Kate Jackson Says She Was ‘Never Credited or Paid’ for Coming Up with the “Charlie’s Angels” Name (Exclusive)

Brianne TracyTue, April 21, 2026 at 5:32 PM UTC

0

Kate Jackson in 1976Credit: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty -

Kate Jackson came up with the name of "Charlie's Angels" after seeing an oil painting of angels in Aaron Spelling's office

Jackson says she was "never credited or paid" for coming up with the iconic name despite its massive success

The show's 1976 debut made Jackson and her co-stars Jaclyn Smith and Farrah Fawcett household names overnight

If not for Kate Jackson, Charlie's Angels might've been The Alley Cats.

At PaleyFest's 50th anniversary celebration of Charlie's Angels on April 6, Jackson recalled meeting with late producer Aaron Spelling and hearing his initial pitch for the show.

"I was looking down…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?'" Jackson said.

When Spelling stopped talking, Jackson said she told him, "I don't like that much."

"Aaron pointed at my pink revision pages and said, ‘Well, what's that? Have you got something?'" she recalled. "I said, ‘Well, yeah.' He said, ‘Let's hear it.' I stood up, and I didn't know how to start, so I said, ‘Okay, once upon a time…' The rest is history."

Aaron Spelling in 2005Credit: Chris Walter/WireImage

Jackson said an oil painting of three angels hanging in Spelling's office inspired her to suggest the women in the show be called Angels.

Now, Jackson tells PEOPLE she was "never credited or paid" for coming up with the Charlie's Angels name.

"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," she says. "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."

Advertisement

When Charlie's Angels debuted on ABC in 1976, it turned Jackson and her costars Jaclyn Smith and Farrah Fawcett into household names overnight.

"I was doing a Roger Corman movie in Sopchoppy, Fla., and the guy that I was going out with was visiting, and we watched the pilot on a black and white TV with rabbit ears in a motel room," Jackson says. "I just sat there for a minute, and I stood up and walked to the door and back. He said that I just sort of quietly said, 'My life is changed forever.' "

From left: Kate Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, David Doyle, Cheryl Ladd and Jaclyn SmithCredit: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

The next morning, she called to get the overnight ratings and was told the show "just went through the roof."

"I knew that was what was going to happen," she says. "And life did change forever. It really did, in a good way."

Jackson played Sabrina Duncan on the show for three seasons, until 1979. By that time, Cheryl Ladd had joined the group after Fawcett's departure following the first season.

"Whether it was the first year with Farrah or the second year with Cheryl, the three of us are the only ones who had that shared experience,” Jackson says. “It's something no one else could possibly understand.”

Jackson adds that the lasting Charlie's Angels fandom is "such a gift."

"I'm so grateful for it," she says. "It's made my life so much more full."

on People

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”