a modeling pic of Shelley
from the 1970s
Shelley joined the cast of Charlie's Angels in late May of 1979 and was quickly thrust into the Hollywood limelight. Of course, tongues immediately began wagging about Charlie's newest Angel. She was talked about in gossip columns, tabloids and entertainment shows. She wasn't getting along with her co-Angels, she wasn't pretty enough or sexy enough, she was breaking up with her boyfriend, she was so many things... She couldn't believe the spotlight she was suddenly in. When Angels filmed in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Shelley said, "When I got off the plane, there were maybe eight million paparazzi. I looked around for Sophia Loren. It was for me. I couldn't believe it."
a tabloid writeup about Shelley
joining the cast of Charlie's Angels
and more, 1979
Many magazine and tabloid reporters, as well as and paparazzi/photographers, rushed to get her story and her picture. Many things (true and untrue) were written about her. "Yesterday, I was a schnook, and today I can't get across the street" is how Shelley described her sudden rise to Hollywood megastardom. "It has been quite a whirl," she said. Her casting was even mentioned in the evening news - it was a huge deal. "I couldn't believe it. What was I doing in the evening news," she exclaimed at the time. "I had press people crawling in my windows," she told the E! Network in 2002.
Shelley in a promo pic,
walking her dog, 1978
