From The Golddigger Supersite:

03/17/08

http://thegolddiggers.wordpress.com/

Thank you, for your very warm and considerate thoughts regarding Janice Whitby, who served with The Golddiggers from 1970-72. We also appreciate your providing us with additional details about some of her career highlights.

We actually learned of Janice’s guest starring role on The Bionic Woman several weeks after the Super Site was inaugurated, and we had planned to incorporate that information in our first major update to the Dean’s List section, which will probably be done in late Winter or early Spring.

However, we confess to having been completely unaware of her participation in Blazing Saddles, and are grateful to you not only for that revelation, but also for supplying us with links to clips showing her both in that landmark Mel Brooks farce AND as a “fembot” (as it were) in The Bionic Woman, under the control of John Houseman, essaying a role that was obviously a far cry from Professor Kingsfield in The Paper Chase.

But then again, as with Lezlie Dalton on Star Trek, Janice’s own science fiction sojourn represented quite a departure from her stint with The Golddiggers.

Upon her initiation into that group on The Dean Martin Show in the fall of 1970, Janice always appeared to us rather shy and reserved in contrast to some of her more seasoned peers. But that diffidence seemed to vanish the following season, when Chevrolet Presents The Golddiggers debuted in syndication, and Janice returned sporting redder hair, sassy bangs, and a manifestly more confident attitude that shone through both her on-screen presence and energetic dancing. We can still picture her bouncing to the rhythm of “Gimme Dat Ding”, and of course, we all hope to one day again be able to see that image not just in our memories, but on our TV screens.

In the interim, if you wind up proceeding with the establishment of a fansite honoring Janice Whitby, please let us know about it and we’ll be sure to pass along the information to all of our visitors.

And thank you for your valuable feedback, suggestions and support while this fansite was being developed. Your Golddigger Supersite has been a valuable asset while I was researching Janice's past work.

And please notify me as well upon the Supersite's major upgrade as I too will be happy to post that news here. 

From: Bill :

08/23/08

I'm so glad there's a site for this lady, because I have that image of her; Katy the fembot anchored in my memory from childhood. Look at those pictures! She's so cute and adorable! Wonder where she is now and why someone like her would drop off the edge of the earth after 1980.

Bill

Hi Bill and thanks for adding your thoughts and showing your support in regards to Janice Whitby and this fansite.

Yes IMO her performance as Katy was my favorite. I remember being freaked out and scared out of my 9 year old mind upon first viewing the Kill Oscar trilogy ... especially when she lost her face during her confrontation with Jaime Sommers. Even when Katy wasn't unmasked, despite how pretty Janice Whitby looked during the episodes, her on-screen performance was superb on capturing the suspenseful creepiness that those eerie fembots gave viewers. Who would have ever thought that the Katy the fembot was once a sweet and lovable Golddigger?

Kenneth Johnson, creator and producer of The Bionic Woman series, commented that a lot of parents told him that the trilogy just terrified their kids. He had no idea it was gonna have that much of an impact, and was a little distressed to hear it. Well I have to respectfully disagree with Kenneth Johnson. As a wise member in the Bionic fan community once said... "Those things (fembots) were freaky, therefore memorable, therefore great!" ..... and totally agree with her therefore I applaud Janice Whitby and all the other talents behind the fembots for a creepy performance well done.

From Bill:

08/26/08

Most of my fondest memories as a kid were being creeped-out by movies and TV......... It's funny how I even remember one of the "Kill Oscar" episodes being originally aired on Halloween night. After coming home from school (4th grade at the time) I made sure I found a way to get both my fill of fembots and trick or treatin' in! Lol!!...... I also applaud Janice for her work (the mother of the fembot legacy) despite how clueless some parents of my peers were. In that trilogy, she was like Darth Vader in female form and by the 3rd episode you hoped somehow she'd be spared with the rest. I was dissappointed that it ended with her getting hit by lightning on St Emil Island. 
 
Bill

Thanks again Bill,

Considering that Janice's onscreen fembot character predates 1977's Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, that makes her the original evil and menacing cyborg.