Janet MacLachlan

Janet MacLachlan (born August 27, 1933 – died October 11, 2010) appeared on The Golden Girls as Sandra, the daughter of an Alvin Newcastle, who befriends Sophia before she learns that he suffers from Alzheimer's disease in the Season 3 opening episode "Old Friends". Janet was a veteran character actress who had roles in such television series as Star Trek:The Original Series, I Spy, The FBI, The Rockford Files, Good Times, Archie Bunker's Place, and, most recently, Alias and the CBS-TV series Family Law. She is best remembered for her key supporting part in the 1972 film Sounder with Cicely Tyson and Paul Winfield. MacLachlan worked with numerous well known Black actors and actresses and celebrities such as Tyson, Winfield, Bill Cosby, Jim Brown, James Earl Jones and Maya Angelou.

Career
Janet was born in Harlem, New York. She received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Hunter College 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, MacLachlan made her debut in several episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour in 1965 as The Secretary and Gayle. She went on to appear in episodes of The Fugitive, The Invaders episode The Vise as Mrs Baxter (1968), The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., Star Trek and The Mod Squad. She also appeared in the 1984 film Tightrope. Often cast as a judge, nurse, doctor, psychiatrist, teacher, or social worker, Janet also won a Los Angeles-area Emmy for her performance in KCET'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.

Death
MacLachlan died on October 11, 2010 at the age of 77 at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Los Angeles. She is survived by a daughter, actress Samantha McLachlan. MacLachlan resided in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles.