Shelley was one of the highest paid models in the 1970s, a certified Supermodel. Aside from her Revlon Charlie endorsements, she appeared on many magazine covers and fashion spreads for the biggest-selling fashion magazines of the era such as Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Glamour, Mademoiselle and Seventeen. She was photographed by prominent fashion photographers, wearing the creations of the great designers of the era as well as pushing the top-selling beauty and body care products of the time. In November of 1977, she appeared on the pages of Harper's Bazaar's November 1977 issue... in the spread called "Fabulous Furs for Evening." She modeled some of the year's newest and most sensational fur shawls, fur jackets and full-length fur coats. In the 1970s, furs was considered one of the most luxurious and most expensive items in a woman's wardrobe (PETA hadn't yet been established) and were featured in fashion magazine all over the world. Shelley modeled The All-Out Silver Fox, a notched-collared, full-sleeved steamer coat in silver fox that was dyed the color of cognac - by Halston for Ben Khan. She wore it over a champagne-colored tunic and pants ensemble from the Halston Made to Order Collection. Her gold accessories were by Elsa Peretti of Tiffany. And Shelley looked looked sensational. (For more, check out: Furs For Evening B)
Saturday, January 11, 2025
Fabulous and Sensational B
Doctor Series
Shelley's second TV series was 1983's Cutter to Houston. The show was about three young doctors recruited to run a small hospital in the fictional rural town of Cutter, Texas. Shelley played Dr. Beth Gilbert, an ambitious surgeon on temporary assignment in Cutter. Beth aspired to become a heart surgeon in Houston. Jim Metzler played idealistic GP Dr. Andy Fenton, who grew up in Cutter and was glad to be back in the town that financed his medical education. Alec Baldwin played internist/ladies man Dr. Hal Wexler, who was getting through his probation, having been relegated to Cutter for being a little too fast and free with his prescriptions.
Cutter to Houston was a short-lived TV series that began airing in the fall of 1983. Although it received mixed reviews, it had great promise; plus, the cast had an easy rapport and had enough talent to carry an hour-long drama. Prior to the series, former Charlie's Angel Shelley Hack had already proven that she had acting chops, having received great reviews for her work on stage (Vanities, Close Ties, and Born Yesterday) as well as on the big screen (Annie Hall, The King of Comedy). Jim Metzler had a Golden Globe Award nomination under his belt for his supporting role in the 1982 feature film Tex. Alec Baldwin had come from his 1980-1982 stint in the NBC daytime soap opera The Doctors. Cutter to Houston, which was aired Saturday nights, had a difficult time finding an audience. Aside from a bad time slot, it seemed to have lost network confidence early on... "sleeper hits" were still unheard of at the time. It was first aired on October 1, 1983; and after 4 original episodes, it was announced cancelled by October 29, 1983. Replays and three more original episodes were aired until December 31, 1983. There were two more completed episodes; but they weren't aired during the show's initial 1983 run.
The Vested Girl
Shelley appeared on many ads for Ship'n Shore when she was an in-demand model. Ship'n Shore was a women's sportswear brand that specialized in affordable and up-to-the-minute women's blouses, pants, skirts, jackets, and other garments. It was one of the big brands in the mid-20th century and was known to produce garments of good quality. In 1972, Shelley appeared in an ad for Ship'n Shore with the tagline "We are The Vested Girls." It featured casual and fun vests that could be worn over shirt-and-pants ensembles for that chic layered look. She wore the Coolie Jacquard Vest in red (with knitted-in details around the waist) over a butterscotch-colored Orlon Chalour Shirt and navy-colored pants emsemble. And Shelley looked casual, fun, and up-to-the-minute.
Angels and Art 1
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.
Charlie's Ski Trip
Shelley was THE quintessential Charlie Girl and appeared in many, many ads for the brand. And Charlie's male perfume counterpart was Chaz. In 1980, Shelley appeared in a newspaper ad for Charlie and Chaz which was promoting A Ski Trip for Two to Colorado... and she appeared in the ad with the current Chaz Man Tom Selleck (who later that year starred in the hit TV series Magnum, P.I.). The 4-day trip was a treat for Revlon Charlie' loyal customers. All they had to do was register at any Charlie beauty counter. As a bonus, Charlie's Color Portfolio could be purchased for only $8 for every $5 or more purchase from the Charlie or Chaz collections. The padded vinyl portfolio came complete with a mirror and included 8 shades of eye color, 2 blush colors, 2 lipsticks and 2 lip glosses. Of course, Shelley looked fab in all those colors.
Jackie Shea and Mike Brennan
Shelley's third foray into series TV was Jack and Mike in 1986. Executive producer David Gerber believed so much in Shelley that he wanted to give her her own TV series. It was initially called Jackie O'Shea, with Shelley in the title role; and Tom Mason was offered the role of Jackie's husband. After lots of talks with Gerber, Mason finally accepted; and it was retitled Our Kind of Town. When it aired, it was again retitled Jack and Mike... alluding to the names of the main characters Jackie Shea and her husband Mike Brennan. The pilot episode was originally aired in September 16, 1986 right after the hit TV series Moonlighting; and debuted to decent ratings. It also received decent reviews, with a few scathing writeups here and there. The series looked like it was in for a long run when it was suddenly canceled to the disappointment of fans. Let's hope the entire series is finally streamed.