Charlie's Angels star Jaclyn Smith at 80 – 4 marriages, cancer shock and legacy

Blending high octane crime fighting with kooky fashion, fast cars and enough hairspray to punch a hole in the ozone layer, Charlie’s Angels took 1970s audiences by storm. Celebrating the US show’s 50th anniversary this year, Jaclyn Smith, who played Kelly Garrett, reveals the series was originally meant to be about three leather clad women wearing whips and chains, living in a sleazy alley. Now 80, Jaclyn says: “The original title was meant to be The Alley Cats. The idea was framed around our co-star Kate Jackson, as she had worked with US television producer Aaron Spelling before and he wanted her for his new project. When Kate went into Aaron's office one day her eyes drifted to a painting on his wall which had some angels in it and she said, ‘alley cats are out...the Angels are in’”. As well as influencing the show’s concept, Jaclyn says of Kate: “She also came up with the show's central idea of having the famous speaker box on the desk where a man, our boss, would talk to you, but you would not see his face. Kate was very smart and very shrewd." Launching on September 22, 1976, the show followed the crime fighting adventures of three sassy investigators. Originally played by Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn, they worked at an LA private detective agency for their unseen mysterious boss, Charlie Townsend, voiced by former Dynasty star John Forsythe. Debuting on the ABC network, Charlie’s Angels was a game changer for actresses working in American TV. Jaclyn says: "You had never seen undercover female officers before. The network thought it would bomb, as they thought we had invaded the male genre. “But Aaron Spelling was clever and he knew beauty was not enough, so he wanted enough danger to keep you leaning forward. People thought on Charlie's Angels we were exploited, but our characters were moral and loyal. We were girlfriends who stood by each other. We were three women in the lead roles instead of three men. Before, women were just seen as the nurse or the secretary. "I did not understand why people thought we were just Barbie dolls. Yes, we had pretty clothes and fancy hairstyles, but it was more than that. The show was about fellowship and sisterhood. I am a breast cancer survivor. Yes your family suffers right along with you, but who sees you through? The power of girlfriends. They are the ones who take you to lunch and you talk it out." At first, the producers didn’t want the women to be armed. But, after a while, they changed their minds and Jaclyn and Farrah, who’d never handled a gun, had to learn how to hold one. Jaclyn says: “Aaron decided ‘they are cops, so they are going to carry guns’. "Pretty soon we were taking down 200lb men and none of us weighed more than 110lb. There was magic and Aaron understood what the public wanted to watch." Famous for their edgy style, pin-up Farrah often went braless, wearing sheer blouses, for her character Jill Munroe - while Jaclyn wore sharp jackets, furs, silk shirts and tailored suits. Jaclyn says Kate, who played Sabrina Duncan, kept to turtle necks and was never seen in a swimsuit. But she adds: “Our clothes were fantastic. Our designer loved silks and gowns from the 1940s. The clothes were eye-catching, but the seventies was a melting pot of fashion. It had the Boho style and we wore everything on that show." Yet, despite the liberating roles, Jaclyn says Farrah, who died of cancer aged 62 in 2009, had it written into her contract that she could leave at 7pm - to go home and cook her husband’s dinner. She says: "Farrah was supposed to be able to leave at 7pm, because she was married to the actor Lee Majors, who played The Six Million Dollar Man on TV. Lee wanted her home in time to cook dinner.” Regularly pulling in 20 to 23 million viewers per episode, Jaclyn says: "There was no cable TV like there is today, so half the televisions in America were tuned into our show. We were in every magazine, in every grocery store.” And, despite often working 18 hour days, she says she “loved it.” But, despite its runaway success, at the end of its first season Farrah quit, feeling creatively stifled. Cheryl Ladd replaced her as her little sister, Kris Munroe, but Jaclyn feels Farrah regretted leaving. She says: "She did come back for three seasons as a guest star. But Cheryl came in and was amazing. It was a winning concept. I always used to say Farrah Fawcett's hair was the fourth Angel." Charlie’s Angels was finally cancelled in June 1981 after five years, following declining ratings, cast changes and changing tastes in TV. Then, 19 years later in 2000, a Hollywood movie reboot starring Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu, won a new generation of fans. And in 2003, Jaclyn took a cameo in the sequel, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, as well as making a guest appearance in the 2019 Gen-Z remake, starring Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott and Elizabeth Banks. She says: "The story of Charlie's Angels just had some magic. I had to turn down a few roles because of it, like Mrs Robinson in The Graduate on Broadway, but the show was a threshold for me and opened many other doors." After the original series ended, Jaclyn became a "face" for make-up giant Max Factor, before launching her own clothing and home goods line through the shopping giant Kmart. To date, more than 100 million women across America are said to have bought her branded clothing. Speaking at an 92Y Talks event in New York, she says Charlie’s Angels helped make her business a success. Mum to son Gaston, 44, and daughter Spencer, 40, by her third husband, British cinematographer Anthony B. Richmond, the grandmother-of-three was married for the fourth time in 1997, to Dr Brad Allen. She met the paediatric heart surgeon in 1990 when he operated on her father, Jack - dating him for seven years before getting hitched. She says: "The greatest love comes when you are not looking for it. We lived apart for 17 years. He had to win my family over, but he is the best stepfather for my children I could ever dream of." Putting her glamorous appearance at 80 down to healthy living, sleep and being loved Jaclyn adds: "People ask me how I stay looking young and the answer is eating well. I don't drink, I don't do drugs. I am a goodie two shoes. "I am still the girl from Texas who sweeps the driveway and, at my age, I am still fortunate enough to be still doing it. I am still fortunate to do a movie now and then. After all these years. It is fun to be still challenged and go towards the fear. I say ‘go where the fruit is’". But Jaclyn sees Charlie’s Angels as her legacy. She says: "We all miss Farrah. I was close to her at the end of her life. She never lost hope and had courage. She was funny until the end and laughter sees you through so much.” Now, five decades after the Angels launched, she says: “I think it gave women a chance to imagine themselves as brave and think outside a conventional role. We paved the way for women in television.” *Jaclyn Smith's new memoir, I Once Knew A Guy Named Charlie, is released October 8, priced £20.