Jaclyn Smith reveals she and her husband lived apart for 17 years

For Jaclyn Smith, love wasn’t waiting in Hollywood — it walked into her father’s hospital room.

The actress, who starred as Kelly Garrett on the TV series “Charlie’s Angels” from 1976 to 1981, recently penned a memoir, “I Once Knew a Guy Named Charlie.” In it, the 80-year-old revealed that she and her fourth husband, Dr. Brad Allen, lived apart for 17 of their 35 years together.

Smith first met Allen, 72, when he helped perform her father’s heart surgery in 1991. About two years later, Allen took a job at the University of Illinois in Chicago. He spent the next 17 years there while Smith continued living in Los Angeles.

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Dr. Brad Allen and Jaclyn Smith attend the Farrah Fawcett Foundation Tex-Mex Fiesta Benefit on Oct. 20, 2022, in Dallas, Texas. (Getty Images for Farrah Fawcett Foundation)

“It’s true, the greatest love comes when you’re least looking for it,” Smith told Fox News Digital. “He operated on my dad. I remember he walked into the room, and he looked like the guys I grew up with, clean cut and just collegiate. He looked like just the guy down the street. And he was so good to my parents.”

After three divorces, Smith said motherhood changed everything. While a romance quickly blossomed, she wasn’t willing to gamble on love again. This time, she wouldn’t rush walking down the aisle.

“Brad and I finally said ‘I do!’ in Los Angeles on Oct. 11, 1997,” Jaclyn Smith wrote in her memoir. (Courtesy of Jaclyn Smith)

“You see, when I met Brad, I had two children,” she explained. “It was no longer me going, ‘OK, my heart’s beating out of my chest, and I’m going to get married right away.’ It had to be a three-way decision.”

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“Ultimately, we commuted for 17 years,” she continued. “We married after seven years. And when we got married, we really knew one another. We knew each other’s families. We knew our priorities. We knew what we expected in life. And that is important in any relationship.”

Jaclyn Smith is seen here with her family today. (Courtesy of Jaclyn Smith)

Smith and Allen married in 1997. Smith’s daughter, then 11 years old, was the maid of honor, People magazine reported. According to the outlet, her son, then 15, gave her away. The outlet reported that Allen closed the distance for good in 2009.

For Smith, the true test of marriage isn’t only falling in love — it’s building a life together.

Jaclyn Smith says love and family are behind her youthful glow at 80, as she reunited with Kate Jackson for the 50th anniversary of “Charlie’s Angels” earlier this year. (Tina Thorpe / Disney; Harry Langdon / Getty Images)

“We see life the same rather than your heart just beating out,” she said. “Yes, it beats out of your chest at first, but then you have to get down to the nitty-gritty of what makes the world go round, that day-to-day living.”

Allen supported Smith through her 2002 breast cancer diagnosis. The star is now cancer-free after undergoing a lumpectomy and radiation.

Jaclyn Smith attends the Farrah Fawcett Foundation 2025 Tex-Mex Fiesta at The Rustic on Oct. 30, 2025 in Dallas, Texas. (Omar Vega/Getty Images for Farrah Fawcett Foundation)

Smith first married Roger Davis, then a star of “Dark Shadows,” in 1968. He proposed to Smith after two dates.

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Jaclyn Smith attends “Jaclyn Smith in Conversation: Beyond Charlie’s Angels” at 92NY in New York City on Sept. 9, 2026. (Getty Images)

Two years into their relationship, Smith wrote that she was walking with a friend in New York City to look at an apartment she and Davis were considering renting when she ran into Warren Beatty. The actor asked her to interview for a role in a film he was working on. But moments later, Davis appeared and told Beatty that Smith only did commercials.

Smith wrote she later learned that while she was talking to Beatty, Davis was upstairs having sex with their real estate agent in the apartment. Smith split from Davis after finding him with another woman on their fourth wedding anniversary.

“I Once Knew a Guy Named Charlie: A Memoir” by Jaclyn Smith is available now. (Gallery Books)

“I knew my marriage wasn’t everything I dreamed,” Smith said. “I knew there were problems from day one. I think I have a line in the book about love masquerading as foundation, attraction as permanence. And I came from a background of you didn’t live with people. It was the ’50s. I didn’t want to disappoint my parents. And I really believed in that picket fence. Why wouldn’t this be great?”

