon Voight and Shelley's fellow Charlie's Angel Cheryl Ladd. It was a star-studded premiere.

pics of Shelley

at the L.A. movie premiere

of Tempest, 1982

1970s Dresses

closeups of Shelley from pics

used in a spread on the Sears 1970

Spring Through Summer catalog

Shelley appeared in many catalogs throughout her modeling career, from the late '60s to the late '70s. Mail-order catalogs were at the height of its popularity at the time. They were big-book size publications that contained a list and pictures of the general merchandise from, usually, a department store that were available for purchase and delivery straight to the homes of their customers. Everything from homeware to toys were featured in these catalogs... as well as garments and the latest fashion pieces. Shelley appeared in spreads throughout the Sears 1970 Spring Through Summer catalog.

Shelley in a spread for the 1970 Sears

Spring Through Summer catalog

Shelley she appeared in section called Junior Bazaar. It featured the latest fashions for the fashionable young 1970s miss. In the spread called "The Costume Rage," she wore a dress that had its own matching trench coat (which was modeled by Colleen Corby in the spread). Shelley's two-color short-sleeved dress had a white bodice that skimmed low to a navy blue skirt. A bob-style wig finished her look. In the spread called the "Jacket-Dress Caper," she wore a dress that had its own matching jacket (which was also modeled by Colleen Corby in the spread). The dress had a white subtly-textured cotton bodice and a plaid skirt with front box pleats and a back zipper. She finished her dress with a polka-dot printed sash and white medium-heeled buckled pumps with cutouts. In the spread called the "Coatdress Craze," she wore an A-shaped coatdress in a linen-like fabric that had an off-beat widened collar and a lapel that crossed to an off-center closing. It had contracting buttons and pockets with faux flaps. She finished her look with white medium-heeled buckled pumps with cutouts. And Shelley looked fabulous in all of them.

Shelley in pics that were featured

in a spread on the Sears 1970

Spring Through Summer catalog

Cantiniere Angels 1

a closeup of Shelley from a promo pic

for Charlie's Angels, 1979

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.

Shelley as Tiffany Welles in Look-In mag's

Charlie's Angels comic/picture strip, 1980

From 1979 to 1980, during the airing of the 4th season of Charlie's Angels, Shelley's Tiffany Welles character was featured in the mag's Charlie's Angels comic/picture strip. Along with her co-Angels Kelly Garrett (Jaclyn Smith) and Kris Munroe (Cheryl Ladd), Tiffany solved cases for Charlie for several issues, two pages a week. Her first case debuted on November of 1979 and her final case ended on October of 1980. The mag also featured occasional writeups about Shelley as well as posters of her and the Angel team of that season.

Shelley Hack with Jaclyn Smith

and Cheryl Ladd in a promo pic

for Charlie's Angels, 1979

Gorgeous Spring Looks

Shelley in a promo pic

for Charlie perfume and cosmetics, 1981

Shelley was THE quintessential Charlie Girl and appeared in many, many ads for the brand around the world. She was THE Charlie Girl from 1976 to 1982; and she catapulted the brand (as well as herself) to iconic status. In 1981, Shelley appeared in an advertisement/writeup for Charlie's latest color and fragrance promotion called "Spring Blooms in Charlie Country." Energy, vitality, glowing good health, humor and intelligence were all the words that described THE Charlie Girl and the brand's latest colors embodied all those attributes. In fact, Charlie's latest collection could be called art because everything about it was based on a painting that LeRoy Neiman created especially for Charlie (Neiman was one of America's foremost artists who updated the Impressionist breakthrough with his depiction of TV/media celebrities and events in vibrant colors and spectacular imagery.) LeRoy Neiman's artwork became Charlie's new look for spring of 1981 - from color, to mood, to packaging, to bottle design and all. Of course, THE Charlie Girl Shelley was the inspiration for it.

Shelley in an advertisement/writeup

for Charlie perfume and cosmetics, 1981

Fresh New Series

Shelley in a promo pic

for Jack and Mike, 1986

Shelley starred in her third TV series Jack and Mike in 1986. The series (initially titled Jackie O'Shea and then Our Kind of Town) was a dramady produced by respected Hollywood bigwig David Gerber who believed in Shelley's talent and star power so much that he gave her her own TV series. The series was about a journalist wife (Jackie Shea) and her restaurateur husband (Mike Brennan) trying to balance their careers with their married life. It was about a generally happy couple... which was a departure from the bickering sexual-tension-filled couples popular on TV during the era in shows such as Moonlighting and Remington Steele. Also, to add freshness to the show, subjects like preferential treatment in organ transplant allocation and illiterate university basketball stars were tackled. The location was fresh as well with the couple living in Chicago instead of New York or L.A. "David Gerber liked Chicago as a newspaper town," Shelley disclosed. For the part of Mike, Tom Mason (who played Shelley's boyfriend Caleb in the 1985 TV movie Kicks) made the cut. Shelley found Tom comfortable to work with and reliable. "It's so nice to have a steady person playing opposite you," she said.

Shelley in a magazine ad

for Jack and Mike, 1986

Summer Dress Treats

a closeup of Shelley from a pic

for Simplicity Fashion News,

August 1972

Simplicity Fashion News was a monthly pamphlet Simplicity came out with to showcase their latest patterns. The Simplicity Pattern Company had been manufacturing sewing patterns since 1927 and had allowed fashionistas on a budget and sewing aficionados to create clothes in a reliable manner. In August of 1972, Shelley appeared on the pages of Simplicity Fashion News. She was featured in a spread called "Summer Treats in Jiffy Patterns So Simple To Sew", which featured dresses for both young girls and young misses that were perfect for that summer season. Shelley wore pattern number 5021, a misses' back-wrap dress that could be made in two lengths. Shelley wore the mini-length version which had a front patch pocket. The top stitched back-wrap dress had belts/long tabs from the back that crisscrossed in front and then tied at the back... as well as long neck straps that tied behind the neck. A vibrant-colored and boldly-printed fabric was used for her dress and matching sandals, shades and bangles finished her look. And Shelley looked vibrant and ready for those summer outings and shindigs. (For more, check out: Summer Treats in Jiffy Patterns)

a pic of Shelley

from Simplicity Fashion News,

August 1972