Jackson starred in the Aaron Spelling-produced TV hit from 1976 to 1979.

Charlie’s Angels star Kate Jackson says she was ‘never credited or paid’ for coming up with the iconic show’s name

Jackson starred in the Aaron Spelling-produced TV hit from 1976 to 1979.

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

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April 21, 2026 8:41 p.m. ET

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'Charlie's Angels' stars Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson, and Jaclyn Smith. Credit:

- *Charlie's Angels* star Kate Jackson said at the PaleyFest L.A. event celebrating the show's 50th anniversary that she had pitched the idea of the women being called angels.

- As Jackson recalled, she had been inspired by a painting depicting three angels in producer Aaron Spelling's office. He had wanted to call them alley cats.

- The actress said she didn't mind she was "never credited or paid."

*Charlie's Angels** *star Kate Jackson says she did more than star in the classic '70s series — she named it.

A painting of three angels that storied TV producer Aaron Spelling had in his office gave her the idea that the main characters should be called angels, Jackson explained this month at a 50th anniversary event for the series held at PaleyFest. She passed on the idea to Spelling.

"I never heard of the words 'intellectual property,' and I thought in order to copyright something, you had to actually have the money to produce it," Jackson said. "But I'm still proud to have been part of it. I'm proud to have had an idea that kind of set the world on fire for a while. It was fun."

Jackson had met with Spelling to hear his idea for the series, which was still in its early stages. She wasn't a fan of what she'd been pitched so far.

"I was looking down," Jackson said, "while he was telling me the story of *The Alley Cats* thinking, 'That's the worst idea I've ever heard in my life. What's going to happen when I look up? Is my top lip going to stick to my teeth, or am I going to be smiling?'"

She steeled herself to push back, and that's when the *Mod Squad** *producer asked Jackson if she had any ideas of her own.

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As she told it, she was at a loss and simply began, "Once upon a time," which is what was eventually used for the opening of the series. She said she was "never credited or paid" for her contributions.

*Charlie's Angels *aired for five seasons, between 1976 and 1981.

Jackson starred as Sabrina Duncan on the first three seasons. Her costars were originally Farrah Fawcett, who left her full-time role on the series after season one, as well as Jaclyn Smith, a consistent presence on the ABC show, and Cheryl Ladd, who joined in the second season.

Kate Jackson at PaleyFest L.A. 2026.

Earl Gibson III/Deadline via Getty

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The story of the beautiful, butt-kicking private detectives certainly caught on.

*Charlie's Angels* was a ratings hit that was nominated for four Emmys during its run. It, of course, had a renaissance in the 2000s, when Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Lucy Liu did an action-comedy version, with a memorable soundtrack featuring Destiny's Child.

The story was rebooted again in 2019, with Elizabeth Banks in the director's chair. That time, Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott, and Ella Balinska played the main characters.

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