Shelley Marie Hack (born July 6, 1947[1]) is an American actress, model, producer, and political activist. She is best known as the face of Revlon's Charlie perfume from the mid-1970s until the early 1980s, and for her role as Tiffany Welles in the fourth season of Charlie's Angels (1979–80).

Shelley Hack
Studio portrait (1979)
Born
Shelley Marie Hack

(1947-07-06) July 6, 1947 (age 77)
Education
Occupations
  • Actress
  • model
  • producer
  • political activist
Years active1975–present
Known for
Spouse
(m. 1990)
Children1

Early life

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Hack was born in Greenwich, Connecticut on July 6, 1947,[1] the eldest of six children. Her father was a Wall Street financial analyst, and her mother was a former Conover model. She graduated from Greenwich Academy and Smith College, where she spent her junior year studying archeology at the University of Sydney.[2]

Career

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Hack began her career as a teen fashion model whose first job put her on the cover of Glamour magazine. Later she became the face of Revlon's "Charlie" perfume from the mid-1970s until the early 1980s, during which it became the world's top selling fragrance.[3] Life proclaimed her one of the "million-dollar faces" in the beauty industry able to negotiate previously unheard-of lucrative and exclusive deals with giant cosmetics companies, were instantly recognizable, and whose names became known to the general public. Hack ranked among a handful of 1970s "supermodels".[4]

Hack's feature-film debut was a bit part in Woody Allen's Academy Award-winning film Annie Hall (1977) as "Street Stranger," followed by a leading role in the Joe Brooks romance drama, If Ever I See You Again ("A bomb", she admitted). Shortly thereafter she was cast as Kate Jackson's replacement on the television series Charlie's Angels playing the sophisticated character Tiffany Welles for one season (1979–1980). She beat out many competitors for the role, including Michelle Pfeiffer and Barbara Bach.[2] Although there was an initial rise in the ratings (her debut episode was number one in the weekly Nielson ratings), they began to decline. Responding to the fallen ratings, ABC released Hack from her contract in February 1980. A statement later issued by Spelling-Goldberg read: "When she signed her contract for the series, Miss Hack had a personal agreement that she could review her continuation with the show at the end of her first season since series television represented an enormous change in her career and lifestyle",[5] implying that Hack was included in the decision to exit Charlie's Angels. In an interview, Hack said, "They can say I didn't work out, but it isn't true. What happened was a network war. A business decision was made. Change the timeslot or bring on some new publicity. How to get publicity? A new Angel hunt. Who is the obvious person to replace? I am — the new kid on the block."[6] Hack later said she "never expected to be there more than a year and I wasn't. I did my year and I moved on."[7]

Hack thereafter played a variety of starring and supporting roles. She starred with Annette O'Toole and Meredith Baxter Birney in Vanities (1981), a television production of the comedy-drama stage play about the lives, loves and friendship of three Texas cheerleaders starting from high school to post-college graduation; it aired as a part of Standing Room Only, a series on the premium-television channel HBO. She received positive reviews for her portrayal of Cathy Long in Martin Scorsese's film The King of Comedy (1983). She had leading roles in two cult films: the comedy-horror film, Troll (1986) and the horror film The Stepfather (1987). She was also a regular on two short-lived TV series of the 1980s, Cutter to Houston (1983) and Jack and Mike (1986–87). In addition to several more notable appearances in film and television and on stage, she narrated the audiobook The Lord of Hawkfell Island, for which AudioFile stated "Shelley Hack's mellifluous voice brings this Viking tale alive."[8]

In 1984, Hack was hired to replace Paula Kelly and portray new public defender Christine Sullivan - who was going to be romantically involved with Judge Harry Stone (Harry Anderson} - on the sitcom Night Court, But when the series started shooting, Hack and producer Reinhold Weege realized there was a problem. "What happened was the role was changed, Instead of being a funny lady, as she was in the reading, they had changed her into a straight woman. It wasn't working, The concept just didn't work and that's what I told them...what's the point if it's not working?" Hack and the producer mutually and amicably agreed she would not continue with the series.  Ellen Foley was brought in for season two as a new character, public defender Billie Young. In season three Markie Post was hired to portray Christine Sullivan.

In 1987, Hack, a former smoker, was named the national chairperson for the National Lung Association's and American Medical Association's campaign to educate young women on the dangers of cigarette smoking.[citation needed]

Hack completed a master's degree in business administration from New York Institute of Technology[9] and shortly afterwards (unofficially) retired from acting.

In October 2000, appearing as herself, Hack returned to the Charlie's Angels Townsend Agency office as a guest host on Biography, which featured profiles of several Charlie's Angels stars during '"Hello Angels Week". In January 2008, Hack appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show in the episode, "Classic Americana",[10] that highlighted Hack as Revlon's Charlie perfume model in a 1976 television ad with Bobby Short at the piano.[11][12] "It was a time when women were changing," Hack said. "Women looked at [the ad] and said 'I want to be like that.'"[10] Additionally, referring to the Revlon Charlie commercials and Charlie's Angels, she said, "I was lucky. There were two things I was in that were about making women feel a little more empowered."[13]

Hack and her husband Harry Winer are co-presidents of the production company Smash Media, which develops and produces content for motion pictures, television and new media.[9]

Political activism

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Shelley Hack became a voting registration and polling station supervisor in the 1997 elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina and produced the first-ever televised presidential debates there as well. She also produced the debates in Sarajevo, Mostar, and the two in Banja Luka. In 1997, Hack founded the Shelley Hack Media Consultancy (SHMC), where she worked with the largest media conglomerate in Eastern Europe,[9] primarily focused on the television sector for 10 years, creating ethnically diverse television programs in Eastern Europe. She established herself as a media consultant for pre- and post-conflict countries. Among her duties was to help spread independent media such as newspapers, radio and television, citing the fact that with autocratic governments, the population is often fed state television, which delivers biased content. Additionally, she became a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy (PCIP), which is an independent, non-partisan, membership-based organization dedicated to global engagement.[14]

