Where the Original Women From 'Charlie's Angel' Are Now and Why One Was Replaced

When you think of iconic shows from the 1970s that still live on in the zeitgeist of today, Charlie's Angels probably comes to mind. Whether that's because it got a big screen adaptation in 2000 and even had a sequel film is besides the point. Now, people are curious about where the original Charlie's Angels women are today.

The show ran for five seasons, with a shortened final season before it went off the air in 1981. However, during its time and for decades afterward, the show became known for its butt-kicking women who are also detectives, and the disembodied voice of Charlie, their boss at the Charles Townsend Agency. Fifty years after the show premiered, people are still talking about it. Here's where the cast is now.

Farrah Fawcett was one of the main women in the first season of Charlie's Angels. She played Jill Munroe, who, before she joined the agency, was a crossing guard after graduating from the police academy. Farrah left the show after the first season, however. She might still be synonymous with the series, and it arguably catapulted her into stardom, but she only returned briefly for a few episodes later on in the show.

According to Woman's World, Farrah left Charlie's Angels due to contract disputes, issues with how much she was paid, and her desire to seek out other roles. She was reportedly paid $5,000 per episode, which was less than co-star Kate Jackson. That's equal to around $28,000 today, but, per Woman's World, it was an issue for Farrah.

After Farrah left Charlie's Angels, she appeared in serious TV movies, including Nazi Hunter: The Beate Klarsfeld Story, Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story, and Criminal Behavior, per her IMDb. She also starred in the Emmy-nominated Lifetime miniseries Small Sacrifices. In 2009, Farrah died after a years-long battle with cancer.

Before Kate Jackson was cast as Sabrina Duncan on Charlie's Angels, she was already known as a TV and movie actor. So when she landed one of the starring roles, she was likely an important part of the cast for bringing in viewers in those early days. After just three seasons on Charlie's Angels, however, she left the show.

In 2022, she said, per Closer Weekly, that she left due to the long hours and "backstabbing and gossip." She also wanted to put more focus on her personal life.

"I finally had to say, 'Wait a minute, there's my life, and there's the show, and one is killing the other, so something has to go.' I sure as hell wasn't about to sacrifice my life for a television show," she told the outlet.

According to her IMDb, after Kate left Charlie's Angels, she was in her fair share of TV movies, similar to Farrah's own career. But she also landed a starring role in the TV series Scarecrow and Mrs. King, which lasted four seasons. She was also married and divorced three times, and she has one child, Charles Jackson, whom she adopted, according to Variety.

Jaclyn Smith was the third original woman from the first Charlie's Angels lineup. Before she was cast as Kelly Garrett, she was known for TV and print ads and modeling, so her face was likely familiar to viewers when they tuned in to the comedy action series. She was also the only member of the original lineup to stay with Charlie's Angels throughout its entire run.

After the show ended in 1981, Jaclyn appeared in plenty of TV movies and miniseries, which became the norm for many TV actors in the 1980s and 1990s. She even got a Golden Globe nomination for her role in Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. She married producer Anthony Richmond in 1981, but they divorced in 1989. They share two kids. In 1997, Jaclyn married a surgeon, Brad Allen. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002, but she was cancer-free after treatment.

Although Cheryl Ladd was not an official original Charlie's Angels cast member, she did join in Season 2 as Kris Munroe to replace Farrah. Kris was Farrah's character's sister, so her addition to the team made sense for the plot of the series. She remained on the show until it ended in 1981, so technically, she lasted even longer than OG Farrah.

Around the time the show ended, Cheryl married her second husband, music producer Brian Russell. She has one child, Jordan Ladd, who is also an actor. Cheryl privately battled breast cancer, which she shared during the PaleyFest 50th anniversary celebration of Charlie's Angels in April 2026.

"I have a wonderful husband," she said, per USA Today. "All through it, he was there for me at every turn, and that makes a difference. Eventually, I started to get little sprouts of hair. It was like, 'Oh, I'm getting hair!' It was a long, long, hard road. But you just get through. You just get on with it."