When Charlie's Angels debuted in 1976, it was an instant classic, and made household names of its three primary leads, Jaclyn Smith, Kate Jackson and Farrah Fawcett.
The show's immense success catapulted them to superstardom, and the endorsement deals, benefits and offers came pouring in, with some a bit more salacious than others.
In her new memoir, I Once Knew a Guy Named Charlie, Jaclyn, now 80, recalled some of her favorite and least favorite memories of working on the groundbreaking action drama, plus some of the many stories associated with that period.
© Getty Images"Overnight we were on the cover of every magazine, every tabloid," she recalled of their profiles skyrocketing at the time. "We were offered six-figure endorsement deals."
In fact, at one point, the three leads were even approached to do a nude photoshoot for the cover of a magazine. "Hustler magazine offered us a million dollars each to pose nude (we declined)," she penned, although doesn't dive deeper into the tale.
And it extended far beyond magazine shoot offers. Once, when Farrah wore a pair of Nike sneakers on the show, they all quickly reaped the rewards. "The next day, we were each sent boxes and boxes of sneakers," she remembered.
© Getty Images"If I wore a hat or a pair of sunglasses, we'd be inundated with samples from designers. Farrah was offered a deal to launch a jewelry line of faucet-shaped charms."
There were other benefits too. "When I took my nephews to Disneyland, we didn't have to stand in line. When I visited Martha's Vineyard, the hotel owner insisted we take out his yacht, no charge. If we wanted to eat at any restaurant, we could just walk in and get the best table."
Such was the immediate impact Charlie's Angels had not only at the time, but to this day, spawning a lucrative franchise and breaking barriers for women's roles on television, especially in action-centric vehicles and deviating from the "damsel in distress" trope.
© Getty Images"The network really thought, 'This is not going to go over on paper. This is a bomb. This is a man's world,'" Jaclyn recalled during an appearance at a panel at the 92nd Street Y to promote her memoir. "And we invaded the male detective genre. You never saw women go undercover or be police officers, and that in itself, when I read it, was interesting and different."
She continued: "Aaron Spelling, he knew that beauty wasn't enough. He wanted narrative, he wanted mystery, he wanted just enough danger to keep you leaning forward, but what he was really good at was casting."
© Getty Images"And I think he cast three girls that were totally opposite of one another. When you really think of the heartbeat of the show, it was this fellowship, this sisterhood – these three women who were emotionally independent, financially, but had each other's back."
