Jaclyn Smith, one of the original three “Charlie’s Angels” and the personality behind America’s most enduring Hollywood celebrity brand, doesn’t miss a step.
She’s celebrating the 50th anniversary of the “Charlie’s Angels” television series, which ran from 1976 to 1981. She recently launched fashion jewelry, extending the Jaclyn Smith collection beyond ready-to-wear, fragrance, fabric and wig categories into a lifestyle brand. And in the fall, her memoir, “I Once Knew A Guy Named Charlie,” published by Simon & Schuster, will be released. With all that, a schedule of public appearances on talk shows and at book stores is revving up.
In April, three of television’s Charlie’s Angels — Smith, Kate Jackson and Cheryl Ladd, who replaced the now-late Farrah Fawcett — were reunited and honored at PaleyFest, the festival commemorating hit TV shows and their casts. The Angels were on a panel, taking questions, recounting episodes from the show and addressing they are all breast cancer survivors and support cancer research. The celebration continued The Paley Honors gala last May at New York’s The Plaza hotel.
When “Charlie’s Angels” debuted on TV, “we were just three girls looking for an audience. Who would have dreamed that we would have the following we had?” Smith said in an exclusive interview with WWD. “‘Charlie’s Angels’ was a training ground. It opened up many doors and a beautiful business enterprise for me. So here we are 50 years later and I feel great.”
The original “Charlie’s Angels”: Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith.
Courtesy
Smith also played the lead role in the TV movie “Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy,” starred in the 1988 miniseries “The Bourne Identity,” and had roles in movies such as “Goodbye Columbus,” “Florence Nightingale” and “Rage of Angels.” She also had cameo parts in the “Charlie’s Angels” movies, and has graced hundreds of magazine covers, including Harper’s Bazaar, People and Time, once with the Angels, and again alone when she was pregnant with her son, for a story on Baby Boomers.
“My favorite cover of all time was Vogue by Richard Avedon on ‘The American Look’ [in 1979]. He didn’t overshoot. He knew exactly what he wanted, and then we had pasta with truffles for lunch.”
Jaclyn Smith on the cover of Vogue in 1979.
This month, Jaclyn Smith launched fashion jewelry through her own website, amazon.com, Walmart.com, superjeweler.com and specialty stores. The collection includes a luminescent gold-plated brass cuff bracelet, priced $19.99; split hoop earrings in gold, $12.99, and a moissanite solitaire necklace, $49.97.
“I am a jewelry lover. I’ve collected all my life,” Smith said. “This line is inspired by my personal jewelry and my mom’s jewelry. I mix it with my fine jewelry and you can’t tell the difference. It glitters. It sparkles. The price is right and it’s a good add-on to my apparel. Among her favorite pieces is the $19.99 gold-plated brass bracelet with knotted strands, which she says is reminiscent of Gucci from the 1960s. “Refined is the word. I didn’t want anything gaudy.” She also favors the moissanite studs, even though she doesn’t have pierced ears. “I am going to pierce them, even at my age. It’s time.”
The jewelry targets women in their 40s and beyond, said Andrew Fox, president and chief executive officer of Hansa USA, a vertically integrated fine and fashion jewelry licensing and manufacturing firm that produces jewelry for Smith, as well as Martha Stewart, Bruno Magli and the Wounded Warrior Project. “The Jaclyn Smith jewelry fits the personality of her demographic in a very specific way, with a woman who wants to wear something that’s larger and more beautiful, but still on trend and current, and not dainty, at a rather low cost. We visited with Jaclyn at her house and took pictures of her jewelry and derived from that. She’s just so unbelievably lovely and easy to get along with.”
Gold-plated cuff bracelet from the Jaclyn Smith jewelry line.
“She has a legitimacy for her consumer from the old days and the daughters of those consumers, with no pretense and with a sense of California elegance,” observed Ken Wyse of Wyse Consulting LLC branding and licensing, a firm helping Smith and other brands and designers grow their profiles and product categories. Wyse lined up the manufacturers licensed to produce the Jaclyn Smith ready-to-wear, fragrances and jewelry. “We’d like to get her shoe, accessories and eyewear licenses,” Wyse said. Fine jewelry with Hansa is being considered.
“Jaclyn Smith is a brand that’s been around for a long time, but it’s never really lost momentum or relevance,” added Lisa Schultz, a partner in Wyse. “The brand has a lot of reach.”
At PaleyFest, fans asked the Angels questions about breast cancer, about the time Smith had to turn down a leading role in a James Bond movie due to “Charlie’s Angels” contractual obligations. They also asked about specific “Charlie’s” episodes, like the one where the Angels were chained together in a prison, or where Kelly Garrett, played by Smith, was injected with drugs. “For that episode, I shed the glamour and played it with more depth.”
More significantly, “On the show we were doing what at that time was a man’s job. We worked for Charlie, but he did not control us. This was about women coming into their own. We were chasing danger instead of being rescued from danger. Women were never in this type of role before. But the heartbeat of the show was the bond between the Angels. Shakespeare it was not and we made no excuse for the glamour, but the Angels used their glamour to capture the bad guys. Today we need more to help us escape [from all the woes of the world]. I just watched the ‘Gilmore Girls.’ I couldn’t believe how delightful it was,” Smith said. “The dialogue was so crisp and sharp. It holds up today.”
Smith said the friendship between the Angels has “gone the distance” and that they keep in touch. When Fawcett left the show after its first season, “We were shocked and disappointed. But when somebody is not happy, how do you ask them to stay?” After a legal battle, Fawcett came back to the show for a few more seasons.
Smith’s overnight fame through “Charlie’s Angels” enabled her to launch her fashion collection in 1985, exclusively at Kmart. “I was involved in everything, from the cut to the prices to where the buttons were applied.” Her brand was one reason why Kmart survived despite mismanagement, bankruptcy and constant store closings over the years. The Jaclyn Smith collection disappeared for awhile until January 2023, when it relaunched on HSN. Her ready-to-wear also targets women 40 and older, with classic and on-trend items and a wide range of sizes that, as she says, “fits real people.”
“Branding has been plan B and has kept me very busy,” Smith said. “It’s easier to do a movie than have a brand. Branding is day to day. Business is day to day.”
She collects jewelry, including vintage pieces from Cartier and Tiffany, and antique watches and bracelets. “My husband loves to give me jewelry and always buy antique jewelry. My engagement ring was from the 1920s.” Deco is her favorite period.
She said her book delves into her Texas roots and her “idyllic childhood” in Houston riding her bicycle, playing Jacks and in the summer, riding horses on her uncle’s farm. “It was every kid’s dream. We didn’t have computers or cell phones. I want people to know how I grew up. My book hopefully captures family. That’s everything I am about.” There are also chapters covering her movies, actors, mentors and what people should know about fame.
“Fame is a crazy thing. It gives and it takes,” Smith said. But writing the book “was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I kept retreating from it.” At least with her personal life, “I am so private.”
