Born Angeline Brown in Kulm, North Dakota on 30 September 1931, to a whole generation of TV viewers Angie Dickinson became a household name for playing Sgt. Pepper Anderson in the seminal series Police Woman. It was the first successful dramatic TV series to feature a woman in the title role and ran for four seasons from 1974 to 1978,, winning Angie a string of awards and nominations. She turned down other high profile televison roles, including Linda Evans eventual role in Dynasty and Joan Collins character in the The Colbys. She did, however, play a leading role in her sister Jackie Collins' penned 1985 miniseries Hollywood Wives. Among her best-known movies are the original Ocean's 11, The Killers opposite Ronald Reagan in his last movie, the cult classic Point Blank with Lee Marvin and Even Cowgirls Get The Blues with Uma Thurman.
Fans of Sgt Pepper were given a special treat after Angie Dickinson entered her forties. She did her first full nude scenes in the Great Depression skinfest Big Bad Mama with William Shatner. Six years later, she set pulses racing again in an unexpected shower scene in Brian De Palma's classic erotic thriller Dressed To Kill.
