Charlie's Angels Actors You May Not Know Passed Away

In the mid-1970s, ABC was third in the ratings and in desperate need of a hit. They turned to producers Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg to bring a little bounce to "jiggle TV" (a derogatory term coined by rival NBC executive Paul Klein). What started life as "Alley Cats," then "Harry's Angels," ultimately became "Charlie's Angels," a show where the lead detectives were not male, but beautiful and smart females, a fresh idea in a time when feminism was in full swing. Spelling, reflecting on his own pioneering program, said, "These women did the legwork, fighting and collaring each episode's villain. In doing so they developed the type of buddy relationship previously reserved for male heroes."

The show became an instant monster hit with the public (but was trashed by the critics and true feminists), and the trio of unknown Angels, Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith, were soon known around the world. Everyone wanted a piece of the Angels, with crazed fans breaking into their houses, and people crashing their set, even once getting a visit from a different Charlie — Prince Charles. Yet after five seasons, 115 episodes (with eight costume changes per Angel per show), and the tumultuous departing of three of the Angels, the show came to an end — a fate that has also befallen four of the show's lead actors and several of their very special guest stars.

Here are the "Charlie's Angels" actors you may not know passed away.

While the Angels were the meat of the show, John Bosley (not to be confused with Tom Bosley) did all the unglamorous work for the Townsend Detective Agency, including being the butt of many jokes. Someone had to be the go-between for Charlie's voice in the box and the three lovely ladies, and gravelly-voiced actor David Doyle brought many smiles and much warmth to the role of everyone's "favorite uncle" Boz. While rarely the focus of any storyline — outside of Season 3's "Angels in Waiting" episode — Doyle knew his place, noting in an interview with the Associated Press, "I've wanted to do more on the show. It's true I've had to calm down my desire to do more." Along with Jaclyn Smith, he was the only actor to appear in every single episode. His efforts earned him an Emmy nomination in 1977 and a Golden Globe nod in 1980.

Doyle preferred working in theater over the delayed gratification of filmed entertainment, telling the Los Angeles Times, "It's a full, complete quilt — much more fulfilling than piecework." Yet he kept plenty busy onscreen in films like 1977's "Capricorn One" and other Aaron Spelling TV projects like "Fantasy Island," while also doing voiceover work. His final role was Grandpa Lou Pickles for 82 episodes on the animated series "Rugrats."

He died of a heart attack in 1997, at age 67.

When the Angels got some well-needed R&R in Hawaii during Season 5, they also ended up tackling four cases. Working in coordination with the sharp-dressed and equally sharp-minded Lieutenant Torres (Soon-Tek Oh) of the Oahu Police Department, they left no stone uncovered. Torres, the Angels and Bosley tackled cases involving drug smuggling, anarchist assassins, assaults on secluded beaches, and kidnapping.

The Korean-born Oh moved to America after receiving a scholarship to USC's cinema department, eventually earning an MFA from UCLA. Dissatisfied with the roles he and other Asian-Americans were being offered in Hollywood, he co-founded the theater company East West Players in 1965. In Esther Kim Lee's book, "A History of Asian American Theatre," Oh called EWP "a decisive influence in amending the debasing Hollywood image" of Asian actors.

1965 was also the year of his first credited screen role, on "I Spy." He worked steadily from there, assisting James Bond in "The Man with the Golden Gun," antagonizing Chuck Norris in "Missing in Action 2," and providing the voice for Mulan's father in the Disney animated film of the same name and its sequel. He acted as a sensei to Gary Coleman on "Diff'rent Strokes," and again opposite Chris Farley in 1997's "Beverly Hills Ninja." He also returned repeatedly to Hawaii, guest starring on "Hawaii Five-0," "Magnum, P.I.," and reuniting with Cheryl Ladd in 1996 on her show, "One West Waikiki."

The trailblazing Oh lost his battle with Alzheimer's disease in 2018, passing at age 85.

With matinee idol looks, Dennis Cole got down to both business and pleasure on "Charlie's Angels." His first role was on Season 1's "Dancing in the Dark," as a blackmailer with illicit photos who almost gets Kelly killed. His next job saw him as former astronaut James Britten, helping to identify suckers (and their money) looking for unidentified flying objects, who also lands on the radar of a keen Kelly. Cole completed work on the series in Season 3 as U.N. envoy Carl Hansworth, a skilled skier and possible kidnap target that the Angels aim to protect. They all hit the slopes while he and Kelly turn up the heat in their frosty surroundings.

