Jan Smithers

{{Short description|American actress, model and singer (b. 1949)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2016}} {{Infobox person | name = Jan Smithers | birth_name = Karin Jan Smithers<ref name="tvg">{{cite web |title=Jan Smithers Biography |url=https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/jan-smithers/bio/3030190684/ |website=TV Guide |publisher=TV Guide |access-date=April 6, 2024}}</ref> | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1949|07|03}}<ref>{{cite book|first=Brian|last=Merrill|title=On This Date: A Day-By-Day Look At Historical Events|year=2006|publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=9781430305019|page=127}}</ref> | birth_place = North Hollywood, California, U.S.<ref name="tvg" /> | alma_mater = Chouinard Art Institute | known_for = {{hlist|WKRP in Cincinnati}} | occupation = {{hlist|Actress|singer|model}} | years_active = 1966–1987 | spouse = {{ubl | {{marriage|Kipp Whitman |1971|1972|reason=divorced}} | {{marriage|James Brolin |1986|1995|reason=divorced}} }} | children = 1 }}

'''Karin Jan Smithers''' (born July 3, 1949) is an American former actress, model and singer. She is best known for playing Bailey Quarters on the CBS sitcom ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' (1978–1982).

== Early life == Smithers grew up in a middle-class family in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. Her father was a lawyer while her mother was a stay-at-home mom. She has three sisters. Her eldest sister, however, died in a car crash at age 21.<ref name="nw">{{cite news|last1=Jones|first1=Abigail|title=An Interview With Jan Smithers, Newsweek Teen Cover Star in 1966|url=https://www.newsweek.com/2016/05/27/jan-smithers-newsweek-teens-issue-457672.html|work=Newsweek|date=May 12, 2016}}</ref>

Smithers first reached the public eye as a teenager when, at 16, she was profiled and featured on the March 21, 1966 cover of ''Newsweek''. She was seated on the back of a motorcycle.<ref name="teen">{{cite news|title=The Teen-Agers|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/312305459/The-Teen-Agers-1966|work=Newsweek|date=March 21, 1966}}</ref><ref name="nw"/> As a result of that appearance Smithers received offers from Hollywood agents. <ref name="nw"/><ref name=whathappened>{{cite web|url=http://www.trashytabloids.com/watn/jan_smithers.html|title=Whatever Happened To Actress Jan Smithers|date=July 3, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080615040430/http://www.trashytabloids.com/watn/jan_smithers.html|archive-date=June 15, 2008|access-date=January 21, 2008}}</ref>

Smithers graduated from the Taft High School in Woodland Hills, California.<ref name=fac/> She attended the Chouinard Art Institute which is now known as the California Institute of the Arts.<ref name="nw"/>

==Career== Smithers made her mark as a successful fashion model before embarking on an acting career.<ref name=fac>{{cite web|url=https://facts.net/celebrity/21-fascinating-facts-about-jan-smithers/|first=Joel|last=Sells|date=May 28, 2024|title=21 Fascinating Facts About Jan Smithers|access-date=June 3, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240603131205/https://facts.net/celebrity/21-fascinating-facts-about-jan-smithers/|archive-date=June 3, 2024}}</ref> She was the co-lead singer of the early 1970s band Hot Cup of Friends which featured Christopher Mancini (the son of Henry Mancini).<ref name="nw" />

Smithers, in her early 20s, won a role in the 1974 feature film, ''Where the Lilies Bloom'', about a household of children surviving in the Appalachian Mountains. In 1978, she got her biggest break, landing a role on the situation comedy, ''WKRP in Cincinnati'', playing Bailey Quarters.<ref name="nw"/>

== Personal life == Smithers's first marriage was to Kipp Whitman from 1971 to 1972. From 1986 to 1995 she was married to actor James Brolin<ref name="nw" /> and was stepmother to his two children from a previous marriage. Together they have one daughter, Molly Elizabeth. Smithers filed for divorce from Brolin in 1995.

After living in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada "for a few years", she returned to California.<ref name=whathappened /> In June 2014, Smithers attended a reunion of surviving ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' cast members hosted by the Paley Center for Media.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.paleycenter.org/2014-wkrp-in-cincinnati-reunion|title=Baby, If You've Ever Wondered: A WKRP in Cincinnati Reunion|publisher=The Paley Center for Media|date=June 4, 2014}}</ref>

==Television and filmography== {| class="wikitable" |- style="text-align:center;" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Title ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- | 1973 || ''Love Story'' || Barbara || Episode: "Beginner's Luck" |- | 1974 || ''Where the Lilies Bloom'' || Devola || Feature film |- | 1974 || ''When the North Wind Blows'' || Lady in the Zoo || Feature film |- | 1976 || ''Starsky & Hutch'' || Sharman Crane || Episode: "Running" |- | 1978 || ''Our Winning Season'' || Cathy Wakefield || Feature film |- | 1978–82 || ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' || Bailey Quarters || Main cast (86 episodes) |- | 1980 || ''The Love Tapes'' || Carol Clark || TV movie |- | 1982 || ''The Love Boat'' || Sabrina Drake || Episode: "The Spoonmaker Diamond/Papa Doc/The Role Model/Julie's Tycoon" |- | 1983 || ''The Fall Guy'' || Cynthia Caldwell || Episode: "Spaced Out" |- | 1983 || ''The Love Boat'' || Aurora Adams || Episode: "Long Time No See/The Bear Essence/Kisses and Makeup" |- | 1984 || ''Legmen'' || Sarah Turner || Episode: "Take the Credit and Run" |- | 1984 || ''Hotel'' || Lacey Grant || Episode: "Encores" |- | 1984 || ''The Love Boat'' || Carol Cooperman || Episode: "By Hook or by Crook/Revenge with the Proper Stranger/Don't Get Mad, Get Even" |- | 1984 || ''Finder of Lost Loves'' || Barbara Hensen || Episode: "Old Friends" |- | 1985 || ''Mike Hammer'' || Shia Walters || Episode: "Firestorm" |- | 1985 || ''Cover Up'' || Karen Morris || Episode: "The Assassin" |- | 1985 || ''Murder, She Wrote'' || Kathy Farrell || Episode: "Sudden Death" |- | 1985 || ''Comedy Factory'' || Barrie Shepherd || Episode: "The Columnist" |- | 1986 || ''Hotel'' || Janice Copeland || Episode: "Triangles" |- | 1987 || ''Mr. Nice Guy'' || Dr. Lisa Rayon || Feature film |}

== References == {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== *{{cite news|title='WKRP' stars: Behind the masks|last=Vorpahl|first=Beverly|newspaper=Spokane Daily Chronicle|publisher=Cowles Publishing Company|date=September 19, 1980}}

==External links== *{{IMDb name|0810453}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Smithers, Jan}}

Category:1949 births Category:20th-century American actresses Category:21st-century American women Category:Actresses from Los Angeles Category:American film actresses Category:American television actresses Category:Living people Category:People from North Hollywood, Los Angeles Category:Chouinard Art Institute alumni