Born Cheryl Jean Stoppelmoor on July 12, 1951, to an engineer father and waitress mother, her hometown of Huron, South Dakota, was a far cry from Hollywood. But the girl had long dreamed of becoming a movie star, and she took tap lessons and sang at home with her dad. In high school, she played in a jazz trio, "Music Shop Band," which traveled from the Midwest to California to try and make it professionally. When the group broke up, Ladd decided to stay and chase her dream. Her first real gig was singing backup on the cartoon show "Josie and the Pussycats."

After acting in commercials, she landed a role in a 1973 movie, "Jamaica Reef," and met her first husband, David Ladd. They married in 1973, and two years later, their daughter, Jordan, was born. The marriage lasted six years.

In 1977 she was tapped by Charlie's Angels producer Aaron Spelling to replace Farrah Fawcett, who had unexpectedly left the year-old sensation. Petite but with plenty of vavoom, Ladd was a hit as Kris Munroe. "She had to fill a big pair of shoes, and she did it with confidence," says costar Jaclyn Smith.

After her 1979 split, Ladd found romance with Scottish-born Brian Russell, who had cut two '70s pop albums before turning to movie producing in the '80s.

Cheryl won kudos for a role in last year's edgy film Permanent Midnight and played a mother in last month's family drama A Dog of Flanders. Her dream gig? "Some wonderful Mrs. Robinson part, where I can be really attractive, sexual and powerful," she says, adding with a purr, "There are a couple of young actors I'd sure like to work with."

Her hobbies include golf (she has a 17 handicap and attends pro tournaments as a Buick spokeswoman), art (she collects folk paintings of cows and sells prints of one of her own works on her Web site) and writing children's books (The Adventures of Little Nettie Windship, by her and her husband, was published in 1997). She also guides daughter Jordan, an actress who starred with her in the 1998 TV movie Every Mother's Worst Fear, and stepdaughter Lindsay Russell, a singer-guitarist who plays L.A. clubs.