14 Vintage Photos of the “Charlie's Angels” Cast That Prove They Were the Most Chic Crime Fighters
14 Vintage Photos of the “Charlie's Angels” Cast That Prove They Were the Most Chic Crime Fighters
Stephanie SengweTue, April 7, 2026 at 6:29 PM UTC
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Cast of 'Charlie's Angels'Credit: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
The cast of Charlie's Angels recently reunited at PaleyFest — and fans were in heaven.
Premiering in Sept. 6, 1976, Charlie's Angels followed three women — Farrah Fawcett as Jill Munroe, Kate Jackson as Sabrina Duncan and Jaclyn Smith as Kelly Garrett — as they followed orders from an unseen character named Charlie, to fight crime and save the world on a weekly basis. (Cheryl Ladd would join in the second season as Kris Munroe after Fawcett's departure.) Though the show was initially dismissed as "jiggle TV" (as in, a TV show that uses scantily dressed beautiful women to boost ratings) it resonated with fans and became an timeless hit.
Three films have since been made following the original premise and on April 6, 2026, Jackson, Smith and Ladd delighted fans by reuniting to celebrate the show's 50th anniversary, proving it still has a soft spot in people's hearts. (Fawcett died in 2009 following a diagnosis of anal cancer.)
Below, check out 15 vintage photos of the cast of Charlie's Angels fighting crime and looking chic.
01 of 14
Sisters in Arms
Kate Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Jaclyn SmithCredit: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
With their flawless tresses blowing in the wind, the original trio (from left, Kate Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Jaclyn Smith) locked arms during a photoshoot in June 1976.
02 of 14
Ready for Action
Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn SmithCredit: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
Charlie's Angels premiered on Sept. 22, 1976. Above, Fawcett, Jackson and Smith strike their signature Angels pose during a photoshoot in the summer of '76.
03 of 14
Cover Girls
Charlie's Angel Cast on PEOPLE cover
Kate Jackson, Jaclyn Smith and Farrah Fawcett covered the Dec. 6, 1976 issue of PEOPLE Magazine, shortly after the show took off.
04 of 14
Skatergirl
Farrah FawcettCredit: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
Fawcett showed off her skateboarding skills during the "Consenting Adults" episode, in which she used the skill to escape from a racketeer's henchman.
Though she helped catapult the show to success, Fawcett left Charlie's Angels after the first season in pursuit of different creative and career opportunities.
"For me to have stayed, I would have been very unhappy and I don't think I would have done good work. We didn't have, in my opinion, the greatest writers on that show," she said in A&E's Biography: Farrah Fawcett Forever. "Creatively, I just felt stifled. So, it was time for me to leave."
05 of 14
The Power of Four
Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson, Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl LaddCredit: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
Exiting wasn't as easy as she thought it would be, however. A $7 million lawsuit for breach of contract was filed against her and she was obligated to appear in six more episodes throughout the remainder of the series as part of the settlement, per Biography.
Above, the actress is pictured with her costars while filming a season 3 episode titled "Mother Angel."
06 of 14
Cherly Ladd Enters the Chat
Cheryl LaddCredit: Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty
After Fawcett's departure, the network added Cheryl Ladd, who already had titles such as Josie and the Pussycats, The Partridge Family and Happy Days on her resume. However, her coming onto the show didn't go swimmingly. Ladd revealed she initially rejected the offer when Aaron Spelling asked her to join.
"I had worked for Aaron Spelling on a couple of things, so when Farrah was leaving, he called me and said, ‘Cheryl, I want you to replace Farrah. I want you to come in and be on the show,' " Ladd told Woman's World in 2019.
"I said, ‘Oh, thank you, but no thank you. I appreciate it, but no.’ I’m sure he was quite upset with me, because he had given me work before and just didn’t understand. So he went off and looked at hundreds of girls and finally called me back and said, ‘I can’t find the girl I want. I want you, Cheryl. Just come in and talk to me?’ So I did."
Instead of trying to replace Fawcett, who was a huge part of that debut season, they came up with the idea that Ladd's character, Kris Munroe, would play the little sister to Fawcett's character, giving her room to make mistakes.
"Now I knew who Kris Munroe was going to be and how to play something that wasn’t trying to be Farrah, other than the fact that Kris looked up to her big sister and thought she was wonderful and I got to love her with everyone else," Ladd explained.
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07 of 14
It Takes Five
Charlie's Angles CastCredit: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
Jackson, Fawcett, Smith and Ladd made a fierce team as they snapped a pic with David Doyle, who played Bosley, while shooting "Mother Angel."
08 of 14
On the Case
Cast of 'Charlie's Angels'Credit: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
Jackson, Doyle, Ladd and Smith and Smith analyze a case for season 2's "Angels on Ice."
09 of 14
How Chic!
Kate Jackson, Cheryl Ladd, Jaclyn SmithCredit: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
Week after week, the stars combined style and smarts.
"I mean, okay, we were young women who wore bathing suits and that was part of the draw, but they missed the whole other part," Ladd told Woman's World. "The part of empowered and highly intelligent women. Women who had to act on their feet and make quick decisions and look after each other."
10 of 14
Happy Girls
Jaclyn Smith, Cheryl Ladd and Kate Jackson,Credit: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
The Angels warded off crime in the tropics in this shot from season 2's "Angels in Paradise."
11 of 14
Ride of a Lifetime
Kate JacksonCredit: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
A cheerful Jackson was pictured on set while filming the season 1 episode, "Hellride."
"These two ladies are my sisters," Jackson told Good Morning America as she reunited with Ladd and Smith to celebrate the show's 50th anniversary at PaleyFest on April 6, 2026. "It feels like it was just yesterday."
She later added, "It really is such a gift. It's hard to imagine. It's emotional. I'm really feeling [emotional]."
12 of 14
Abs-olutely Fantastic
Jaclyn SmithCredit: Silver Screen Collection/Getty
Jaclyn Smith was pretty in pink while on set on 1978. Though the show was initially written off as "jiggle TV," the ladies have long defended its legacy and the barriers it broke for women on TV.
"It was three women chasing danger instead of being rescued from it, independent and not defined by the man in their life. It gave women permission to step out of the mold," Smith told GMA.
13 of 14
Shelley Hack to the Front
Cheryl Ladd, Shelley Hack, Jaclyn SmithCredit: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
After three seasons on the show, Kate Jackson left, partially because she wanted to regain some of her privacy. Her exit ushered in a new Angel, Shelley Hack.
Here, Ladd, Hack and Smith make a ferocious trio as they pose in ultra-glamorous fur coats.
14 of 14
Reunited and it Feels So Good
Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn SmithCredit: Mathew Imaging/FilmMagic
Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith delighted fans as they reunited, appearing hand-in-hand at the Aaron Spelling Tribute in 2006.
Fawcett died in 2009 at age 62, three years after her diagnosis of metastatic anal cancer.
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