She was once one of the three little girls who went to the police academy. All the while, however, Cheryl Ladd was more concerned with motherhood than being on Charlie’s Angels as Kris Monroe. Ladd was more concerned with trying to hold her faltering marriage together and learning to cope with her sudden fame, and her faith helped her to cope.
Her daughter was two years old when she started the show, and Cheryl Ladd wasn’t the only one who rejoiced when her daughter came on the set. Actress Jacquelyn Smith, who was also on the show and wanted to be a mother, also rejoiced. Through it all Cheryl Ladd’s life was made difficult by a faltering marriage and her sudden fame.
Ladd said she just kept praying and trying to get a hold of the little girl she had been-Cheryl Jean Stoepplemoor-from Huron, South Dakota. She kept trying to hang on to that little girl. Cheryl Ladd clung to her childhood foundation of faith.
When she went through the divorce from David Ladd, son of the famous actor Alan Ladd, by whom she had her daughter, Jordan, she found peace a difficult thing to obtain. She said she was in a whirlwind of self-doubt, pain, and fear, and she couldn’t talk to anybody. Cheryl Ladd, however, because of her faith, found she could talk to God. Because of her prayers, she found a “peaceful place” and knew she would get through the whole situation. She also knew that Jordan would be okay.
After Charlie’s Angels ended, she married Brian Russell, who had the same desire she did to share their Christian faith. The two have been married 25 years. Ladd credits her faith for her long lasting marriage-something that is rare in Hollywood. She says she and Brian go to church together, and pray together. She said she and her husband are on a journey because of their faith-individually and as a couple-and that is why their marriage is a success.
After having a successful life as a wife and mother and actress, Cheryl Ladd faced the possibility of losing her best friend-her mother. Her mother had a broken back and a staph infection. She remembers while her mother was on her back for three months and almost died more than once that she would cry and pray, thanking God for the time she had with her, even if it was God’s will to take her. She also prayed that if it was God’s will her mother would be healed. After the prayers, her mother started to get better within days.
Today Cheryl Ladd spends a lot of time playing golf for fun and for charity. She also speaks for various charities, including the American Heart Association. She has also been active in educating women about menopause. In addition, she has been involved in the National Childhood Day of Hope Luncheon, to focus on new legislation to prevent child abuse.
While Cheryl Ladd continues to act on dramatic television shows, such as Las Vegas, she is also involved in projects that help share her faith, like the movie on CD, Though None Go With Me, about a woman who stands for her faith no matter what. The movie was also on the Hallmark Channel.
Cheryl Ladd has been on a variety of movies and televisions shows as Cheryl Ladd and before that as Cheryl Stoppelmoor or Cherie Moor. Some of the shows include Police Story, the Fantastic Journey, Carol Burnett and Friends, Happy Days, Grace Kelly, Every Mother’s Worst Fear, and Michael Landon, the Father I Knew. She also released a single, Think it Over, which peaked at number 38 on the Billboard music chart. She also sang the national anthem at the Super Bowl in 1981.
Despite everything else she has done, however, some remember Cheryl Ladd as a wife, mother, and person of faith.
