Kate Jackson is an American actress, director, and producer.She is perhaps best-known for her role as Sabrina Duncan in the hugely popular 1970s television series Charlie's Angels.She has three Emmy and four Golden Globes nominations, an award of excellence from the UCLA drama department and two Humanitarian Awards for her work with children and animals.
She was born on October 29, 1948, in Birmingham, Alabama, she attended The Brooke Hill School for Girls 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.
She started modelling at age of 16, and was discovered by Paramount Studios head Robert Evans, who was struck by her 1940s Hollywood looks.
In 1975, she 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. She had to turn down the Meryl Streep role in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) because of scheduling conflicts with "Charlie's Angels". This eventually prompted the actress to leave the TV series.
As soon as she was free of Charlie's Angels, elected instead to accept the starring role in Scarecrow and Mrs. King.
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.
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 though 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.
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
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