Saturday, June 29, 2024

Exciting New Opportunity

a closeup of Shelley from a promo pic
for Charlie's Angels, 1979

In late-May of 1979, the phenomenal-hit TV series Charlie's Angels had finally found a new girl to fill-in the slot left open by original Angel Kate Jackson. THE Charlie Girl Shelley Hack, Revlon's Supermodel, became the new Angel and was going to be introduced as a new character on the 4th season of the series. Charlie's latest heavenly recruit came with the approval of not just executive producers, Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg, but also of incumbent Angels Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd. "We hired her 40 percent from the screen test and 60 percent from the personality test," Spelling told TV Guide, "We decided she was a nice person with sparkle and intelligence." Cheryl Ladd said, "Shelley seemed like a doll and we were going to have a lot of fun working together." Jaclyn Smith said, "She was sort of like the debutante."

a short writeup about Shelley, 1979

Shelley said, "I remember there was a big Angel hunt going on, and they asked me to audition. The hunt seemed to go on for a long time. A lot of my girlfriends went in to be tested, but I wasn't involved until sometime later when my agent called and said, 'It's a terrific show - you really should think about testing.' So, I thought about it again and went in." And she won the role of Angel Tiffany Welles, whose father was a police chief in Boston and an old friend of Charlie. Excited about her new opportunity, Shelley signed a one-year contract with a four-year option. "Jackie, Cheryl and I hit it off immediately." Shelley said of her new co-stars, "Put your ear to the wall, all you'll hear is laughter." When Shelley's debut episode "Love Boat Angels" was aired, it topped the Nielsen ratings.

Shelley in a promo pic
for Charlie's Angels, 1979