France Nuyen France Nuyen is the French actress who played the title role in , a third season episode of . She filmed her scenes between Monday and Monday at Desilu Stage 9 . A makeup and costume test was also filmed with her on Wedneday at Stage 9 . She is also remembered for her role as Dr . Paulette Kiem on the NBC series " St . Elsewhere " . She was born as France Nguyen Van - Nga in Marseille , France to a French mother and Vietnamese father . After her mother and grandfather were persecuted by the occupying Germans during World War II for being gypsies , Nuyen was raised in Marseille by a cousin . In interviews , she says that she thinks of herself as culturally French and feels she has little in common with most Asians . Nuyen was working as a seamstress in 1955 when she was discovered by a photographer for " LIFE " magazine . She came to America in 1956 and became a member of the Lee Strasberg Acting Studio in New York . A professional acting career on film , television and stage soon followed . Nuyen made her film debut portraying Liat in the hit 1958 film version of the stage musical " South Pacific " . Among her co - stars in this film was Ray Walston , who would play Boothby in various episodes of and many years later . Nuyen won the Daniel Bloom Award for her role in " South Pacific " . Nuyen followed this with a role in the 1958 film adaptation of " In Love and War " , co - starring the actor who played the first " Star Trek " captain , Jeffrey Hunter . Her roles in these two films earned her a Golden Globe nomination as Most Promising Female Newcomer . Later that same year , Nuyen began starring on Broadway opposite William Shatner in , with Nuyen playing the title role . She won the 1959 Theatre World Award for her performance in the play , which ran for a total of 508 performances . She was to reprise her role in the 1960 film adaptation of the play and even shot half the film , but she was suddenly replaced with . She went on to work with William Shatner again on " Star Trek " and at least two more times afterward : on a 1972 episode of " Kung Fu " ( with Rosemary Forsyth and Keye Luke ) and in the 1973 CBS TV movie , " The Horror at 37 , 000 Feet " ( with Darleen Carr and Paul Winfield ) . After ending her run on " Suzie Wong " , Nuyen starred in such films as " Diamond Head " ( 1966 , co - starring James Darren ) and " Dimension 5 " ( 1966 , again working with Jeffrey Hunter , as well as Robert Ito and Jon Lormer ) . In 1963 , Nuyen married Dr . Thomas Morell , a psychiatrist . The two had a daughter , Fleur , but ultimately divorced in 1966 . Nuyen ' s television credits during this time included a guest appearance on a Joseph Sargent - directed episode of " The Man from U . N . C . L . E . " , two episodes of " Gunsmoke " ( including one with Michael Ansara ) , and a few episodes of " I Spy " . It was on this series that Nuyen met actor , whom she married in 1967 and divorced in 1970 . Nuyen has since appeared on television shows such as " Hawaii Five - O " , " The Six Million Dollar Man " ( for which she reunited with her " Trek " co - star George Takei ) , " Charlie ' s Angels " , " Fantasy Island " ( starring Ricardo Montalban ) , " Trapper John , M . D . " ( starring Madge Sinclair ) , " Magnum , P . I . " ( with Nehemiah Persoff ) , " Murder , She Wrote " ( with David Warner and directed by Vincent McEveety ) , and the 1990s version of " The Outer Limits " ( again working with David Warner ) . From 1986 through 1988 , Nuyen starred as Dr . Paulette Kim on the series " St . Elsewhere " , working alongside the likes of Ed Begley , Jr . , Ronny Cox , Bruce Greenwood , Norman Lloyd , Jennifer Savidge , and Alfre Woodard . In 1990 , she had a recurring role on the long - running prime - time soap , " Knots Landing " . Her later film credits include " Battle for the Planet of the Apes " ( 1973 , with Paul Williams , cinematography by Richard H . Kline and music by Leonard Rosenman ) , " The Joy Luck Club " ( 1993 , with Rosalind Chao ) , and " The Battle of Shaker Heights " ( 2003 , with William Sadler and Ray Wise ) . She also starred with s Scott Bakula in the 1994 film " A Passion to Kill " and with " Voyager " s Garrett Wang in 1995 ' s " Angry Cafe " . She was most recently seen in the 2007 drama " The American Standards " , opposite Joanna Cassidy and Ed Lauter . In addition to acting , Nuyen is also a certified psychologist . She received a master ' s degree in Clinical Psychology in 1986 and became a psychological counselor for abused women and children , women in prison , and drug abusers . She was named " Woman of the Year " in 1989 for her psychological work , in addition to numerous commendations and awards .