Kate Jackson

For other people named Kate Jackson, see Kate Jackson (disambiguation).

Kate Jackson
Kate Jackson in 1976
Born	Lucy Kate Jackson (1948-10-29) October 29, 1948 Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Actress, producer, director
Years active	1969–present
Spouse(s)	Andrew Stevens ​ ​ (m. 1978; div. 1982)​ David Greenwald ​ ​ (m. 1982; div. 1984)​ Tom Hart ​ ​ (m. 1991; div. 1993)​

Lucy Kate Jackson (born October 29, 1948) is an American actress, director and producer, known for her television roles as Sabrina Duncan in the 1970s series Charlie's Angels (1976–79) and Amanda King in the 1980s series Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1983–87). Her film roles include Making Love (1982) and Loverboy (1989). She is a three-time Emmy Award nominee and four-time Golden Globe Award nominee.

Jackson began her career in the late 1960s in summer stock, before landing her first major television roles in Dark Shadows (1970–71) and The Rookies (1972–76). She also appeared in the film Night of Dark Shadows (1971). The huge success of her role as Sabrina Duncan saw her appear on the front cover of Time magazine, alongside co-stars Farrah Fawcett and Jaclyn Smith, while her role as Mrs. King won her Germany's Bravo Golden Otto Award for Best Female TV Star three times (1986–88). She went on to star in the short-lived television adaptation of the film Baby Boom (1988–89). She has continued to star in numerous TV movies, including Quiet Killer (1992), Empty Cradle (1993) and Satan's School for Girls (2000), a remake of the 1973 TV movie of the same name in which she also starred.

Early life and career

Jackson was born in Birmingham, Alabama, the daughter of Ruth (née Shepherd) and Hogan Jackson, a business executive. She attended The Brooke Hill School for Girls while residing in Mountain Brook and then went on to the University of Mississippi, where she was a member of the Delta Rho chapter of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, but during her sophomore year at the University of Mississippi, she moved to New York City to study acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Jackson worked as an NBC page at the network's Rockefeller Center studios and did summer stock at the Stowe Playhouse in Stowe, Vermont before landing a role as the mysterious, silent ghost Daphne Harridge on the 1960s supernatural daytime quasi-soap opera Dark Shadows. In 1971, Jackson had a starring role as Tracy Collins in Night of Dark Shadows, the second feature film based on the daytime serial. She was joined by her Dark Shadows castmates Lara Parker, David Selby, Grayson Hall, Nancy Barrett, John Karlen, and Thayer David. This movie was more loosely based on the series than House of Dark Shadows was, and it did not fare as well at the box office as the first film did. The same year, she worked with James Stewart in two episodes of the short-lived sitcom, The Jimmy Stewart Show.

She then appeared as nurse Jill Danko, wife of a character played by Sam Melville, for four seasons on the 1970s crime drama The Rookies. A supporting cast member, Jackson filled her free time by studying directing and editing. She also appeared in several TV films during this period. Jackson's performance was well received in the 1972 independent film Limbo, one of the first theatrical films to address the Vietnam War and the wives of soldiers who were POWs, MIA or killed in action (KIA). She also appeared in an all-star ensemble cast in Death Scream, a 1975 television dramatization of the circumstances surrounding a real-life 1964 murder as reported in a sensational article in The New York Times. Jackson hosted the thirteenth episode of season four of Saturday Night Live which aired in February 1979. During her monologue, she referred to being an NBC page ten years earlier where she did tours of the studio.

Charlie's Angels

In 1975, Jackson met with Rookies producers Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg to discuss her contractual obligation to star in another television series for Spelling/Goldberg Productions upon that show's cancellation. Goldberg told her of a series that was available—because "every network has passed on it", The Alley Cats. Spelling said that when he told Jackson the title of the series had to be changed and asked her what she would like to call it, she replied, Charlie's Angels, pointing to a picture of three female angels on the wall behind Spelling. Jackson was originally cast as Kelly Garrett (which ultimately went to her co-star Jaclyn Smith), but decided upon Sabrina Duncan instead. The huge success of the show saw Jackson, Smith and Farrah Fawcett-Majors (who played Jill Munroe) appear on the front cover of Time magazine. The show aired as a movie of the week on March 21, 1976 before debuting as a series on September 22, 1976.

