Jaclyn Smith
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| Jaclyn Smith | |
 Jaclyn Smith |
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| Birth name | Jaclyn Smith |
| Born | October 26, 1947 (age 59) Houston, Texas, United States |
| Spouse(s) | Brad Allen |
| Official site | www.jaclynsmith.com |
| Notable roles | Kelly Garrett in Charlie's Angels |
Jaclyn Smith, born Jacquelyn Ellen Smith on October 26, 1947, Houston, Texas, United States is an American actress. She is best known for the role of Kelly Garrett in the television series Charlie's Angels (1976-1981). Smith was the only original female lead to remain with the series for its complete run. For two decades, Smith has held the unofficial title of Queen of TV Movies and Mini-series. She has appeared in over two dozen highly-rated television movies and miniseries.
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[edit] Biography
Smith was born in Houston, Texas to Jack Smith and Margaret Ellen Hartsfield.[1][2] Her father was a Roman Catholic Irish dentist[citation needed], and maternal grandfather was a Methodist minister.
Her first acting venture outside the Angels mold was the CBS TV movie of the week Escape from Bogen County (1977). Then came the lead role in the highly anticipated version of Joyce Haber's The Users with Tony Curtis and John Forsythe in 1978.
In 1980, she starred with Robert Mitchum in the suspense thriller Nightkill while divorcing husband actor Dennis Cole. The movie was a big disappointment for Smith, as it was touted as her first big screen role. The movie was largely unreleased in the cinema and was released on tv right after. But Smith's performance in the movie was lauded by critics.
She then starred in the blockbuster tv movie Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy and received a Best Actress nomination from the Golden Globe awards but lost to Jane Seymour for the TV remake of East of Eden. Smith's JBK film is still one of TV's Highest Rated TVMovie of All Time[citation needed].
Then in 1983, Sidney Sheldon's Rage of Angels arrived on her doorstep. Smith was so popular that fans all over the world begged Sheldon to re-write the storyline that required Smith's character's son to die; there was a sequel in 1986.
Other blockbuster hits were Sheldon's Windmills of the Gods, Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Identity with Richard Chamberlain, Florence Nightingale, George Washington, Settle the Score, and several TV versions of Danielle Steel novels. Her then-husband Tony Richmond also directed her in the feature film Deja Vu.
In 1989, Smith had the title role in Christine Cromwell, a mystery television series based in San Francisco which only lasted one season, but whose cast included such esteemed actors as Celeste Holm, as Christine Cromwell's oft-married mother, as well as Theodore Bikel. More recently, Smith had a recurring role on the series The District, which starred Craig T. Nelson.
Since 1985, Smith has designed and promoted a clothing line for Kmart, which sells the clothes in its Kmart stores. Her fashion collection alone sold more than 300 million units since its debut. Smith now sells shoes, watches, and accessories. A few years ago, Smith started another business venture -- her home furnishing business and it's now being sold all around America.
Smith has been married four times; to actors Roger Davis (television actor) (1972-1975) and Dennis Cole (1978-1981), to filmmaker Tony Richmond (1981-1989), and to surgeon Brad Allen (since 1997). Smith has two children, Spencer Margaret and Gaston, from her marriage to Tony Richmond. She battled breast cancer successfully.
Smith reprised her Kelly Garrett role in a short cameo in the 2003 Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle feature film.
[edit] Trivia
Comic strip artist Sy Barry drew the luscious Diana Palmer, wife of The Phantom, after Jaclyn Smith.
People named her twice in their annual list of the Most Beautiful People 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 Who's Face Most Women would like to have. Jaclyn Smith top the list. Then in 1985, McCalls named her as one of America's 10 Best Bodies.
TV Guide magazine readers voted Jaclyn Smith as the Most Beautiful Woman on television in 1991.
In the April 1984 issue of People, Jaclyn Smith was voted as one of the Ten Great Faces of Our Time. Film producer Robert Evans said that Smith comes closest to perfection in her eyes, hair, and facial structure.
CBS rejected Smith's idea of playing Gone with the Wind author Margaret Mitchell in the movie version of the book Road to Tara. Years after, Shannen Doherty starred in NBC's bio of Mitchell.
