Retired actress and television producer Kate Jackson, best known as an original Charlie’s Angels cast member, reunited with Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd for the show’s 50th anniversary celebration at the annual PaleyFest in Los Angeles, CA, on April 6.
Jackson, 77, sported a black pantsuit, a white top, minimal jewellery, and a pair of black and white sneakers. Speaking at the event, she hinted at a comeback. Variety quoted her as saying:
“I was directing, I came home, and my son was very little. I realized I couldn’t be a good director and a good mom at the same time. So, I walked away and became a full-time mom. I’m glad I did it. I’m ready to go back!”
For nearly two decades now, she has stayed away from the limelight and focused on raising her only child, Charles Taylor. Before that, Kate Jackson was married thrice.
Her last onscreen appearance was as Ambassador Elizabeth Prentiss in a 2007 episode of Criminal Minds. Two years later, she attended the funeral of her Charlie’s Angels co-star Farrah Fawcett in Los Angeles.
Kate Jackson made a rare appearance at Jaclyn Smith’s son, Gaston Richmond’s wedding in August 2023. In fact, she was part of the celebratory reel posted by Smith (now aged 80) on her Instagram, captioned:
“There is nothing like family, and ours grew this weekend! I’m so endlessly proud of my son, Gaston, and am wishing him and Bonnie [Lane] a lifetime of happiness.”
Kate was seen posing with the newlyweds, Jaclyn, and her husband, Brad Allen.
Kate Jackson: Personal life, children, and more
In the mid-1970s, Kate Jackson was engaged to and lived together with actor Edward Albert. However, the romance was short-lived. For the next few years, she was linked to Hollywood stars Warren Beatty and Nick Nolte.
In February 1978, Kate began dating film executive, producer, director, and actor Andrew Stevens, before marrying him in August. It ended in a divorce less than three years later. Back then, Jackson was quoted as saying:
“I felt as if my ex-husband drove up to my bank account with a Brink’s truck.”
A year later, Kate Jackson tied the knot with NYC businessman David Greenwald and launched Shoot the Moon Productions Company, which was behind the actress’ Golden Globe-nominated CBS series, Scarecrow and Mrs King (1983-1987). The marriage lasted for nearly two years.
During a 1989 vacation, Kate Jackson had a chance encounter with Utah-based ski lodge owner Tom Hart. The pair fell in love and walked down the aisle two years later. They divided their time between Park City and Los Angeles. The third marriage was also unsuccessful by the end of 1993.
Jackson never remarried. Instead, she chose to become a single mother to her son, Charles Taylor, whom she adopted in 1995 and raised in a farm in Keswick, Virginia.
Over the years, the Night of Dark Shadows actress has also been linked to dermatologist Arnold Klein, screenwriter-filmmaker-producer Tom Mankiewicz, and actor Gary Pedergast.
Elsewhere in her personal life, Kate is a two-time breast cancer survivor (1987 and 1989). Since then, she has undergone a partial mastectomy and reconstructive procedures.
Jackson played the role of Sabrina Duncan in the first three seasons of Charlie’s Angels from 1976 to 1979. She later told Closer Weekly the reason behind her departure:
“I’d had it with Hollywood’s long hours, the politics, the backstabbing, and the gossip. It was not a great town for having your feet on the ground and living a normal 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.”
Kate Jackson added:
“My life was all geared to work, even though those people around the country know me and like me, they aren’t in my living room at the end of the day when I’m lonely and hassled.”
Following the recent reunion, she told PEOPLE that she has a “real, genuine care… real love” for Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd:
“It doesn’t go away. It’s just there. You don’t question it. You might not think about it every day, but you don’t question it. It’s just there.”
Meanwhile, Smith announced her memoir, I Once Knew a Guy Named Charlie, in March. At the time, she said it would share “behind-the-scenes stories” from the origin and making of the iconic ABC show and her “longtime friendships with co-stars.”
Charlie’s Angels have had multiple reboots since the original came out in the ‘70s.
Edited by Pallavi K