Tricia O ' Neil Tricia O ' Neil is an actress from Shreveport , Louisiana , who portrayed three " Star Trek " characters in the early 1990s . Perhaps her most notable role was that of Captain Rachel Garrett , the commanding officer of the , in the third season episode . She went on to make a second appearance on " The Next Generation " as the Klingon scientist Kurak in the sixth season episode in and also appeared on as the Cardassian observer Korinas in the third season episode . For " Defiant " , she filmed her scenes between Monday and Wednesday on Paramount Stage 4 . Her makeup was applied by Camille Calvet and her costume was also worn by Elle Alexander in the episode before it was sold off on the It ' s A Wrap ! sale and auction on eBay . She was also considered for the role of Kai Opaka that ultimately went to Camille Saviola . O ' Neil began her career in show business as a model and magazine cover girl before she pursued acting , first in television commercials . Performing since the 1960s , she made her Broadway debut in the original musical " Two by Two " in 1970 . For her performance as O ' Neill in this production , O ' Neil won a 1971 Theatre World Award . The following year , she appeared in her first motion picture , a blaxploitation western called " The Legend of Nigger Charley " , with TOS guest actor Fred Williamson portraying the title role . She was subsequently cast as a regular on the NBC soap opera " How to Survive a Marriage " , which ran from January 1974 through March 1975 . Among her co - stars on this series was F . Murray Abraham , with whom she worked again in 1976 when she was a stand - by on the Broadway play " Legend " . O ' Neil ' s second film was " The Gumball Rally " , the popular 1976 racing comedy starring Michael Sarrazin . O ' Neil ' s early television appearances include guest appearances on " Ellery Queen " ( with Katherine Woodville ) , " Delvecchio " ( with Anthony Caruso and James B . Sikking ) , and " Barney Miller " ( with Ron Glass and James Gregory ) and such made - for - TV movies as CBS ' s " Mary Jane Harper Cried Last Night " ( 1977 , co - starring Phillip Richard Allen , Ray Buktenica , Bernie Casey , Charles Lucia , Warren Munson , and Nancy Parsons , with cinematography by Gayne Rescher ) and " Columbo : How to Dial a Murder " ( 1978 , with Ed Begley , Jr . and Kim Cattrall ) . Throughout the 1980s , she appeared on such shows as " Hart to Hart " ( with Warren Munson and Bert Remsen ) , " The Fall Guy " ( two episodes , including one with Marc Alaimo , Marshall R . Teague and Ian Wolfe ) , " Hardcastle and McCormick " ( starring Brian Keith and Daniel Hugh Kelly ) , " The A - Team " ( with Dwight Schultz , Sid Haig , Ed Lauter and Michael Ensign ; one of her two episodes was directed by Mike Vejar ) , " Scarecrow and Mrs . King " ( in an episode directed by Vincent McEveety and co - starring Eric Server ) , " Murder , She Wrote " ( with Alice Krige and George Murdock ) , " Dynasty " ( with Joan Collins , Warren Munson and Anthony Zerbe ) , " MacGyver " ( with Richard Lineback ) , " Simon & Simon " ( including an episode with Fionnula Flanagan ) , and " L . A . Law " ( directed by Win Phelps and co - starring Corbin Bernsen , Michael Bofshever , Tim de Zarn , Larry Drake , Jennifer Hetrick , Marnie McPhail , and Randy Oglesby ) . She also appeared in an episode of " The Powers of Matthew Star " written by Walter Koenig . Following her first appearance on " The Next Generation " , O ' Neil ' s television credits included appearances on two episodes of " Matlock " ( one with Jason Wingreen , the second with Daniel Roebuck ) , a " Dallas " two - parter ( working alongside Mary Crosby , Joel Grey , and Richard Lineback ) , two episodes of " Murder , She Wrote " ( one with Melvin Belli and another with Alan Oppenheimer ) , a Richard Compton - directed , David Gerrold - written episode of the science fiction series " Babylon 5 " ( starring Andreas Katsulas ) , an episode of " Diagnosis Murder " with James Sloyan , two episodes of " Beverly Hills , 90210 " ( including one with Vaughn Armstrong and Ann Gillespie ) , and two episodes of " JAG " ( one episode with Thomas Kopache and another directed by James Whitmore , Jr . and starring Scott Lawrence ) . In addition , she had a supporting role as a judge in the 1991 comedy " Ted and Venus " , co - starring Andrea Martin , Vincent Schiavelli , and Brian Thompson . " Ted and Venus " was her first film since the - directed " Piranha Part Two : The Spawning " in 1981 , in which she played the lead . She again collaborated with Cameron in a small role in his 1997 Academy Award - winning blockbuster " Titanic " , co - starring Michael Ensign and David Warner and released by Paramount Pictures .