Jan Smithers

She is not to be confused with Welcome Back, Kotter actress Marcia Strassman, with whom she shares a close resemblance. The couple live in Manhattan. Now retired from show business, Jan currently lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. She has been married to talk show host Phil Donahue since 1980. From 1987 through 1995 she was married to actor James Brolin. Thomas is the recipient of four Emmy Awards. This scar cost her some roles, and according to Jan, made her feel insecure about her looks. She also appeared in the 2002 film Playing Mona Lisa with Julia Roberts.

The impact smashed her face into the steering wheel, causing the injury. In recent years, Thomas has appeared in guest shots on Ally McBeal, Friends (as Rachel's mother), and Law & Order: SVU. To avoid another car that ran a stop sign, Jan swerved and hit a telephone pole. Started by her father, the organization helps children suffering from grave forms of cancer. Smithers was involved in a car accident which left a permanent scar on her chin. Jude Children's Research Hospital. As a teen, Ms. She is donating all royalties from her 2004 book and CD, Thanks & Giving All Year Long, to the St.

As a result of that exposure, she landed some commercial modeling work while pursuing her studies at the California Institute of the Arts. A Family (1987), which were born out of an attempt to teach her then-young niece Dionne about life. She first reached the public eye as a teenager, when she was featured on the cover of a 1966 issue of Newsweek, seated on a motorcycle. You and Me (1974) and Free to Be . She played the character "Bailey Quarters" on the popular television series WKRP in Cincinnati. She is also known for her children's books and the recordings and television specials created in conjunction with them - Free to Be . Smithers grew up in Woodland Hills, California. Anxious to show she was as adept at drama as she was at comedy, she proved herself in the television movies It Happened One Christmas (a remake of It's a Wonderful Life, with Thomas in the rewritten James Stewart role), Nobody's Child, and The Lost Honor Of Kathryn Beck, while she starred in Jenny (1970) and Thieves (1977) on the big screen.