In 1980, after a year in the hit TV series Charlie's Angels, Shelley was ready to move on (and her character, Angel Tiffany Welles, left the Townsend Agency, deciding to stay East for a while). But Shelley was determined to make the most of the opportunities that fell on her lap as a result of her instant Angels superstardom. "I didn't want to leave Los Angeles without doing something good," she said. So, she first tackled stage (in the plays Vanities and Close Ties) and won critical praise for her efforts. Then she got the part of a lifetime... a supporting role in a Martin Scorsese film (The King of Comedy) opposite Robert De Niro. Shelley read for both Scorsese and De Niro, then went home and waited. After four months, her agent called and told her she got the part. "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." The movie was going to be shot on location in New York and New Jersey; but then production was delayed. Shelley said, "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."
