The Supermodel Angel

pics of Shelley in the Nolan Miller evening gowns

she wore on Charlie's Angels

1979 was a new era for the hit TV series Charlie's Angels. Supermodel Shelley Hack joined Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd to form Charlie's glamorous new Angel team. The wardrobe budget was increased to $20,000 per episode and each Angel went through eight costume changes per episode. Nolan Miller, the wardrobe designer of the series, said, "I begged Aaron to hire Shelley. There was something about her I really liked; I was impressed with her Charlie perfume commercials and how she could create a look just by turning her collar up and putting her hands in her pockets." Shelley wore a couple of gowns designed by Miller on Charlie's Angels. She wore an ice blue silk satin evening gown (inspired by the Edith Head ice blue French silk satin gown worn by Grace Kelly to the 1955 Oscars) for promo pics as well as on the episode "Love Boat Angels." She also wore a gold form-fitting satin evening gown on the episode "Dancin' Angels." Miller also designed other outfits for Shelley but it seems they were never made.

a couple of Nolan Miller designs for Shelley

(a pantsuit and an evening gown)

Shelley's Charlie Girl persona, center,

was an inspiration for Nolan Miller

Understated and Spot-On

Shelley with Robert De Niro

in a screen shot from the Martin Scorsese

film The King of Comedy

Shelley Hack was fortunate enough to have worked with some of the best and brightest names in Hollywood. In 1983, she appeared in the Martin Scorsese film The King of Comedy which starred Robert de Niro and Jerry Lewis. During her audition, she read for both Scorsese and De Niro, then went home and waited. "I had a feeling I would get it," Shelley said, "Even so, it was a nervous time. It was obviously such an important break for me - getting it would make people look at me differently." After four months, her agent called and said she got the part. But then, "I couldn't work because I read for The King of Comedy and got the part. The picture was delayed and I couldn't take a chance on doing anything else."

filmmaker, writer and artist Larry Blamire

recently posted his thoughts about the Martin Scorsese

film The King of Comedy, praising Shelley

for her outstanding performance in the film

(Thank you so much to Larry Blamire for posting)

Shelley thought working with Scorsese and De Niro was an exhilarating experience. "Bobby (De Niro) plays a stand-up comic in the picture and he's extraordinary." Shelley recounts, "The first day on the set, I was standing talking to Marty (Scorsese) and everyone was laughing. I didn't know why until Marty said to me, 'Aren't you going to say hello to Bobby?' And there he was beside me. I just hadn't recognized him. He looks entirely different in the picture." The Rupert Pupkin character was quite a departure from the characters De Niro had played prior. Shelley's performance in The King of Comedy received glowing reviews. As one critic put it, "Shelley Hack shines as an unpleasant talent coordinator trying to make Pupkin (de Niro's character) understand her polite rejections." In 2026, filmmaker, writer and artist Larry Blamire said Shelley's performance was "understated and spot-on."

All-Star Hairstyles D

Shelley sporting the "Breezy" look

for Good Housekeeping magazine,

August 1983

By August 1983, Shelley had become an established Hollywood star. She had received critical praise for her work on stage and had a Martin Scorsese film under her belt (where she worked opposite Robert De Niro). She had also finished a couple of TV movies with respected Hollywood veterans George Segal and Dick Van Dyke. Her latest TV series was to premiere that October. So Shelley would regularly appear on magazines and newspapers at the time. In August 1983, she appeared on the pages of Good Housekeeping magazine, in a spread called "29 All-Star Hairstyles: Modeled by Celebrities and Their Sisters." Shelley appeared with her youngest sister, Babe, in the spread sporting the latest hairstyles. (For more, check out: Shelley and Babe) One hairstyle Shelley sported was the "Breezy" look. Shorter hair for women was the height of chic during the early 1980s and that included the bob cut. Whether slicked-back (ala Zoë Tamerlis in Angel of Vengeance) or tousled (ala early Madonna) or smother (ala Molly Ringwald), the bob was a popular look. Shelley wore various lengths and versions of the bob throughout the 1980s, and was, of course, was always very chic.

how to achieve Shelley's hairdo,

the "Breezy" look,

from Good Housekeeping magazine,

August 1983

The Angels and the Racer 5

Shelley Hack, Cheryl Ladd

and Jaclyn Smith in 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.

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 as Tiffany Welles in Look-In mag's

Charlie's Angels comic/picture strip, 1980

Fashionable Mirrored Case

Shelley in promo pics

for Charlie perfume, 1976 and 1977

Shelley first became famous in the 1970s as THE Charlie Girl. In 1976, she was hand-picked to represent the Revlon Charlie brand, as she was the embodiment the brand's ideal – gorgeous, sexy and young. Makeup artist Rick Gillette recalls, "Shelley Hack was really the perfect girl for Charlie." In 1977, she appeared in a newspaper ad for Charlie called  "Here's looking at you... with 'Charlie's Show-Case' dividend." It was a promo that offered the Charlie's Show-Case, a fashionable mirrored boutique box/case that contained 3 shades of Charlie's dazzling eye shadows, Charlie's crème blush, Charlie's frosted lip gloss, Charlie's Fresh New Makeup, and 3/4 oz. of Charlie's purse perfume. It was available for just $6 with any $5 or more purchase from the Charlie Collection by Revlon. Now wasn't that a great Charlie purchase.

an artwork of Shelley in a newspaper ad

for Charlie perfume and cosmetics, 1977

1985 Movie Premiere

a paparazzi pic of Shelley (with Harry Winer)

attending a Hollywood film premiere

in January of 1985

Shelley was a working actress in the 1980s. She had gained Hollywood stardom in 1979 when she was cast as Tiffany Welles in Charlie's Angels. By the 1980s, she was appearing on various stage, TV, and the big screen projects; and she was often spotted and captured by the paparazzi at events around Hollywood. In 1985, she attended the premiere of The Falcon and the Snowman at the DGA Theatre in West Hollywood. She attended the premiere with director Harry Winer, her future hubby. 

a short writeup about Shelley

with future husband Harry Winer

(identified as "admirer")

attending a Hollywood film premiere

in January of 1985

Comedy Is Difficult

Shelley with Dick Van Dyke

and Sid Caesar in a promo pic

for the TV movie Found Money, 1983

Shelley appeared alongside comedy legends Dick Van Dyke and Sid Caesar in the 1983 TV movie Found Money. Shelley found both Dick Van Dyke and Sid Caesar "very generous to work with" but had to keep up with the their pace. "You had to work so fast, because everything was left loose," she told TV Guide. "I felt like I kind of jumped on a moving train," she added. "Shelley," Van Dyke said, "is a trained actress. All her background is in drama, whereas I come from the other side. So everything I do is comedy. I find drama very hard to do. Shelley finds comedy difficult to do." To which Shelley half-seriously and half-jokingly replied, "I don't think you find it (drama) difficult. I think you find it different. Besides, I saw lots of drama in the motor coach this morning." The chemistry between the two was evident. Shelley later guest-starred in the Dick Van Dyke series Diagnosis Murder, in the 1997 episode "Looks Can Kill."

a writeup about the TV movie

Found Money, 1983