Kathie Lee Gifford recently chatted with People about her new book, ‘I Want to Matter: Your Life Is Too Short and Too Precious to Waste.’ The actress also recalled how a ‘cruel’ casting agent told her she wasn’t pretty enough to star in ABC’s ‘Charlie’s Angels’ in 1979.
Gifford went for an audition to replace Kate Jackson despite being sick with flu at the time. The agent told her:
“‘Let me tell you right now, you’re not right for ‘Charlie’s Angels.’ Because we’re looking for a pretty girl.’”
She looked back on the experience:
“I started to see, first of all, what a bitch she was. What an unnecessary bitch she was. She didn’t say ‘Sorry, honey, have a nice life. You’re not what we’re looking for.’ She had to be cruel. She had to be the exact opposite of what my dad taught me to be. The fact that I remember her name to this day is because she was so cruel.”
The History of ‘Charlie’s Angels’
The role Gifford had auditioned for was eventually given to Shelley Hack. Hack was replaced after one season by Tonya Roberts due to a drop in ratings. Farrah Fawcett and Jaclyn Smith also starred on the show.
‘Charlie’s Angels’ ended 1981 after five seasons but inspired a film franchise in later years. Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu, and Drew Barrymore joined the cast for the film remake in 2000 and returned in 2003’s ‘Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle.’
A rebooted TV series featuring Minka Kelly, Annie Ilonzeh, and Rachael Taylor followed in 2011 but was cancelled due to low interest. A new film series with Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott, and Ella Balinska in 2019 didn’t get a sequel for a similar reason.
