a paparazzi pic of Shelley, 1979
Shelley became Angel no. 5 in 1979 when she joined the cast of Charlie's Angels. Her character was Tiffany Welles, a classy Boston-bred policewoman who was the daughter of one of Charlie's oldest friends. She was chosen from among a bevy of beautiful actresses which included Priscilla Presley, Kim Basinger, Michelle Pfeiffer, Connie Sellecca and Shari Belafonte. In May of 1979, Bond Girl Barbara Bach was announced as the newest Angel. But it was quickly retracted and, by late-May of that year, Shelley was announced as Charlie's newest Angel. The newest 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.
Shelley with Jaclyn Smith,
David Doyle and Cheryl Ladd
in a promo pic for Charlie's Angels, 1979
The news of Shelley's casting quickly spread around the world and writeups about her were translated in many languages. She became Hollywood's newest Superstar even before she filmed one frame for the hit TV series; and she was written about in Latin America, Europe, Asia and all over. Images of her appeared everywhere and everyone was excited to see THE Charlie Girl as Charlie's newest Angel. And the paparazzi relentlessly pursued her after the announcement of her Angel-dom. "I was totally unprepared for the press 'bonanza' which followed," she said on Jane Pauley's show Time and Again in 2000. "I was surprised by the amount of attention," she said. "I had press people crawling in my window," she told E! in 2002.
a paparazzi pic of Shelley, 1979
