Janet Angel MacLachlan (August 27, 1933 – October 11, 2010) was an American actress who had roles in such television series as ''

The Rockford Files ''The Rockford Files'' is an American detective drama television series starring James Garner that aired on the NBC network from September 13, 1974 to January 10, 1980, and remains in syndication. Garner portrays Los Angeles private investigat ...

'', '' Alias'' and ''

The Golden Girls ''The Golden Girls'' is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning seven seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Bea Arthur, Betty W ...

''. She is best remembered for her key supporting part in the film ''

Sounder Sounder may refer to: * ''Sounder'' (novel), a book by William H. Armstrong * ''Sounder'' (film), a film based on the novel *Sounder, a group of wild boar or domestic pigs foraging in woodland; see List of animal names *Sounder, a device that tra ...

'' (1972) where she portrayed Camille Johnson a young teacher. MacLachlan worked with numerous well-known actors and actresses and celebrities such as

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentri ...

Jim Brown James Nathaniel Brown (born February 17, 1936) is a former American football player, sports analyst and actor. He played as a fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 through 1965. Considered to be o ...

James Earl Jones James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is an American actor. He has been described as "one of America's most distinguished and versatile" actors for his performances in film, television, and theater, and "one of the greatest actors in America ...

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, popular poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and ...

and

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...

Life and career

MacLachlan was born in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harl ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

; her mother, Iris South MacLachlan, and father, James MacLachlan, were both Jamaican-born members of the Church of the Illumination. Attending P.S. 170 and Julia Ward Junior High School, MacLachlan graduated from Julia Richmond High School in 1950. She received a bachelor's degree in psychology from

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also adm ...

in 1955. She then worked as an executive secretary in New York City before turning to acting. She later performed at the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis. A one-time contract player for

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

, MacLachlan made her debut in two episodes of ''

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, aired on CBS and NBC between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers and mysteries. Between 1962 and 1965 it was rena ...

'' in 1965. She appeared in episodes of '' The Fugitive'', ''

The Invaders ''The Invaders'' is an American science-fiction television series created by Larry Cohen that aired on ABC for two seasons, from 1967 to 1968. Roy Thinnes stars as David Vincent, who after stumbling across evidence of an in-progress invas ...

'' episode "The Vise" as Mrs Baxter (1968), ''

The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. ''The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction TV series starring Stefanie Powers that aired on NBC for one season from September 16, 1966, to April 11, 1967. The series was a spin-off from ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' and used the same ...

'', ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vario ...

'', '' Ironside'', ''

The Mary Tyler Moore Show ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977. ...

'', ''

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byrne, are credited as being ...

'' and ''

The Mod Squad ''The Mod Squad'' is an American crime drama series, originally broadcast for five seasons on ABC from September 24, 1968, to March 1, 1973. It starred Michael Cole as Peter "Pete" Cochran, Peggy Lipton as Julie Barnes, Clarence Williams III ...

''. She also appeared in the films '' Uptight'' (1968), ''

Change of Mind ''Change of Mind'' is a 1969 science fiction/drama film starring Raymond St. Jacques, Susan Oliver, Janet MacLachlan, and Leslie Nielsen. Plot A married couple struggles to adjust when the husband, dying of cancer, has his brain transplanted i ...

'' (1969), '' ...tick...tick...tick...'' (1970), '' Darker Than Amber'' (1970), '' Halls of Anger'' (1970), ''

'' (1972), '' The Man'' (1972), ''

Tightrope Tightrope walking, also called funambulism, is the skill of walking along a thin wire or rope. It has a long tradition in various countries and is commonly associated with the circus. Other skills similar to tightrope walking include slack rope ...

'' (1984), '' Murphy's Law'' (1986), ''

The Boy Who Could Fly ''The Boy Who Could Fly'' is a 1986 American fantasy drama film written and directed by Nick Castle. It was produced by Lorimar Productions for 20th Century Fox, and released theatrically on August 15, 1986. The film stars Lucy Deakins as 14- ...

'' (1986) and ''

The Thirteenth Floor ''The Thirteenth Floor'' is a 1999 science fiction neo-noir film written and directed by Josef Rusnak, and produced by Roland Emmerich through his Centropolis Entertainment company. It is loosely based upon ''Simulacron-3'' (1964), a novel by D ...

'' (1999). MacLachlan also won a Los Angeles-area Emmy for her performance in

KCET KCET (channel 28) is a secondary PBS member television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the Public Media Group of Southern California alongside the market's primary PBS member, Huntington Beach–licensed KOC ...

's ''Voices of Our People: In Celebration of Black Poetry'' in 1981. She would later serve as grant committee chairman for the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...

Death

Suffering from

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, ...

in her later years, MacLachlan died from complications from the condition on October 11, 2010, at the age of 77 at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Los Angeles. MacLachlan resided in the

Silver Lake Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Filmography

References

External links

* * * 1933 births 2010 deaths Actresses from New York City African-American actresses American film actresses American people of Jamaican descent American television actresses Hunter College alumni 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people {{US-screen-actor-1930s-stub