Kirkus
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An actor considers her time on a hit TV show—and much more. The title of Smith’s memoir is, of course, a nod to her best-known role, but Smith wastes no time establishing that there’s more to her than a certain Jimmy Carter-era crime show: “I wasn’t born the day I first put on Kelly Garrett’s tiny white bikini,” she writes in the book’s first sentence. She’s talking about her character inCharlie’s Angels, the inescapable series she starred in, alongside (initially) Farrah Fawcett and Kate Jackson. While much of her memoir is dedicated to her time on the show, she paints a sweet portrait of her childhood in Houston, where she studied dance under the legendary choreographer Patsy Swayze and joined her high school drama club (Tommy Tune was also a member). She moved to New York after a year of college in Texas and began acting in television and film, landing theCharlie’s Angels gig after relocating to Los Angeles. The show had its critics who thought it was sexist, which Smith is quick to dispel: “We were portraying single adult women who were not defined by the men in their lives, who thrived at demanding jobs.…Our dialogue reflected a feminist sensibility.” The show was canceled in 1981, but Smith kept acting—earning a Golden Globe nomination for playing the former first lady in the television movieJacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, for one—and developing a clothing line in conjunction with Kmart. Smith’s look back at her career will fascinate pop-culture fans, and she writes about it with charm, but she really shines when focusing on her family: her late parents, whom she adored; her husband; and her two beloved children. Kelly Garrett might have been sassy, but Smith comes across as winningly sweet. A tenderhearted memoir written with an angelic voice. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.