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"I didn't care about being the 'star.' I just wanted to make a living and have a consistent career." Dickinson has been able to do both! She's certainly had a consistent career and been able to make a good living, and she's most definitely been a star in her own right. She is often known for playing Pepper on Police Woman (1974-1978), but has many other roles to her credit, as well. She's been in more than 50 movies, including Ocean's 11 (1960), Jessica (1962), The Killers (1964), The Art of Love (1965), and Big Bad Mama (1974).

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Dickinson has won a Golden Globe award and three Primetime Emmys. She's also received a Saturn Award for her work in the erotic thriller Dressed to Kill (1980). While her career was quieter during the 1980s, she was back to work in the 1990s and 2000s with Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1994), Pay to Forward (2000), and Big Bad Love (2001). So, how did Dickinson get her start, and what's she doing today? We have all the answers from her roots in a small town to the explosive stardom that came from a hit TV show. Here's what you need to know about Angie Dickinson's life and career.

Just a Small Town, North Dakota Girl

Dickinson was the second of four daughters, and born in Kulm, North Dakota. She was raised Roman Catholic, and her family is German. Her father worked as a newspaper editor and publisher, and was also the projectionist at the local movie theater. Because of that, Dickinson fell in love with movies early on. When she was 10, Dickinson's family moved away to Burbank, CA. There, she went to Bellamine-Jefferson High School and graduated when she was just 15 years of age. She then attended Immaculate Heart College and Glendale Community College, where she earned a business degree.

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She had planned to be a writer, and follow in the footsteps of her father and his newspaper business. She worked as a secretary when she was a student, and in 1952 she married football player Gene Dickinson and changed her name. She kept the last name even though the couple later divorced. Her entertainment career got its start in 1953, when she placed second in a beauty pageant. A producer in the television industry noticed her and suggested she get into acting, and a few short years later she was approached by NBC for roles in several of their variety shows.

Moving From Pageants and Variety Shows to the Big Screen

In 1954, Dickinson made her TV debut on an episode of Death Valley Days. From there, she had guest spots and small roles on a large number of westerns and other shows including Northwest Passage, Gunsmoke, City Detective, Cheyenne, and Meet McGraw. She created memorable characters on many shows, such as Wagon Train and Mike Hammer. But she wasn't only on the TV. She started acting in movies in 1954, as well, although her role was uncredited. Subsequent roles were small but credited, and her film breakthrough came with Rio Bravo in 1959.

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In 1974, after starring in many movies, Dickinson returned to the small screen. She was cast in Police Woman, in the leading role of Sergeant Leann "Pepper" Anderson. The show ran through 1978, and was a huge hit around the world. She proved through her work on the show that a female lead would work and could carry a series. There was also a significant rise in applications for actual police jobs throughout the United States, by women who realized they could do the job and were inspired by Dickinson's character on the show.

Dickinson didn't do as much feature film acting in the 1980s, but she still had plenty of work to keep her busy. Then the 1990s and 2000s saw her offered plenty of great roles again, and her career enjoyed a resurgence. Many of the roles were westerns, but Dickinson's other work from the past had proven she could play many different types of roles and characters. She married a second time, to Burt Bacharach, and they had one child who suffered with chronic health problems and is now deceased.

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As Dickinson has gotten older she's continued to stay busy. About the ways her career and her roles have changed, she says, "You can't stop the aging process. There's only so much oil you can put on your body. I've always just tried to go with my age. If the part requires somebody a little younger or older, I can probably get away with that." She embraces where she is in life, and continues to play the roles that are suited to her and that work for her. While she's at the age where she doesn't do much acting any more, fans have a wealth of work they can look back on when they want to see one of their favorite actresses again.