There have been many Charlie's Angels over the years, from the original TV series to the movie reboots. One of the most long-serving actors in the show is Cheryl Ladd, who played Kris Munroe on Charlie's Angels for four seasons, from 1977 to 1981. Ladd replaced Farrah Fawcett, who starred on the first season of the show, and she knew she had big shoes to fill. In fact, Ladd turned down the part at first, but when producer Aaron Spelling suggested she play Fawcett's character's sister, she was on board.
"That’s when I knew I had a character I could play and that I was family. It gave me that little edge of people accepting me," Ladd told CNN in 2019.
And the rest is history. Now, Ladd is forever associated with the action series, and she's proud of it. But, Charlie's Angels is far from Ladd's only role. Read on to learn more about her career, family life, and other passions.
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She's still really busy as an actor.
Tinseltown / ShutterstockLadd was already working in the business prior to Charlie's Angels, even though she wasn't yet a household name. "I’ve always said I was a seven-year overnight success," she told Closer in 2020. She had appeared on shows including The Partridge Family and Happy Days and did some voice acting on the Josie and the Pussycats animated series.
After Charlie's Angels, she had roles in movies including Purple Hearts, Millennium, and Poison Ivy, and series including One West Waikiki, Charmed, Las Vegas, and The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. Most recently, she has appeared in a few TV Christmas movies.
She wrote two books.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty ImagesLadd has written two books. In 1996, she wrote The Adventures of Little Nettie Windship, a children's book about a boat that teaches a steam ship about respecting the environment. In 2005, she published Token Chick: A Woman's Guide to Golfing with the Boys, which is about her love of golf.
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She's now a grandmother.
Kathy Hutchins / ShutterstockLadd has been married twice. She was married to her first husband, David Ladd, from 1973 to 1980. She wed her current husband, Brian Russell, in 1981. She and her first husband welcomed a daughter, Jordan Ladd, who is also an actor, and Cheryl also became stepmother to Russell's daughter, Lindsay. "I now have three grandchildren because [Lindsay] has kids, and I love being a grandmother!" Ladd told Closer in 2018.
Ladd and Jordan acted together in the 2018 movie The Christmas Contract. "It was the most time we’ve spent together since she left home,” Ladd told Closer. "We’re great friends and have adult-women conversations. She’s unlike anyone else and knows how to make me laugh."
Ladd also works with her husband: They share a custom home business called Cheryl Ladd Signature Homes.
She sees the continuing impact of Charlie's Angels.
Paul Archuleta/Getty ImagesLadd told Closer in her 2020 interview that Charlie's Angels fans tell her that the show inspired them in their lives and careers. "What’s amazing is when people come up to me and say things like, ‘I wouldn’t have been a police officer without Charlie’s Angels. You girls inspired all of us and women firefighters, doctors and all kinds of people,'" she said. "They were just inspired by those three ‘Angels.’ I just feel so proud that it had an impact on women that was just so virulent and it’s joyful."
She's still good friends with Jaclyn Smith.
GONZALO/Bauer-Griffin/GC ImagesJaclyn Smith, who starred in all five seasons, was the only Angel to stick around on the series longer than Ladd. The co-stars are still close today. "We see each other all the time," Ladd told Fox News in 2021. "I see her in LA all the time when I’m there. We have lunch and we hang. We talk all the time on the phone. We ended up being really good friends. Lifelong friends."
