Angie Dickinson, born Angeline Brown on September 30, 1931, in Kulm, North Dakota, is an American retired actress who rose to prominence as a Golden Globe-winning star of film and television, most famously for her groundbreaking role as Sergeant "Pepper" Anderson in the 1970s crime series Police Woman. She began her career in the 1950s, appearing in numerous anthology television series before making her film breakthrough alongside James Arness in the Western Gun the Man Down in 1956. Her true leap to stardom came in 1959 when she starred opposite John Wayne and Dean Martin in Howard Hawks' classic Western Rio Bravo, a performance that earned her the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Dickinson built a prolific film career, appearing in more than 50 movies. She worked with some of the era's most notable directors and actors, including Frank Sinatra in the original Ocean's 11 (1960), Lee Marvin in The Killers (1964), and Lee Marvin again in the neo-noir Point Blank (1967). She also starred in The Chase (1966) alongside Marlon Brando and Robert Redford, and Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971) with Rock Hudson. In 1974, she took on the role that would define her career, playing Sergeant Pepper Anderson in Police Woman, one of the first television series to feature a female lead in a serious law enforcement role. The show ran for four seasons, earning Dickinson the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Series Drama and three Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

In 1980, Dickinson delivered one of her most acclaimed performances in Brian De Palma's erotic crime thriller Dressed to Kill, a role that won her the Saturn Award for Best Actress and showcased her range in a complex, suspenseful narrative. She continued to work steadily into her later career, appearing in television movies and miniseries such as Hollywood Wives (1985) and Wild Palms (1993), as well as supporting roles in films like Uma Thurman's Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1994), Harrison Ford's Sabrina (1995), and Kevin Spacey's Pay It Forward (2000). Her final on-screen performance came in the 2009 Hallmark Channel film Mending Fences. Retired from acting, Dickinson remains a celebrated figure in Hollywood history, remembered for her trailblazing role on television and her enduring contributions to classic cinema.