Shelley became a household name in 1979 when she joined the cast of Charlie's Angels. She went through all the things all the Angels before her went through, superstardom and constant media attention. She told People magazine in 1980, "I feel like I've been sunbathing on Three Mile Island." The very private star was under constant scrutiny by the press, viewers and critics alike. Her looks, her background, her lifestyle, and even her boyfriends were under scrutiny. After getting the part of Tiffany Welles in Charlie's Angels, the tabloids reported that her then boyfriend writer/director Nicholas Meyer dumped her. "I feel badly when I read things about myself that aren't true - like the fact that I just broke up with my long-time boyfriend writer-director Nicholas Meyer," Shelley told Screen Stories magazine in 1979, "That bothered me terribly. We're still very much together, and people print lies." The rumors started when Shelley wasn't cast as the lead in Meyer's thriller Time After Time. "That story upset me a great deal because the truth is I was the one who didn't want to do the movie," Shelley told People magazine in 1979. "After all, our relationship just started - what if we broke up in two months? He would have to be stuck directing me," Shelley explained.