At the beginning of the third season of Charlie's Angels, Jackson was offered the Meryl Streep role in the feature film Kramer vs Kramer (1979), but was forced to turn it down because Spelling told her that they were unable to rearrange the hit show's shooting schedule to give her time off to do the film. At the end of the third season, Jackson left the show saying, "I served it well and it served me well, now it's time to go." She was replaced by Shelley Hack.

Jackson starred opposite her Rookies co-star, Michael Ontkean, and Harry Hamlin in the feature film Making Love (1982), directed by Arthur Hiller. It was a movie some considered to be ahead of its time, and attempted to deal sensitively with the topic of homosexuality. However, it received tepid reviews and did poorly at the box office.

Scarecrow and Mrs. King

In 1983, Jackson accepted the starring role in Scarecrow and Mrs. King, a one-hour action drama in which she played housewife Amanda King opposite Bruce Boxleitner's spy, code-named "Scarecrow". Jackson also co-produced the series with Warner Brothers Television through her production company, Shoot the Moon Enterprises. It was during this series that she developed a keen interest in directing. When asked on the set one afternoon "What do you do tomorrow?", Jackson replied, "I don't work, I just direct." Scarecrow and Mrs. King was on the air from 1983–87.

During filming of the show's fourth season, in January 1987, Jackson elected to receive a mammogram for the first time, a test which led to the diagnosis of a small malignant tumor. This time, her series' producer—the only person she told about the diagnosis—worked with her to reschedule her work on the show. Checking into a hospital under an alias, her course of action was to undergo a lumpectomy. Jackson returned to the series a week later, working with the aid of painkillers through five weeks of radiation treatments.

1988 to 2003

Receiving a "clean bill of health", Jackson followed up the cancelled Scarecrow and Mrs. King by taking on the main role in Baby Boom, a 1988 TV sitcom version of the original movie starring Diane Keaton, but it lasted only one season.

In 1989, she starred in the film Loverboy playing Patrick Dempsey's mother. She had taken the job in order to work with the director, Joan Micklin Silver, having admired the work Silver had done on the film Hester Street.

In September 1989, another mammogram indicated residual breast cancer which the previous operation had missed. This time the course of action was a partial mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. “The range of emotions you go through is amazing”, she says. “But I made a conscious decision to be positive.” Jaclyn Smith cancelled a trip to New York City, meeting Jackson at her doctor’s office before she checked into the hospital. “I’d been crying before I got there,” says Smith. “Then I saw Kate, and she had a smile on her face. She said, 'We've gotten through other things, like divorces, and we'll get through this.' And we did.” When Jackson awoke after surgery, “The first thing I heard was good news. My lymph nodes were clean.” Back at home she read medical journals, switched to a macrobiotic diet and came to terms with her reconstructive surgery. “I'm never going to have the perfect body”, she says. “I'm not into facelifts and lip poufs. But I can wear a strapless evening gown, a bustier or whatever is required for a part.”

Jackson starred in several TV movies over the next several years, while working for breast cancer awareness. In 1995, on the heels of a night filming schedule on location, she checked herself into an Alabama hospital for tests due to a feeling of malaise and an inability to sleep. After several tests, Dr. Gerald Pohost, now head of cardiology at U.S.C., diagnosed that Jackson had been born with an atrial septal defect, a tiny hole in her heart which had previously gone undetected despite Jackson's active lifestyle. She underwent open heart surgery to correct the defect, although as cardiologist Dr. P. K. Shah related in a February 3, 2006, appearance with Jackson on Larry King Live, the current treatment no longer involves surgery.

Jackson has dedicated herself to speaking out on the subjects of breast cancer and heart health and in 2003, was awarded the "Power of Love" award by the American Heart Association for her work.

2004 to present

In 2004, the television film Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Charlie's Angels aired, with actress Lauren Stamile portraying Jackson. In August 2006, Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Jaclyn Smith, the three original Angels, appeared together in a surprise appearance at the 58th PrimetimeEmmy Awards in a tribute to the recently deceased Angels creator, Aaron Spelling, Shrine Auditorium.

In 2007, Jackson played Elizabeth Prentiss, the mother of FBI Agent Emily Prentiss (played by Paget Brewster) on Criminal Minds. In August 2008, she was a guest judge on an episode of Jaclyn Smith's Bravo reality series Shear Genius, presiding over a hairdressing competition to update the original trio's signature hairdos.

On August 3, 2010, it was announced that Jackson would be writing a memoir, to be published by Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon and Schuster. Titled The Smart One, the book was originally scheduled to be released on October 11, 2011, was delayed to February 1, 2015, and delayed yet again to December 30, 2020.

