Angels Wardrobe 1

screen caps of Shelley

from the Charlie's Angels episode

"Love Boat Angels"

1979 was a new era for the hit TV series Charlie's Angels. Supermodel Shelley Hack joined Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd to form Charlie's glamorous new Angel team. Nolan Miller, the wardrobe designer of the series, said, "I begged Aaron to hire Shelley. There was something about her I really liked; I was impressed with her Charlie perfume commercials and how she could create a look just by turning her collar up and putting her hands in her pockets." The wardrobe budget was increased to $20,000 per episode; and, according to People magazine, each Angel was to go through eight costume changes per episode (but it was more like three to five, with Farrah making the most - at eight changes - in "Fallen Angel").  But for the two-hour season premiere, the episode "Love Boat Angels," the Angels went through 10 outfit changes each. Shelley's outfits were tailor-made to highlight her physical assets as well as her classy character. She wore a woman's skirt suit and a woman's pants suit and a summer dress-and-blazar combo. In one scene, she wore an an ice blue silk satin evening gown by Nolan Miller (inspired by the Edith Head ice blue French silk satin gown worn by Grace Kelly to the 1955 Oscars), which she also wore for promo pics for that season. She wore a couple of one-piece bathing suits as well as a number of short Bermuda shorts, all of which highlighted her long Barbie doll legs. She also wore a tube top which highlighted her creamy, sexy shoulders. "Love Boat Angels" topped the Nielsen ratings when it was first aired in September 12, 1979 - and everyone concluded that Charlie's Angels was in for another great season.

screen caps of Shelley

from the Charlie's Angels episode

"Love Boat Angels"

A Relationship That Becomes An Adventure

a closeup of Shelley from a promo pic

for Jack and Mike, 1986

Shelley's third foray into series TV was Jack and Mike in 1986. Executive producer David Gerber believed so much in Shelley that he wanted to give her her own TV series. It was initially called Jackie O'Shea, with Shelley in the title role. But when it aired, it was retitled Jack and Mike - alluding to the names of the main characters Jackie Shea and her husband Mike Brennan (played by Tom Mason) - with both Shelley and Tom getting equal billing. Shelley was happy and excited about her new TV series. "I saw in the script a modern woman who really loves her job and really loves her husband and is trying to balance the two," she told ET in 1986. "I read this and I liked it so much," she added, "that I signed on the dotted line for five years, which is a big chunk of your life. And you don't sign on the dotted line for five years unless you really, really want to do it." Shelley also said that, "This is a couple with a growing relationship that becomes an adventure. And that's not easy." 

Shelley in a promo pic

for Jack and Mike, 1986

Hotpants 1

a closeup of Shelley in a pic

for The Hot Ones hotpants

by McCall's, 1971

Shelley appeared on many magazines and catalogs during her tenure as Supermodel in the 1970s. She appeared on many covers, fashion spreads, and sewing patterns for McCall's... for their magazines, catalogs, and pattern covers. In 1971, Shelley appeared on the package cover for The Hot Ones by McCall's which contained pattern number 2800, a pattern for three versions of hotpants or short shorts. Shorts A had a zippered front opening, buttoned waistband, belt loops and was self-cuffed. Shorts B had a zippered front opening, a button trim and buttoned waistband. Shorts C had a waist elastic and was self-cuffed. Shelley wore all three versions. She wore a navy and white version of Shorts A with a red, short-sleeved, scoop-necked, fitted T-shirt that had a fun appliqué on one shoulder.

Shelley in a pic wearing

The Hot Ones hotpants

by McCall's, 1971

The Angels and the Racer 6

Shelley Hack, Jaclyn Smith

and Cheryl Ladd in a promo pic

for Charlie's Angels, 1979

Look-In magazine was a kiddie/teen UK magazine that featured two-page comic/picture strips of the most popular television shows of the era. Subtitled as "The Junior TV Times," its first issue came out in 1971 and its final issue came out in 1994. Many popular American TV series were featured in the mag including Kung Fu, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, CHiPs, Battlestar Galactica, Mork and Mindy... and, of course Charlie's Angels.

From 1979 to 1980, during the airing of the 4th season of Charlie's Angels, Shelley's Tiffany Welles character was featured in the mag's Charlie's Angels comic/picture strip. Along with her co-Angels Kelly Garrett (Jaclyn Smith) and Kris Munroe (Cheryl Ladd), Tiffany solved cases for Charlie for several issues, two pages a week. Her first case debuted on November of 1979 and her final case ended on October of 1980. The mag also featured occasional writeups about Shelley as well as posters of her and the Angel team of that season.

Shelley as Tiffany Welles in Look-In mag's

Charlie's Angels comic/picture strip, 1980

Express Sweepstakes

Shelley in promo pics for Charlie

perfume and cosmetics, 1982

Shelley was THE quintessential Charlie Girl and appeared in many, many ads for the brand. In 1982, she appeared in a newspaper ad for Charlie called the "Charlie Express Sweepstakes" which was a promo tie-up with American Express. All anyone had to do was fill out an entry form at any Charlie counter to get a chance to win a fabulous 15-day trip for two to a faraway place of their choice along with "Mad Money" for their whims and fantasies. The promo also offered customers Charlie's "It's A Sky Blue World" color collection, a collection of cosmetics and nail polish in shades like South Sea Coral, Irish Rose and Charlie Frost. Included of course, was Charlie cologne. Offered as well was "A Trunkful of Charlie," a mini-steamer trunk which housed eye shadows, blushes, lipsticks, lip glosses, a shadow applicator and a split of Charlie cologne in a 6 oz. champagne bottle. And Shelley was gorgeous in the fabulous ad.

