Bill Cosby and Janet MacLachlan in a scene from “I Spy” in 1967. The episode, “Laya,” was about a “Central African Crisis” and Ms. MacLachlan played Laya, an African love interest to Mr. Cosby’s Alexander Scott. The episode is available in it’s entirety on Hulu. Photo via The Classic TV History Blog.
Actress Janet MacLachlan in the 1960s. Born in Harlem in 1933 to Jamaican immigrants, Ms. MacLachlan graduated from Hunter College in 1955 with a degree in psychology. There, she studied drama in a private class taught by Sidney Poitier. She began her theater career as an understudy for Cicely Tyson in two productions, including Jean Genet’s “The Blacks: A Clown Show.” She also starred in “Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright” on Broadway along with Diana Sands, Ellen Holly and other fine actors. Her television and film work included “The Mod Squad,” “I Spy,” and “Sounder,” where she played Camille Johnson, a compassionate schoolteacher who encourages a sharecropper’s son with his education. Ms. MachLachlan died in Los Angeles on October 11, 2010.
