Janice
Whitby's Biography:
Janice was born in London, Canada and raised in New York City and Long Island.
She studied ballet at
Balanchine's School of American Ballet and American Ballet Theater School on a scholarship. When a contract with the Metropoliton
Opera Ballet ended, Janice then preformed in summer stock in the New England area.
In 1970 she auditioned
for the Golddiggers and joined "The Dean Martin Show" and "Chevrolet
Presents the Golddiggers". Her favorite highlight during her stint as a Golddigger was a trip to Vietnam to entertain
the troops. She also had the opportunity to perform a dance number "Cloud Hill" to a beautiful ballad co-written
by Lee Hale/Geoff Clarkson and sung by fellow Digger, Francie Mendenhall.
After working on "Laugh-in" she joined the cast of "Mame" (with her
then husband, dancer Mark Hudson) starring Lucillle Ball and Robert Preston. She was part of the original dance troupe working
on the movie. It was there, at Warner Bros. that she was approached to appear in a small part of Mel Brooks' "Blazing
Saddles" and ended up with pie in her face. "Great fun", she recalls.
Janice then returned
to television, appearing in William Conrad's detective series, "Cannon", "Baretta"
with Robert Blake, "Emergency" and various other TV series.
However, her biggest
and possibly most memorable role after "The Golddiggers" was guest starring on "The Six Million Dollar Man" and "The Bionic Woman"
three part epic crossover entitled "Kill Oscar". She played the evil cyborg,
Katy, Doctor Franklin's (John Houseman) fembot assistant and operative.
During that time Janice also enjoyed a very successful modeling career, briefly becoming the face of Merle Norman Cosmetics
and Maybelline mascara.
"Acting was great fun," she commented (particularly her roles on the hit series, "Cannon" and the "Bionic" Trilogy) but she left it
behind in the early 80's to pursue her first love, art. Janice put herself through art school and has been working as a graphic
designer and illustrator ever since. Her favorite job as an artist was her six year association with Disney
Consumer Products as a freelance artist.
Recently, she expressed a desire to get back into
acting and we look forward to her once again gracing us with her presence on either the big screen or television.
Best of luck to you,
Janice!