Shelley in a newspaper ad

for Charlie perfume and cosmetics, 1982

1983 TV Series

a paparazzi pic of Shelley, 1983

Shelley's second TV series was Cutter to Houston back in 1983. To promote the show, she made rounds and did interviews where she talked about her latest endeavor. One of the interviews she did was with Leta Powell Drake, a television journalist who interviewed entertainment and sports stars for the television station KOLN/KGIN in Nebraska (she interviewed many stars in the 1980s). Shelley discussed her role in the TV series and how much research she did to prepare for it. She also talked a little about her modeling career and her mother.

a paparazzi pic of Shelley, 1983

She Did Her Best

screen caps from The Charlie's Angels Fandom FB post

(thank you so much The Charlie's Angels Fandom

for supporting Shelley Hack)

Shelley became Charlie's 5th Angel Tiffany Welles in 1979, during the 4th season of the hit TV series. And she won the part of Tiffany not just because she was known as THE Charlie Girl at the time (although that was a big help), but because she passed a rigorous audition process. She went through several acting auditions (note: while she was modeling, she was also studying acting in New York, at the Herbert Berghof Studios under Jack Wolzer). She went through a personality test (the producers probably wanted a more relaxed and peaceful set). And she came with the approval of Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd, her future co-Angels.

But it seems Shelley Hack has been unfairly blamed for the demise of Charlie's Angels ever since the time she appeared on the show. Many of the show's fans have said "not very nice things" about her, her appearance and her acting. But many of the things that transpired during her season were not really in her control.

Charlie's Angels was entering its 4th season when Shelley joined the show. Shelley's Charlie Girl image was a huge publicity boost for the 4th season. But unlike Cheryl Ladd who joined the show in season 2, Shelley had a harder time endearing herself to the Charlie's Angels viewers.

Cheryl Ladd did a phenomenal job replacing Farrah Fawcett during the show's 2nd season. She was gorgeous, charming, and vivacious. But she also had an advantage at the time. Charlie's Angels had only been on for one season when she joined the show, so the premise and novelty of the series was still at an all-time high. Some people hadn't discovered the series yet, so when watching it for the first time starting with the 2nd season (there was no streaming in the 1970s), the idea of the show was still fresh. Plus, Farrah Fawcett's abrupt departure from the show somewhat tainted her image and turned off some fans which may have worked in Cheryl's favor.

Shelley in a "Portrait of the Month" poster

that appeared in Rona Barrett's Hollywood mag,

January 1980

Shelley didn't have this advantage. Charlie's Angels had already slipped in the over-all ratings- from #4 in season 2 to #12 in season 3 - so it was an uphill battle for her. Not only was she joining a show whose premise and novelty were becoming stale, she was replacing a character and actress who had a solid fan base. Shelley was still an up-and-coming actress.

Plus, although she passed the acting auditions, and although she had already gone through acting school in New York, producers didn't have faith in her acting ability, so much so that her lines were kept to a minimum early in the season. According to producer Ed Lakso (whose pick for Tiffany was Shari Belafonte), the persona of Tiffany and the performance of Shelley did not create the desired effect; so, he kept pulling lines away from her when they were filming the season opener "Love Boat Angels." So Shelley’s introduction to the Angels viewers became somewhat lackluster.

In addition, the incumbent cast wanted more time off, so single Angel episodes (episodes that focused on one Angel) were produced. This would have been okay, but Jaclyn's, Cheryl's and even guest Angel Farrah's solo episodes were all aired before Shelley's. This is the reason most viewers had the impression that Shelley added nothing to the show. After the 2nd episode, the team episode "Angels Go Truckin'", a barrage of solo episodes starring Jaclyn (two episodes), Farrah (two episodes) and Cheryl (one episode) were aired. This kept Shelley in the background for a long time. It was only during the 10th episode (which, due to replays, was aired during the 12th week) was Shelley allowed to shine in her solo episode... which seems too long a time to introduce a new character. And, sadly, Shelley did so well in her solo episodes. It's really a shame they were aired so late on the season. (For more, check out: Recommended Episode Order)

Shelley in a promo pic

from 1979

So please, stop blaming Shelley for the demise of Charlie's Angels. There were many things that were not in her control and she was only hired to be an actress. Unlike Kate Jackson, who had a hand in creating Charlie's Angels, Shelley had no such influence. She did her best with what was given her.

P.S. Something to ponder on:

Shelley was The Charlie Girl before, during and after her stint on Charlie's Angels. She most likely had a contract with Revlon that kept her from changing her appearance without their approval. The new Angel team consisted of two blondes and a brunette. Previously, it was two brunettes and a blonde. In 1976, when the pilot was tested, the audience couldn't tell the two brunettes apart. So, when the Angels went into series, Kate Jackson's hair was cut to a bob to distinguish her from Jaclyn Smith. Since, most probably, Shelley couldn't cut her hair due to her Revlon contract, it was curled instead to make it look shorter and distinguish her from Cheryl Ladd, which many viewers weren't fond of.