Jaclyn Smith Biography

Jacquelyn Ellen "Jaclyn" Smith (born October 26, 1945) is an American actress and businesswoman. She is best known as Kelly Garrett in the iconic television series Charlie's Angels, and was the only original female lead to remain with the series for its complete run (1976-81). Beginning in the 1980s, she began developing and marketing her own brands of clothing and perfume.

Early life

Jacquelyn Ellen Smith was born in Houston, Texas, the daughter of Margaret Ellen (née Hartsfield) and Jack Smith, a dentist. She graduated from Mirabeau B. Lamar high school in 1964. She attended Trinity University in San Antonio.

After college, Smith moved to New York City with hopes of dancing with the ballet. Her career aspirations shifted to modeling and acting as she found work in television commercials and print ads, including one for Listerene mouthwash. She landed a job as a "Breck girl" for Breck Shampoo in 1971, and a few years later joined another popular model/actress, Farrah Fawcett, as a spokesmodel for Wella Balsam shampoo.

Charlie's Angels

On March 21, 1976, Smith first played Kelly Garrett in Charlie's Angels; the show was aired as a movie of the week, starring Smith, Kate Jackson and Farrah Fawcett (billed as Farrah Fawcett-Majors) as private investigators for Townsend Associates, a detective agency run by a reclusive multi-millionaire whom the women had never met. Voiced by John Forsythe, the Charles Townsend character presented cases and dispensed advice via a speakerphone to his core team of three female employees, to whom he referred as "Angels". They were aided in the office and occasionally in the field by two male associates, played by character actors David Doyle and David Ogden Stiers. The program earned a huge Nielsen rating, causing the network to air it a second time and okay production for a series, with all of the principal characters save the one played by Stiers. The series formally debuted on September 22, 1976, and ran for five seasons. The show would become a smash success not only in the U.S. but, in successive years, in syndication around the world, spawning a cottage industry of peripheral products, particularly in the show's first three seasons, including several series of bubble gum cards, two sets of fashion dolls, numerous posters, puzzles, and school supplies, novelizations of episodes, toy vans, and a board game, all featuring Smith's likeness. The "Angels" also appeared on the covers of magazines around the world, from countless fan magazines to TV Guide (four times) to Time Magazine.

Fawcett departed at the end of the first season, and Cheryl Ladd was a successful addition to the cast, remaining until the end of the series. Jackson departed at the end of the third season, and proved harder to replace, as first Shelley Hack and then Tanya Roberts were brought in to try re-igniting the chemistry, media attention and ratings success enjoyed by the earlier teams. Smith played her role for all five seasons of Charlie's Angels until 1981, also portraying the Garrett character in a guest appearance in the 1977 pilot episode of The San Pedro Beach Bums, and in a cameo in the 2003 feature film Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. Christina Chambers portrayed Smith in the television film Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Charlie's Angels.

Career

Smith's first acting venture outside the Angels mold was the CBS-TV movie of the week Escape from Bogen County in 1977. Then came a leading role in Joyce Haber's The Users with Tony Curtis and John Forsythe in 1978. In 1980, Smith starred with Robert Mitchum in the suspense thriller Nightkill. Following the cancellation of Charlie's Angels in 1981, Smith starred in the title role of the critically acclaimed television movie Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, earning her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress. In 1983, Smith starred as Jennifer Parker in the TV movie Rage of Angels, based on the novel by Sidney Sheldon. The film was the highest rated in the Nielsen ratings the week it aired. Smith reprised the role in the 1986 sequel, Rage of Angels: The Story Continues.

Smith continued to appear in a number of television movies and miniseries during the 1980s and 1990s including George Washington, The Night They Saved Christmas (both 1984), Florence Nightingale (1985), Windmills of the Gods (1988) - another TV film based on a Sidney Sheldon novel - The Bourne Identity (also 1988); adapted from author Robert Ludlum's novel of the same name; Settle the Score (1989), Lies Before Kisses, The Rape of Dr. Willis (both 1991), In the Arms of a Killer (1992), and several TV versions of Danielle Steel novels, including Kaleidoscope (1990) and Family Album (1994).