Jaclyn Smith was a successful model before “Charlie’s Angels” came calling. (2008 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.)

“To fall in love, get married and go the distance — I think that’s a wonderful thing,” she continued. “There is a bond when that truly happens. I’ve seen my brother, who fell in love at age 19 or 20, get married. They went on to have three children and were together until my brother passed away. So I do think that’s pretty wonderful when that happens. It just didn’t for me. And a lot of it was my innocence. I was a romantic. I didn’t look beneath the paper. It just looked good on paper. It looked perfect.”

Smith said that while they were both actors, her values and Davis’ values were vastly different.

Jaclyn Smith is seen here with her two children, circa 1988. (Courtesy of Jaclyn Smith)

“You tend to overlook that big statement, ‘love is blind,'” Smith said. “But attraction is blind. Love comes from all your lessons. And listen, today is different. Nothing is left to the imagination on these dating sites. I’m glad I didn’t start out at that point. I think values are so important, to share the same values. People tend to overlook that initially and think it’s a sure shot.”

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Jaclyn Smith attends the 2026 Paley Honors Spring Gala at The Plaza Hotel in New York City on May 14, 2026. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

When asked if she regretted not taking a chance to work with Beatty, Smith replied, “Things happen for a reason.”

“I never had a definite plan for my career,” she explained. “I was never overly driving or ambitious. I just wanted to take what came my way at the time. That was shocking to me when Warren Beatty remembered my name and I didn’t know too much about Warren Beatty except I loved his movie ‘Bonnie and Clyde.'”

Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty are seen here as Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in the 1967 film “Bonnie and Clyde,” directed by Arthur Penn. (Getty Images)

“I think whether I did the James Bond movie or the Warren Beatty movie, I think what happened in my life. Everything’s unpredictable,” Smith said. “And I like the path I took. I really do. Sometimes, it’s all about chance. ‘Charlie’s Angels’ was a chance.’ Without that, I might have been living in Houston teaching ballet. When it came to my career, I took it day by day. I didn’t have huge plans.”

Jaclyn Smith, Farrah Fawcett and Kate Jackson are seen here on the set of “Charlie’s Angels.” (ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)

Smith married actor Dennis Cole in 1978 after about a year and a half of dating. They divorced in 1981.

“One day, I found a note in his pocket,” Smith wrote. “The writer turned out to be a girl I knew. She was his son’s girlfriend. I would not repeat the mistake I’d made with Roger. This time, I wasn’t going to overlook what I learned, and I was not going to stick around and try to work it out. I didn’t rationalize Dennis’ actions, and I didn’t blame myself. My one and only thought was to get out.”

Actress Jaclyn Smith and her husband, actor Dennis Cole, are seen here on Feb. 22, 1980, at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. (Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

In 1980, Smith met British cinematographer Anthony B. “Tony” Richmond while filming “Nightkill.” They married in 1981. They welcomed a son, Gaston Anthony, in 1982, and a daughter, Spencer Margaret, in 1985. Smith wrote the marriage was strained by Richmond’s struggles with alcohol and drugs.

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Anthony B. Richmond and Jaclyn Smith attend an event at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 4, 1983. (Penske Media via Getty Images)

“I’d had enough,” Smith wrote. “. . . I was done. I couldn’t stay with a man who chose drugs and alcohol over his family. . . . We had a wonderful life when he was sober. . . . [But] I needed to do the best I could for my children, to protect them from the ravages I knew could come from substance abuse.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Davis and Richmond for comment. Cole died in 2009 at age 69.

Jaclyn Smith’s granddaughters: Bea, Olivia and Wren. “The joys of my life.” (Courtesy of Jaclyn Smith)

“You know, in writing this book, I learned that I’m really strong,” Smith said. “I had a great beginning. I had the best parents in the world, but I had marriages that didn’t make it. Your heart gets broken here and there. You have successes along the way. And I worked hard to be there for my children more than anything. It’s ferocious.”

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Jaclyn Smith arrives for the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theatre at LA Live in Los Angeles on Sept. 14, 2026. (AFP via Getty Images)

“You have to give up control when you don’t want to because you don’t want anything to hurt them. I think of my journey, it’s been unpredictable. I come away thinking, ‘What would my parents think?’ But I’m a girl who stuck to things, worked very hard and just gave it all to my family.”