She was the first of the Charlie’s Angels to be cast in the ’70s series and she was the main character in the script for the 1976 made-for-TV movie Charlie’s Angels.īut late in development, the actress wanted Sabrina and Jaclyn Smith became Kelly. One major difference between the pilot development and the final product of Charlie’s Angels was that Kate Jackson was pegged to play Kelly Garrett.
Kate Jackson Was First Cast As Kelly, Not Sabrina: Meryl Streep filled in the role and ended up winning the Oscar for Best Actress in the highest-grossing movie of the year. Kramer, and was forced to drop out of the film. However, the producers would not accommodate her shooting Kramer vs. She scored the groundbreaking emotional role in the 1979 drama Kramer vs. The wild success of Charlie’s Angels opened doors for Kate Jackson but she was contractually obligated to the shooting schedule of Charlie’s Angels. Kate Jackson Turned Down The Role That Made Meryl Streep’s Career: In one meeting, the Alabama actress looked at a painting of cherubs hanging behind Spelling’s desk and thought aloud, “How about Angels?” The show then became Harry’s Angels, but the existence of a series called Harry O forced the final edit to Charlie’s Angels. But Jackson, who had some creative input in the development, was no fan of the title. The Name “Angels” Was Her Idea!Īfter her popular role on the series The Rookies, producer Aaron Spelling secured Jackson as the centerpiece of his next series, an action show about three female private investigators. Eventually, the actress got some dialogue… and a role in the spin-off movie Night of Dark Shadows. Her first line of dialogue was not uttered for about five weeks as she was playing the ghost Tracy Collins on the show. Jackson honed her skills in summer stage shows and landed her first role on the popular daytime vampire soap opera Dark Shadows and most interestingly admitted in an interview that it was one of her first ever auditions.Īs Daphne was initially introduced as a restless, revenge-seeking spirit, Jackson did little more than stand around and grimace at other characters from the shadows.
The Alabama native began her college education at the University of Mississippi, but she eventually bolted for New York City and studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.Īfter graduation, Kate Jackson’s first legit acting role would be Daphne Harridge on the supernatural daytime soap opera Dark Shadows. To support herself, the future actress got employed as a page at NBC and as a tour guide at the network’s headquarters: Rockefeller Center Studios. She was an only child.Īfter deciding to forgo higher education – following stints at both the University of Mississippi and Birmingham Southern College – Jackson shifted to New York City where she learned acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.Īt the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, she attempted to break into the performing arts world with no money at all. Education: University Of Mississippi (withdrawn), Birmingham Southern College (withdrawn), American Academy Of Dramatic Artsīorn as “Lucy Kate Jackson”, Jackson came into this world on October 29, 1948, in Birmingham, Alabama to father and businessman Hogan Jackson and her mom Ruth (nee Shepherd) Jackson.Born In: Birmingham, Alabama, United States.Here are some interesting things about the actress! Kate Jackson: Interesting Facts About The “Charlie’s Angels” Actress Quick Facts: The cancer survivor has continued to appear on the small screen into the new millennium even though she first made her screen debut nearly 50 years ago, on a certain spooky soap opera. King” on The Scarecrow or as Robin in James at 15. Kate Jackson was a mainstay of 1970s and ’80s television and most know her as Sabrina Duncan, the whip-smart investigator on Charlie’s Angels.