Jaclyn Smith Opens up About the Three Marriages That Came Before She ‘Finally Got It Right’

Before finding her happily ever after, Jaclyn Smith walked down the aisle three times — and each marriage taught her something new about herself.

"Charlie's Angels" alum Jaclyn Smith has always guarded her personal life closely, especially the story behind her four marriages. The actress has found her happily ever after with longtime husband Brad Allen, but the journey to her soulmate was far from smooth.

Before settling down with Allen, 72, Smith, 80, was married three times — first to actor Roger Davis, then to actor Dennis Cole, and later to cinematographer Anthony B. Richmond. By her own admission, it's not the love story she once envisioned for herself.

"I'm a rule-follower from the best family in the whole wide world — no one would think I'd have this many marriages," she told People in a recent interview promoting her new memoir "I Once Knew A Guy Named Charlie."

"I think it shocks my kids, but they understand it, because they really know me," she continued. Smith explained that her first two marriages, both of which ended due to infidelity, don't "qualify as marriages in [her] heart of hearts."

Still, she noted, "I learned from them."

A model and actress before her "Charlie's Angels" fame, Smith first crossed paths with Davis — then starring in the ABC soap opera "Dark Shadows" — at a commercial casting call in 1968. The two hit it off instantly and married within months.

"I really thought it was a match made in heaven," she recalled. "We both didn't drink, we loved architecture, we both were actors, we were both from the South, we liked the same food. We liked everything the same, but boy, did I have a lot to learn."

Two years into the marriage, Smith was walking with a friend to view an apartment she and Davis were considering renting in New York City when she bumped into Warren Beatty, who invited her to audition for a film he was working on.

Moments later, Davis appeared. Before Smith could even respond to the offer, Davis told Beatty she couldn't be in the film because she "only did commercials."

Smith later discovered that while she'd been speaking with Beatty, Davis had been upstairs having sex with their real estate agent, Laura, inside the apartment.

She ultimately left him after catching him with another woman on their fourth wedding anniversary. "I mean, I was pretty naive and in love with love, but there's a line," she reflected. "When the paint starts to peel, get out, because it doesn't change."

Smith's second marriage, to Cole, whom she met during the first season of "Charlie's Angels," ended in 1981 after she discovered a note in his pocket from his son's girlfriend, revealing his infidelity.

That wasn't the only strain on their relationship, however. Smith said there was also "some jealousy" tied to her rising career, "but he was a nice person." In the end, "it just didn't work out."

Smith met her third husband, Richmond, on the set of her 1980 film "Knightkill." Their romance began once filming wrapped, and he proposed just a month or two later. The pair married in 1981 and went on to welcome son Gaston in 1982 and daughter Spencer-Margaret in 1985.

"That period in my life was a very beautiful period," she remembered. "I never thought I'd have children, and he gave me these beautiful kids. He was devoted to me, and we worked well together."

Their marriage eventually unraveled under the weight of Richmond's struggle with addiction, and the two divorced in 1989.

"I think it would've worked, but I couldn't cope with the alcohol and drugs," Smith admitted. "The messiness of alcohol and when people abused it turned me off." Richmond has since gotten sober, Smith shared.

"My hat's off to him," she said. "He's doing great. I still respect him. Thank goodness he saw the light. It can really destroy."

Smith said she "finally got it right" with Allen, whom she met in 1991 when he helped perform her father's heart surgery. The couple married in 1997.

"I got a great husband, great marriage, and the most fantastic stepfather I could ever dream of," she said. "I mean, he loves my kids like they're his. There's no better gift. For a girl that just believed in marriage and kids, I finally got that."