Fun Facts About ‘Charlie’s Angels’: $20,000-Per-Episode Wardrobe Budget and More

Find out what went on behind the scenes of TV’s classic detective show Charlie’s Angles.

Quick Casting

When actor Gig Young showed up too drunk to read his lines, John Forsythe got a late-night call to voice Charlie — which he did for 108 episodes.

They Cashed In

In 1973, Robert Wagner and his then-wife, Natalie Wood, made a heavenly deal with Aaron Spelling! They’d star in his TV movie The Affair … on the condition that they’d co-own a future TV series with him. The couple’s contract entitled them to a 50 percent cut of Charlie’s Angels profits.

Dressed for Success

Not only was there an unprecedented $20,000-per-episode wardrobe budget, but the actresses were allowed to choose and then keep many of their costumes. “They’d come in with huge lists of boutiques in Beverly Hills where they had thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise on hold,” Nolan Miller, the show’s costume designer, told The New York Times. “It was a nightmare.”

Once Was Enough

She appeared in the 1976 episode “Angels in Chains,” but when Kim Basinger was offered the part of Kris Munroe, she turned it down because she wanted to sing and do film.

In Every Episode

Jaclyn Smith and David Doyle (who played Kelly Garrett and Charlie’s assistant, John Bosley) were the only cast members to stay on for the show’s complete five-season run. “I just thought, ‘This is a great opportunity. I’m going to learn from this,'” Jaclyn told Archive of American Television, later published by the Television Academy. “I never thought it would be what it [became].”

Creative Differences

Farrah Fawcett‘s Jill Munroe became the show’s biggest draw, but the actress quit after just one season. “I just felt stifled,” Farrah, who made six guest appearances after being sued for breach of contract said, according to A&E’s Biography: Farrah Fawcett Forever.