Personal life

In 1978, Jackson married actor, producer and fellow Southerner Andrew Stevens, the son of actress Stella Stevens; they divorced in 1982. She married David Greenwald of New York in 1982, but they divorced two years later. Her third marriage was to stuntman Tom Hart in 1991, but they also divorced two years later. In 1995, Jackson adopted a son, Charles Taylor Jackson.

In May 2010, Jackson filed a lawsuit against her financial advisor, Richard B. Francis, claiming his actions cost Jackson more than $3 million and brought her to financial ruin. In December 2010, the parties reached an undisclosed settlement.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1971	Night of Dark Shadows	Tracy Collins
1972	Limbo	Sandy Lawton
1977	Thunder and Lightning	Nancy Sue Hunnicutt
1981	Dirty Tricks	Polly Bishop
1982	Making Love	Claire
1989	Loverboy	Diane Bodek
1999	Error in Judgment	Shelley
2004	Larceny	Mom
2004	No Regrets	Suzanne Kennerly

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1970–71	Dark Shadows	Daphne Harridge	Main role
1971	The Jimmy Stewart Show	Janice Morton	"The Identity Crisis", "A Vote for Howard"
1972	The New Healers	Nurse Michelle Johnson	TV film
1972	Bonanza	Ellen	"One Ace Too Many"
1972	Movin' On	Cory	TV film
1972–76	The Rookies	Jill Danko	Main role
1973	Satan's School for Girls	Roberta	TV film
1974	Killer Bees	Victoria Wells	TV film
1974	Death Cruise	Mary Frances Radney	TV film
1975	Death Scream	Carol	TV film
1976	Death at Love House	Donna Gregory	TV film
1976–79	Charlie's Angels	Sabrina Duncan	Main role
1977	James at 15	Robin	"Pilot"
1977	The San Pedro Beach Bums	Herself	"Angels and the Bums"
1979	Topper	Marion Kerby	TV film
1981	Inmates: A Love Story	Jane Mount	TV film
1981	Thin Ice	Linda Rivers	TV film
1983	Listen to Your Heart	Frannie Greene	TV film
1983–87	Scarecrow and Mrs. King	Amanda King	Main role
1988–89	Baby Boom	J.C. Wiatt	Main role
1990	The Stranger Within	Mare Blackburn	TV film
1992	The Boys of Twilight	Miss Dutton	"Pilot"
1992	Quiet Killer	Dr. Nora Hart	TV film
1992	Homewrecker	Lucy (voice)	TV film
1993	Adrift	Katie Nast	TV film
1993	Empty Cradle	Rita Donohue	TV film
1993	Arly Hanks	Arly Hanks	Unsold TV pilot
1994	Armed and Innocent	Patsy Holland	TV film
1994	Justice in a Small Town	Sandra Clayton	TV film
1995	The Silence of Adultery	Dr. Rachel Lindsey	TV film
1996	The Cold Heart of a Killer	Jessie Arnold	TV film
1996	A Kidnapping in the Family	DeDe Cooper	TV film
1996	Panic in the Skies!	Laurie Ann Pickett	TV film
1997	What Happened to Bobby Earl?	Rose Earl	TV film
1997	Ally McBeal	Barbara Cooker	"The Kiss"
1997	Dead Man's Gun	Katherine Morrison	"Death Warrant"
1998	Sweet Deception	Kit Gallagher	TV film
1999	Twice in a Lifetime	Julie Smith / Mildred	"Double Exposure"
1999	Batman Beyond	Bombshell (voice)	"Mind Games"
2000	Chicken Soup for the Soul	Prof. Foley	"Making the Grade"
2000	Satan's School for Girls	The Dean	TV film
2001	A Mother's Testimony	Sharon Carlson	TV film
2002	The Zeta Project	Bombshell (voice)	"Ro's Gift"
2002	Sabrina, the Teenage Witch	Candy	"It's a Hot, Hot, Hot Hot Christmas"
2003	Miracle Dogs	Terri Logan	TV film
2004	Third Watch	Jan Martin	"In Plain View", "Higher Calling"
2006	Family Guy	Mrs. Amanda King (voice)	"Deep Throats"
2006	A Daughter's Conviction	Maureen Hansen	TV film
2007	Criminal Minds	Ambassador Elizabeth Prentiss	"Honor Among Thieves"

External links

• Kate Jackson at IMDb
• Kate Jackson at Allmovie