Diana Muldaur Diana Charlton Muldaur is the actress best known to " Star Trek " fans for her portrayal of Chief Medical Officer Katherine Pulaski during s second season . She appeared in all but two episodes of the season : and . Muldaur had previously appeared in two episodes of ( and ) , playing two different characters who also held the title of " Doctor . " Muldaur filmed her scenes for " Return to Tomorrow " between Monday and Tuesday at Desilu Stage 9 and Stage 10 , and her scenes for " Is There in Truth No Beauty ? " between Tuesday and Wednesday at Stage 9 and Stage 8 . In , Muldaur was cast as Dr . Pulaski for the second season of TNG as a replacement for Gates McFadden , the actress who played Beverly Crusher in the first season . McFadden had some sort of falling out with the show ' s producers , especially Maurice Hurley and left ( or was asked to leave ) the show , and Muldaur was brought on board . However , following the end of the second season , the issues with McFadden were resolved and she returned to the series . Muldaur ' s last appearance as Dr . Pulaski was , the final episode of the second season . On Muldaur was interviewed and these interviews were later published on the TNG Season 2 DVD in the special features " Mission Overview Year Two " ( " Diana Muldaur " , " Gene Roddenberry " ) and " Selected Crew Analysis Year Two " . In these interviews Muldaur told that she had moved into the high desert Sierra Nevada with her husband in 1988 when she got a call to work on " The Next Generation " and couldn ' t resist . Ultimately , however , Muldaur found working on the show an unhappy experience and it wasn ' t what she hoped it would be . She stated that there was no imagination on the show and she felt that everyone was out for themselves and she felt they weren ' t happy she was there . During production of , she and co - star Patricia Smith swore they would never work in Science Fiction again due to the prosthetics the actresses had to wear . Among the props and costumes auctioned off on the It ' s A Wrap ! sale and auction on eBay were a face mold and her costume from the episode . Career outside " Star Trek " . Muldaur began her television career with a recurring role on the soap opera " The Secret Storm " in 1965 , on which John Colicos also starred . She followed this with a recurring role as Jeannie Orloff on the medical drama " Dr . Kildare " , guest - starring in five episodes along with her future TOS co - star William Shatner as well as fellow TOS guest star Bruce Hyde . In 1969 , she became a regular on the short - lived series " The Survivors " , which lasted only 15 episodes . Following this series ' end , however , Muldaur was cast in the role of Chris Coughlin in the crime drama " McCloud " , which lasted seven seasons from 1970 through 1977 . Fellow TOS guest performer Ken Lynch was also a regular performer on this series ; the two of them had previously co - starred together in a 1968 episode of " The Outcasts " called " A Ride to Vengeance " , along with Erik Holland . In 1976 , she and TNG guest star David Ogden Stiers participated in the pilot episode of the hit action series " Charlie ' s Angels " . That same year , Muldaur became a regular on " The Tony Randall Show " , which lasted for two seasons from 1976 through 1978 . Her other TV credits throughout the 1970s include : the " Police Woman " episode " Solitaire " ( 1977 ) along with TNG & DS9 director Corey Allen and guest performers Richard Lynch and Eugene Roche ; the 1977 TV movie " The Deadly Triangle " , in which she played the wife of Robert Lansing ' s character ; an episode of " The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries " , starring Phillip Richard Allen and William Schallert ; the 1978 mini - series " Black Beauty " , with John de Lancie and Brock Peters ; and another 1978 mini - series , " The Word " , co - starring s Kate Mulgrew as well as Jonathan Banks , Christopher Lloyd and Nehemiah Persoff . Muldaur ' s prolific career spans not only television , but films as well . One of Muldaur ' s earlist film appearances was in 1969 ' s " Number One " , co - starring fellow TOS guest star Roy Jenson . She then co - starred with Barry Newman in the 1970 movie " The Lawyer , " which became the 1974 - 76 NBC series " Petrocelli " . She was unavailable for the series , and was replaced by Susan Howard . In 1971 , Muldaur co - starred with another TOS guest actress , France Nuyen , in the Western film " One More Train to Rob " . In 1974 , she co - starred with John Wayne in one of the latter ' s final films , " McQ " . That same year , she starred in movies , " Chosen Survivors " with Barbara Babcock and " Planet Earth " . In 1980 , Muldaur made her first of three appearances as Dr . Janet Carlyle on the medical drama " Quincy " , a series which featured Robert Ito and Garry Walberg as regulars . The following year , Muldaur co - starred with Harry Mudd actor Roger C . Carmel in the short - lived adventure series " Fitz and Bones " . She also co - starred with Carmel in the " Fitz and Bones " TV movie " Terror at Alcatraz " in 1982 ( which also featured appearances by Elisha Cook , Jr . , Marc Lawrence , Michael Pataki , and Georgia Schmidt ) . After her tenure as Dr . Pulaski came to an end , Muldaur found herself playing the recurring role of litigator Rosalind Shays on the hit drama " L . A . Law " , appearing in 24 episodes between 1989 and 1991 . She received two Emmy Award nominations for her performance on this series . Her last episode was the infamous " Good to the Last Drop " , in which her character was killed after falling down an empty elevator shaft . Among her co - stars on the program were series regulars Corbin Bernsen and Larry Drake , as well as Daniel Benzali , Roy Brocksmith , Richard Cox , Steven Culp , John de Lancie , Lawrence Dobkin , Susan Gibney , John Glover , Anne Haney , Jennifer Hetrick , Sherman Howard , Jack Kehler , Lance LeGault , Deborah May , Warren Munson , Charles Napier , Natalia Nogulich , Frank Novak , Nehemiah Persoff , Ethan Phillips , Andrew Robinson , Concetta Tomei , George D . Wallace , Ray Walston , and Paul Winfield . More recently , Muldaur lent her voice to the character of Dr . Leslie Thompkins on " Batman : The Animated Series " . Those she worked with on this series include Adrienne Barbeau , Joseph Campanella , Paul Williams , Robert Costanzo , and John de Lancie . Muldaur is a former board member of the Screen Actors Guild . She also served a tenure as president of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences . Having retired from acting in 1993 , Muldaur is currently active as a dog - breeder and a judge at dog shows .