AGELESS ANGEL
THE STAR REVEALS HER BEAUTY SECRETS
Jaclyn Smith’s beauty secrets
It’s been more than 40 years since Jaclyn Smith, Farrah Fawcett and Kate Jackson first came together as Charlie’s original angels, but looking at a fit and fabulous Jaclyn today, you’d never know four decades have passed.
As the latest reboot of the beloved Charlie’s Angels franchise premieres – this time starring Twilight’s Kristen Stewart (29) and Pitch Perfect’s Elizabeth Banks (45) – Jaclyn, now 74, says her incarnation of angels set the tone for sexy, street-smart women.
“The feminists didn’t like us because they said we were Barbie dolls prancing around,” she muses. “We wore pretty things, but we didn’t flaunt our sexuality. It wasn’t salacious.”
These days you can find Jaclyn, who played Kelly Garrett, holed up at her fabulous Los Angeles estate. Apart from the odd cameo she doesn’t act much anymore, instead focusing on her low-cost fashion collaborations, with her eponymous line at Kmart still going more than 33 years after its first collection. In fact, Jaclyn was one of the first actresses to lend her brand and profile to a retail venture.
But it was her turn as one of Charlie’s angels for which she’ll forever be remembered. Jaclyn says that she, Farrah and Kate shared a tight friendship, a bond that remained the same even after the other two moved on and were replaced by Cheryl Ladd, Shelley Hack and Tanya Rogers.
“We went across that bridge, and in the blink of an eye our lives changed. To be in a hit show, that’s rare. I guess that’s why we’re still talking about it 40 years later,” she says.
“Farrah was this luscious pinup but very innocent,
Kate was cerebral and outspoken. I remember being described as a soft cushion between analytical Kate and flashy Farrah.”
The original angels were also there for each other when all three developed cancer – a strange quirk that wasn’t lost on them. “We were all like, ‘What the heck happened? Were we drinking a certain water?’” she asks.
Today, Jaclyn’s the picture of health − she doesn’t smoke or drink and eats “lots of berries and vegetables” − and lives a comfortable, though not ‘flashy’, life with her fourth husband Brad Allen, who’s a heart surgeon.
“You’re looking at a cleanliving girl,” she says, adding that she’s never had any plastic surgery – though she is a fan of lasers and peels.
“There are little things I’d like to do but Brad doesn’t want me to; he knows surgery can go wrong.”
And while her face is destined to remain plastic-free, Jaclyn plans to spend the rest of her days working and enjoying life.
“I remember once saying, ‘I really want to challenge myself.’ And, believe me, I got that wish. I feel very proud at my age to still be doing it all.
“But if it all ended tomorrow, I’d be a happy woman.”