In 1985, Smith starred in the feature film Deja Vu, which was directed by her then-husband Tony Richmond. In 1989, she played the title role in Christine Cromwell, a mystery television series based in San Francisco, but which only lasted one season. That same year, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

From 2002 to 2004, Smith had a recurring role as Vanessa Cavanaugh in the TV series The District. She reprised her role as Kelly Garrett for a cameo in the 2003 feature film Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, the only "angel" from the original series to appear in either film adaptation. In August 2006, Smith reunited with her angels co-stars Farrah Fawcett and Kate Jackson at the 58th Primetime Emmy awards in tribute to producer Aaron Spelling who died earlier that year. Her appearance there subsequently led Bravo TV"s producers to cast Smith as the celebrity host of Bravo"s weekly competitive reality series, Shear Genius, which began airing in March 2007. Smith hosted the show for its first two seasons.

In March 2010, Smith returned to acting after a five-year absence with a guest role on the NBC television drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. In March 2012, Smith guest-starred on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as Olivia Hodges, the mother of David Hodges (played by Wallace Langham).

Designing

In 1985, Smith entered the business world with the introduction of her collection of women's apparel for Kmart. She pioneered the concept of celebrities developing their own brands rather than merely endorsing others. A season 15 episode of The Simpsons ("The Fat and the Furriest") lampooned Smith's many business successes, portraying her as having her own line of axe heads. In May 2009, Smith allowed a documentary crew to profile her home life, design philosophy and relationship with Kmart in an online video series sponsored by Kmart. Her foray into home furnishings was extended to Kmart stores in the fall of 2008, with the chain's introduction of its Jaclyn Smith Today product line of bedding and bath accessories.

Personal life

Smith has been married four times. Her first marriage was to actor Roger Davis (1968–1975). She married Dennis Cole, an actor who had appeared on Charlie's Angels in 1977 and 1978. Cole appeared on the show two more times before the couple divorced in 1981. Cole's son from a previous marriage, Joe Cole, with whom Smith had maintained a relationship after her divorce from his father, was murdered in 1991 during a robbery; the case remains unsolved. Smith married filmmaker Tony Richmond in 1981, with whom she had two children, Gaston (born 1982) and Spencer Margaret (born 1985), before divorcing Richmond in 1989. Smith has been married to Houston cardiothoracic surgeon Brad Allen since 1997.

Smith battled breast cancer in 2003. In 2010, Smith was featured in 1 a Minute, a documentary about breast cancer.

On September 22, 2009, TMZ.com picked up a Honduran newspaper's false online report that Smith had been hospitalized in a private medical center there; TMZ later retracted the story, reporting that Smith was well and at home in California. Smith posted on her Twitter page, denouncing the Honduran newspaper story as false""Jaclyn is safe and home with her family. She is not in Honduras. It is a lie".

Filmography

Films

Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1969	Goodbye, Columbus	Wedding Guest	Uncredited role
1970	The Adventurers	Girl journalist Belinda
1972	Probe	Stewardess	TV movie
1974	Bootleggers	Sally Fannie Tatum
	Sin, American Style	Susan Cole	TV movie
1976	The Whiz Kid and the Carnival Caper	Cathy Martin	TV movie
1977	Escape from Bogen County	Maggie Bowman	TV movie
1978	The Users	Elena Scheider	TV movie
1980	Nightkill	Katherine Atwell
1981	Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy	Jacqueline Kennedy	TV movie Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Miniseries or Television Film
1983	Rage of Angels	Jennifer Parker	TV movie
1984	Sentimental Journey	Julie Ross-Gardner	TV movie
	George Washington	Sally Fairfax	TV mini-series
	The Night They Saved Christmas	Claudia Baldwin	TV movie
1985	Florence Nightingale	Florence Nightingale	TV movie
	Déjà Vu	Brooke/Maggie
1986	Rage of Angels: The Story Continues	Jennifer Parker	TV movie
1988	Windmills of the Gods	Mary Ashley	TV movie
	The Bourne Identity	Marie St. Jacques	TV mini-series
1989	Christine Cromwell: Things That Go Bump in the Night	Christine Cromwell	TV movie
	Settle the Score	Katherine Whately	TV movie
1990	Kaleidoscope	Hilary Walker	TV movie
1991	Lies Before Kisses	Elaine Sanders	TV movie
	The Rape of Doctor Willis	Kate Willis	TV movie
1992	In the Arms of a Killer	Maria Quinn	TV movie
	Nightmare in the Daylight	Megan Lambert	TV movie
	Love Can Be Murder	Elizabeth Bentley	TV movie
1994	Cries Unheard: The Donna Yaklich Story	Donna Yaklich	TV movie
	Family Album	Faye Price Thayer	TV movie
1996	My Very Best Friend	Dana	TV movie
1997	Married to a Stranger	Megan Potter	TV movie
1998	Before He Wakes	Bridget Smith Michaels	TV movie
1999	Free Fall	Renee Brennan
	Three Secrets	Diane	TV movie
2000	Navigating the Heart	Edith Iglauer	TV movie
2003	Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle	Kelly Garrett	Cameo appearance
2005	Ordinary Miracles	Judge Kay Woodbury	TV movie

