i know charlie’s angels, but who the heck is charlie???

Remember this picture?

No, this is not a movie from the black and white movie era….

Anyways, this picture will probably bring back memories for the older generation. The younger generation would probably know this picture:

Yes, the old black and white picture, is actually a photo of the original Charlie’s Angels series that aired from 1976 to 1981. Yes, there was colour tv back then. It’s just the photo that was taken in black and white, probably to make the photo have a more retro feel.

But anyway, in late June, when the ladies’ designs were launched, one of the designs that was launched had this statement:

sooooo… who the heck is Charlie???

You see, throughout the lifespan of Charlie’s Angels the series, and also in the subsequent reincarnation of the trio to the silver screen, the Angels have changed and been subject to updates…. However, the one constant in this whole hullabaloo is CHARLIE. Now, I dunno about you, but this question has been bugging us for quite a while now… and so we did some investigation, and this is the story about Charlie…

Charlie (from which the Angels get their title from), is the owner of the Charles Townsend Detective Agency, who actually recruits 3 (it’s always 3, don’t ask us why) beautiful ladies to work for him. What made Charlie so mysterious was the fact that he could handle these 3 strongheaded ladies, even though he’s NEVER met them!! All we are told is that Charlie is an ex-cop and a multimillionaire (how does that work out??) who rescued the 3 beauties from their dead end jobs as police officers who were actually doing secretaries’ work instead of solving crime and kicking bad butt.

Usually, Charlie is always seen from the back, sitting on a chair of some sort, sitting somewhere… and the most anyone would usually see is….his HAND

But when they show the Angels talking to Charlie, it’s always in the form of a speakerphone. So, technically it wouldn’t be wrong to say that this was pretty much Charlie’s face in the late 70s and early 80s:

And how he would’ve looked like in the movie that came out a few years ago:

Of course, it would easy to assume that Charlie was always played by some film extra who couldn’t act to save his life. But many would be surprised to find out that Charlie was played by the same person throughout the TV series. The actor who played Charlie wasn’t some unknown actor either. He was John Forsythe, who had roles in TV hits such as Dynasty and Bachelor Father. Even more amazing, it was reported that Forsythe was paid USD$5 million to reprise his role as Charlie in the movie edition in 2000! Not bad for just having to talk and wave your hand about!

So, what do you think about Charlie now? Or do you know Charlie better than we do? Let us know!