If you notice that Dennis Cole's characters progressively got closer to Jaclyn Smith's Kelly, that's because it happened in real life too. They met on the set, took their relationship slowly over a 19-month courtship, married in the fall of 1978, had a rocky go of it, and divorced in 1981. Cole's son Joey (from a previous marriage) was murdered during a robbery attempt. The case remains unsolved, and Cole became an anti-violence advocate, even refusing to star in films that contained violence, which soon limited his hirability. He left Hollywood to work in Florida real estate, and died of renal failure in 2009 at age 69.

Some careers have "Charlie's Angels" as a pit stop along the way, but for actor Michael Witney, it turned into a swan song. He was a triple threat over the final three seasons, first playing murderer-with-a-leadpipe Ted Burton. That was followed by playing a thief named Stone, who kidnaps Kelly and a cop's abused son (long story). He wrapped his resume with a small role as an unnamed "Police Officer" in "Let Our Angel Live," which also served as the final episode of the series.

Witney made the most of his short 19-year career, slinging a lot of guns in Westerns on the small and big screens. His big first break was playing Buck Coulter on 1963-64 series "The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters," followed by guest roles on classics like "Rawhide," "Gunsmoke," and "Bonanza." He also co-starred with big guns Kirk Douglas and Robert Mitchum in 1967's "The Way West." More modern fare included a spot on "Star Trek," and playing drilling superintendent Frank Ward on the 1975 BBC series "Oil Strike North." 

In 1977, Witney married British model and actress Twiggy. The birth of their daughter Carly followed a year later. His drinking problems spun out of control and Witney tried to rehabilitate himself through Alcoholics Anonymous. But in 1981 he died of a heart attack at age 52, while taking Carly to a McDonald's in New York to celebrate her fourth birthday.

Character actor Richard Bakalyan started his triple crown of "Angels" roles as horse trainer Thad Roper in Season 3's "Angels in the Stretch" episode. He showed up the following season in "Avenging Angel" as Eddie Feducci, a buddy of an ex-con out to seek revenge on Kelly by doping her up with heroin. Bakalyan rounded out his tenure as Artie Weaver, a bodybuilding trainer who is marked for death in the series' penultimate episode, "Mr. Galaxy."

Bakalyan started his career playing juvenile delinquents, including one in Robert Altman's 1957 film directorial debut, "The Delinquents." He then gravitated to playing gangsters and tough guys in films, including 1964's "Robin and the 7 Hoods" with his pal Frank Sinatra. Besides his "Angels" stints, "Dicky B" (a nickname given to him by Frank's daughter Nancy) worked on several other Aaron Spelling productions, starting with "Johnny Ringo" in 1960 and ending with an episode of "Matt Houston" in 1984. One of his more high-profile roles was playing Detective Loach, who shoots Faye Dunaway in "Chinatown."

Bakalyan died in his sleep of a brain hemorrhage in 2015, at age 84.

Farrah Fawcett was the "perfect" L.A. blonde Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg were looking for when they cast her as sporty Jill Munroe, one of Charlie's three original "Angels." Perhaps the most famous Angel of them all, with a flip hairstyle everyone wanted and a body that sold endless pin-up posters, Fawcett had bigger things and screens in mind for her career and wanted to jump ship after only one season. A nasty contract dispute extended her character's life on the show for six additional episodes over the next two seasons, as Jill "resigned" to follow her passion of driving racecars. She was replaced by "sister" Kris, played by Cheryl Ladd, who stayed until the series ended.

Fawcett's big movie career didn't exactly pan out as planned initially, but when she eventually got the chance to play against her sultry type, Fawcett shined. She won raves and Emmy nominations for the two '80s TV movies "The Burning Bed" and "Small Sacrifices," and an Independent Spirit Award nod for 1997's "The Apostle." Her love life was almost as notorious as her career, thanks to her marriage with Lee Majors — who introduced her to Spelling — and her on-and-off love affair with Ryan O'Neal. O'Neal was with Fawcett until the very end, when she died from anal cancer at age 62 in 2009. She candidly documented her battle with cancer in "Farrah's Story," which aired a month before she passed.