She’s been dubbed an Angel, the Queen of the Mini-series, The Most Beautiful Woman in America, and The World’s Best Dressed Woman. Now, Jaclyn Smith is adding yet another moniker to the list: Birthday Girl.
Happy Birthday, Jaclyn Smith!
And that’s because she was born on October 26, 1945, in Houston, Texas, which means that this talented actress and businesswoman is turning 75 years old today! Though initially set on a career as a psychologist, Smith’s aspirations shifted and she instead pursued jobs in the performing arts world.
She quickly found employment as a model, commercial actress, and spokesperson. She touted the benefits of products such as Listerine, Breck Shampoo (for which she earned the sobriquet “The Breck Girl”), and, much later, Wella Balsam shampoo.
Smith made her film and acting debut with a cameo appearance in the romantic comedy-drama Goodbye, Columbus in 1969. A year later she appeared in another feature, The Adventurers, as well as an episode of the comedy series The Partridge Family.
Subsequently, Smith guest-starred in episodes of McCloud (1973), Get Christie Love! (1975), Switch (1975), and The Rookies (1975), and she appeared in both theatrical films – such as 1974’s Bootleggers – and made for television movies like Probe (1972) and Sin, American Style (1974).
In 1976, Smith was cast as Kelly Garrett in a two-hour movie of the week titled Charlie’s Angeles. Her fellow co-stars included Farrah Fawcett Majors (whom Smith had worked alongside as a proponent of Wella Balsam products) and Kate Jackson (whom Smith had worked opposite in an episode of The Rookies).
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The project – which followed the exploits of three female private investigators working under the auspice of a reclusive multi-millionaire – proved so popular that a sustained television series was ordered.
The continuation would run for a full five seasons, spawn a plethora of merchandise, and become a touchstone of American television. Smith would remain the only cast member for the duration of Charlie’s Angles run as well as the only actress to reprise her part in later film continuations.
After the series’ conclusion, Smith continued to appear in a number of television movies, miniseries, and theatrical releases – most notably the biographical work Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (1981), Sidney Sheldon’s Rage of Angeles (1983), Deja Vu (1985), In the Arms of a Killer (1992), and several adaptations of Danielle Steel novels – including Kaleidoscope (1990) and Family Album (1994).
Outside of her acting, Smith is well known for her entrepreneurial endeavors, specifically her decades-long association with the retail chain KMart. First, she introduced her own line of women’s apparel, and later she branched out into home furnishings. In 2008, she partnered with Paula Young Wigs and launched her own line.
Smith has been married to cardiothoracic surgeon Brad Allen since 1997. She has two children – sons Gaston (born in 1982) and Spencer Morgan (born in 1985) – from a previous marriage to filmmaker Tony Richmond.
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