Charlie's Angels star Kate Jackson is not happy. The actor revealed recently that she didn't see any money from the show's merchandise over the past few decades.
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Charlie's Angels debuted in 1976 and ran for five seasons, eventually spawning a series of movies as well. It also spawn a merchandise empire with lunchboxes, posters, and even dolls. The merchandise used the likeness of actors like Jackson as their characters.
"Yeah, funny thing," she told Page Six. "All that merchandising, somebody got rich off of it, it wasn't the three of us! They'll have to figure that one out; some attorney can figure that out. Of course it annoys me."
'Charlie's Angels' Star Speaks Out
It's a sore topic for Jackson. But her Charlie's Angels co-star, Jaclyn Smith, isn't as bitter about the whole thing. The show helped Smith launch her own brand.
"I always say 'Charlie's Angels' was a gift," she explained. "It opened up a whole series of businesses. I do a lot of branding, and I design clothes and wigs and skin care and one thing after another! So, it gave me a backup plan.
"So, I don't really think about the merchandising, and I loved Aaron Spelling," she said. Spelling was the creative force behind the series.
Meanwhile, Jackson expressed surprise that Charlie's Angels remains popular. It's been 50 years since that original show first debuted.
"I think it's just kind of amazing that 50 years ago we somehow lit a fire that caught on all over the world and it's never been put out," Jackson said. "There has not been a day that Charlie's Angels has not been on television, in more than one place, since it went on the first night."
The three original Charlie's Angels were honored at an event for their legacy and contributions to TV.
"I hadn't done anything like PaleyFest for 20 years, so I was really nervous leading up to it," Jackson says. "I was told, 'What's going to happen is you're going to walk on stage, and the you that is the you that is built in is going to show up.' That's exactly what happened. It was a wonderful time."