Personal life

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Hack has been married to film director and university professor Harry Winer since 1990. The couple have one child, daughter Devon Rose Winer (b. 1990).[15][16]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1977 Annie Hall Street Stranger
1978 If Ever I See You Again Jennifer Corly
1979 Time After Time Docent Narrator
1983 The King of Comedy Cathy Long
1986 Troll Anne Potter
1987 The Stepfather Susan Maine
1991 Blind Fear Erika
1992 The Finishing Touch Hannah
Me Myself & I Jennifer
1996 House Arrest Dr. Erica Gilliland, Ph.D. Uncredited

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1979 Married: The First Year Linda Episode: "An Old Friend"
Death Car on the Freeway Janette Clausen Television film
1979–1980 Charlie's Angels Tiffany Welles Main role, 26 episodes
1980 The Love Boat Carol Ketay Segment: "Dumb Luck"
1981 HBO Standing Room Only (SRO) Mary Episode: "Vanities"
1982 The American Sportsman Herself Episode dated July 4, 1982
1983 Cutter to Houston Dr. Beth Gilbert 9 episodes
Found Money (aka My Secret Angel) Leslie Television film
Trackdown: Finding the Goodbar Killer Logan Gay
Close Ties Anna
1984 Single Bars, Single Women Frankie
1985 Kicks (aka Destination Alcatraz) Maggie Pierson
1986–1987 Jack and Mike Jackie Shea 16 episodes
1988 Celebrity Chefs Herself Guest
1989 Bridesmaids Kimberly Television film
1990 Frederick Forsyth Presents Monica Browne Episode: "A Casualty of War"
1992 Taking Back My Life: The Nancy Ziegenmeyer Story Nan Horvat Television film
1993 seaQuest DSV Capt. Marilyn Stark Pilot/Episode: "To Be or Not to Be"
Not in My Family Becky Worth Television film
A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Wicked Wives Abby Walters-Morrison
1994 L.A. Law Lynn Barnett Episode: "Whose San Andreas Fault is it, Anyway?"
Tales from the Crypt Janet McKay Episode: "The Assassin"
1995 Falling from the Sky: Flight 174 (aka Freefall: Flight 174) Lynn Brown Television film
1996 Frequent Flyer JoBeth Rawlings Television film
1997 Diagnosis Murder Dr. Elaine Denell Episode: "Looks Can Kill"
TheraCel (Skin Care) Herself Infomercial
2000 Biography 5 Episodes: "Hello Angels Week"
Time and Again (TV series): Charlie's Angels Retrospective
2002 TV Tales: Charlie's Angels Documentary
2008 The Oprah Winfrey Show Episode: "Classic Americana"
Whatever Happened To...? Episode: "Alpha Females"
2017 The Real Mad Men of Advertising[17] Episode: The 1970s

Stage

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Year Title Role
1981 Vanities Mary
1982 Born Yesterday Billie Dawn
1983 Close Ties Anna
1989 Tamara Luisa Baccara

Discography/Audio book

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Year Title Role
1981 The First Family Rides Again A voice on the phone
1993 The Big Book for Our Planet Narrator
1993 Lord of Hawkfell Island (Viking Era, Book 2) Narrator

Home video

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Year Title Role
1990 The Celebrity Guide to Wine Herself
1993 The Celebrity Guide to Entertaining Herself

Production

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Year Title Role Notes
2011 Lucky Christmas Producer Television film
2015 Perfect Match Producer Television film
2016 Summer of Dreams Producer Television film
2017 Christmas in Evergreen Producer Television film
2017 A Bramble House Christmas Producer Television film
2018 Falling for You Producer Television film

References

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  1. ^ a b Cheryl Lavin (September 14, 1986). "Vital Statistics: Shelley Hack". Chicago Tribune (FINAL, C ed.). p. 7. ProQuest 24939531.
  2. ^ a b Smilgis, Martha (September 24, 1979). "Charlie's Latest Angel". People. 12. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  3. ^ Tobias, Andrew (1983). Fire and Ice: The Story of Charles Revlon, the Man who Built the Revlon Empire.
  4. ^ Best–Selling Beauties, Life October 1981, page 120
  5. ^ Gidlow, Steve (January 30, 2018). ""Charlie's Angels" Star Shelley Hack Finds Heaven at Hallmark". MediaVillage. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  6. ^ Jackovich, Karen G.; Smilgis, Martha (March 10, 1980). "Caught in the Nielsen Wars, Charlie's Latest Pearly Angel, Shelley Hack, Gets the Gate". People. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  7. ^ "Charlie's Angels". TV Tales. Primary Fusion Productions. E!. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  8. ^ "The Lord of Hawkfell Island". AudioFile. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  9. ^ a b c "About Us". Smash Media. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  10. ^ a b "Oprah show – Charlie Girl Shelley Hack". Archived from the original on February 26, 2008. Retrieved January 26, 2008.
  11. ^ Video of Charlie TV commercial on YouTube
  12. ^ RealVideo format of Charlie TV commercial
  13. ^ "Oprah show - Charlie Girl Shelley Hack". Archived from the original on February 26, 2008. Retrieved January 26, 2008.
  14. ^ "Happy Birthday To Greenwich's Shelley Marie Hack". The Daily Voice. July 6, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  15. ^ "Harry Winer - Director [ABOUT]". Archived from the original on March 3, 2009.
  16. ^ "Harry Winer – Associate Arts Professor". NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  17. ^ The Real Mad Men of Advertising S01-E03-The 1970s on YouTube
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