Grace Lee Whitney

Grace Lee Whitney was an American actress and entertainer best known for her portrayal of Janice Rand in . She filmed her scenes for "The Enemy Within" on Thursday , Friday and Tuesday , her scenes for "The Man Trap" between Thursday and Monday , her scenes for "The Naked Time" on Thursday and Friday , and her scenes for "Charlie X" between Tuesday and Friday , all at Desilu Stage 9.
Whitney's character was originally intended to be a major part of the series, however, she was written out after eight episodes. Whitney returned to the role for several cameo appearances in subsequent Star Trek movies, and featured in the episode . She retained an active interest in Star Trek fandom, appearing in several fan films.
== Biography ==
Born Mary Ann Chase, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, she was adopted by the Whitney family who named her Grace Elaine Whitney. She became a prolific actress in the 1950s and 1960s, debuting on the Broadway stage in "Top Banana" before going on to appear in the 1954 motion picture of the same name. She worked with Jeffrey Hunter in the film The Man from Galveston (1963). Whitney guested on several well-known television series including The Twilight Zone, , , Cimmaron Strip, , Mannix, and Gene Roddenberry's own Police Story, co-starring DeForest Kelley. She also appeared alongside her Original Series co-star George Takei in a 1998 episode of Diagnosis: Murder.
Whitney had two sons, Scott and Jon Dweck, who also appeared in Star Trek productions.
She died peacefully at her home in Coarsegold, California, at the age of 85. 
== Star Trek ==
Whitney was cast as "Captain's Yeoman" for Gene Rodenberry's second Star Trek pilot, after his first, failed to be purchased as a regular series. Whitney appears in early publicity photos with William Shatner, wearing a Cage-style uniform of heavy velour and pants, but reportedly later suggested to William Ware Theiss that he change the female uniform to the more flattering skirt and boots design.
Intended to appear in far more episodes than she ultimately did, Whitney's Yeoman Rand was written out of several episodes, and ultimately dropped from the series after eight episodes. Her last on-screen appearance in the original Star Trek series is at the end of the episode when she exits the turbolift and gives a cold stare to Lenore Karidian. The following episode, her character is replaced by Dr. Helen Noel in .
The exact reason for Whitney's dismissal is uncertain; her struggle with alcohol and use of diet pills are sometimes cited as causes, while creator Gene Roddenberry's biography suggests that her departure was simply a budget cutback. In her autobiography, The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, Whitney describes an incident in which she was sexually assaulted by an executive of the Star Trek production team, whom she never identified by name, and she drew a link between this incident and her dismissal a few days later, but afterwards stated that her role was going to be eliminated in any case. 
According to Inside Star Trek, Whitney slid deeper into her alcohol addiction after being dismissed from the show. Speaking of her termination from the series, Whitney stated, "they wanted William Shatner to have romances in each episode with a different person, because for him to be stuck with one woman was not good for him and it wasn't good for the audience. That's what they told me, so I was written out. There were two blonde girls and one black girl. Nichelle was a more important character and couldn't be written out. Everything's political in America. One of the blondes had to go. The other one was engaged to the boss, so guess who went? I just about killed myself. I drank, that's what we do, we drink to get rid of pain. I was really mad. My God, was I bitter." Roddenberry later apologized for the dismissal and said it was the "dumbest mistake" he ever made.
When Star Trek: Phase II was in early development, Whitney was slated to return as a ship's officer, and later, she was seen in as a transporter chief, where Rand was referred to by name, thus reestablishing her character in the franchise. She did not appear in but appears in an unspeaking role as "woman in cafeteria" in . The character, a full commander by grade and (due to the inner tunic of her uniform being white in color) assigned to Starfleet's Command Section, was never referred to by name, and Rand would then reappear as a Chief petty officer in , making it unlikely these two characters were intended to be the same person. 
Whitney did not have a role in the fifth Star Trek film, but she received a major supporting role in , as well as a follow-on in the ' episode . Whitney would state that she enjoyed appearing in the that involved her and, of her casting in The Motion Picture, "It gave me a feeling as if I had turned back my life ten years." (The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, p. 55)
Whitney commenced to force her chemical dependences and her behavior compulsions into remission (chemical dependence and behavior compulsion both continued to defy permanent cures as of the middle 2020s) in the 1980s and went on to appear in many more Star Trek productions, most recently the 2007 fan film and the Star Trek: New Voyages episode "World Enough and Time" (2007), in which she appeared alongside George Takei, Majel Barrett Roddenberry, James Cawley, Jeffery Quinn, and John Carrigan. The episode was directed by Marc Scott Zicree, written by Zicree and Michael Reaves, and stunt coordinated by Leslie Hoffman.
== Star Trek appearances ==
* 
** 
** 
** 
** 
** 
** 
** 
** 
* :
** 
** (credited as "Woman in Cafeteria")
** (credited as "Commander Rand")
** (credited as "Excelsior Communications Officer")
* 
== External links ==
* 
* 
* 
de:Grace Lee Whitney
es:Grace Lee Whitney
fr:Grace Lee Whitney
it:Grace Lee Whitney
nl:Grace Lee Whitney
pl:Grace Lee Whitney
Category:TOS performers
Category:Film performers
Category:VOY performers
Category:Performers