TV series

Year(s)	Title	Role	Seasons	Notes
1976-81	Charlie's Angels	Kelly Garrett	1-5
1989-90	Christine Cromwell	Christine Cromwell	1
2002-04	The District	Vanessa Cavanaugh	3-4

TV appearances

Year	Title	Role	Episode titles	Notes
1970	The Partridge Family	Tina	"When Mother Gets Married"	Season 1, episode 5
1973	McCloud	Jackie Rogers	"Showdown at the End of the World"	Season 3, episode 4
1975		Margaret 'Ellie' Hart	"The Man with the Golden Hat"	Season 5, episode 6
	Get Christie Love!	Sari Lancaster	"A Fashion Heist"	Season 1, episode 20
	Switch	Alice	"Pilot Episode"	Season 1, episode 1
			"The Late Show Murders"	Season 1, episode 2
			"Death Heist"	Season 1, episode 7
	The Rookies	Judy March	"The Code Five Affair"	Season 4, episode 15
1977	The San Pedro Beach Bums	Kelly Garrett	"Angels and the Bums"	Season 1, episode 1
	The Love Boat	Janette Bradford	"A Tasteful Affair/Oh, Dale!/The Main Event"	Season 1, episode 2
2000	Becker	Megan	"The Wrong Man"	Season 3, episode 6
2001			"Pretty Poison"	Season 3, episode 14
2004	Hope & Faith	Dr. Anne Osvath	"Natal Attraction"	Season 2, episode 6
			"Stand by Your Mandi"	Season 2, episode 7
2010	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Susan Delzio	"Bedtime"	Season 11, episode 18
2012	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Olivia Hodges	"Malice in Wonderland"	Season 12, episode 18
			"Homecoming"	Season 12, episode 22

Tributes

• A number of style mavens and magazine polls have attested to Smith's popularity and declared her one of the most beautiful women in the world. The difficult-to-please Mr. Blackwell once named her "The World's Best Dressed Woman". In 1979, McCall's ran a poll of "Whose Face Most Women Would Like To Have"; Smith topped the list. Smith has had more #1 acting projects than any other actress in Hollywood, and she has often been called the "Queen of the miniseries".

• In 1985, McCall's named her as one of "America's 10 Best Bodies". People named Smith twice in its annual list of the "Most Beautiful People in the World". In the April 1984 issue of People, Smith was voted as one of the "Ten Great Faces of Our Time". In 1985, Ladies' Home Journal sampled 2,000 men and women in 100 different locations in the United States to determine "America's Favorite Women"; Smith came in the top of the list as the "Most Beautiful Woman in America", with actress Linda Evans coming in second. TV Guide magazine readers voted Smith as the "Most Beautiful Woman On Television" in 1991.

• Comic strip artist Sy Barry modeled the luscious Diana Palmer, wife of The Phantom, after Smith.

• The French band Air was inspired by Smith's Charlie's Angels character Kelly Garrett to record the song "Kelly Watch the Stars" for their critically acclaimed 1998 album Moon Safari, and the track was released as a single.