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Show . . Jan Smithers: How fate and a magazine cover changed her life ' It's curious how a chance happening can radically alter a person's life. Just ask Jan Smithers. Today, millions of viewers know her as Bailey Quarters, the fledgling news reporter on the intrepid radio staff at "WKRP in Cincinnati," which is broadcast on CBS-TV. But 15 years ago, when she was a shy California teen-ager who found refuge in painting and Beatles music, she never imagined im-agined that she would become an actress. Then, one chilly Jlr I afternoon, she was sit- klKY?f. fl2h I ting on the deserted fSkh VRvffift Malibu Beach watch- fiSijJ!" !?' Vj ing a friend surf when ": n ' Tt she noticed several - ' men circling her. They " 1 introduced themselves I'll' 1 as staff members from i I Newsweek magazine, . ' VJ and they asked to in- i "''I terview her for a major i . 1 story about teen-agers ' ( c 1 in America. J r ' , , r I "At that stage of my ' ' 1 life I was very in- ' .0 ' I trospective, thought- ' i1 i 1 ful, and a little " mAmmm used to' think I was ter- 7T"f t' 'SS' " " " 1 ribly boring. But when ; '; X Newsweek came a- , y " long, I had the sense J j", x that somehow fate was J Jr Vif . intervening." She gave r J) the interview and yr , .35L i posed for photos. 4 ,,1? f, When the March 21, ' ' V' 1966 issue of News- ' V h Jk week hit the stands 15 , ' tl years ago, Jan Smith- k i ' 1 1 ers to her amaze- -.. a'lf, I: ment discovered that . i she was on the cover. ' i 'I "The notoriety from . 'Vt, J being on that cover iLuWieJUlul lasted for about a Jan Smithers year," Miss Smithers said. "People began to think of me differently. I lost old friends and made new ones. But I never considered myself as the girl on the cover. I was still the same shy teen-ager, going through the growing process of trying to sort out what was real and what wasn't." Suddenly, though, the reclusive teen-ager was being inundated with offers from agents, producers and casting directors. direc-tors. "Lots of people wanted me to become an actress," Miss Smithers said. "At the time, I thought to myself, 'I'm not an actress. ac-tress. Perhaps I could be one day, because I'm creative. But first I'll have to learn.' " So she weighed her offers carefully. She modeled for a few years. Then, in 1971, she undertook her first professional acting role in the motion picture "Where the Lilies Bloom." She acted is some more motion pictures and eventually auditioned for executive producer Hugh Wilson, who was compiling com-piling a cast for "WKRP in Cincinnati." "The first year on that show was hell for me," Miss Smithers said. "But now I'm having a wonderful time. 'WKRP' has taught me to do comedy and to be confident with my own sense of humor. I now realize that I love to be funny. I love to be caught up in the rhythm and timing of comedy." . tv coneuuw MSVICH. xc. J |