Grace Lee Whitney - who was born Mary Ann Chase - on 1 Apr 1930 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, started out as a dancer and singer in Detroit. She then moved onto Broadway before being cast in small roles in The Real McCoys, Hawaiian Eye, 77 Sunset Strip and more.
Cast as Yeoman Janice Rand in 1966 for the first season of Star Trek, Whitney's character was essentially the Personal Assistant to Captain James T. Kirk.
As a result of becoming addicted to diet pills and alcohol, Whitney only appeared in 8 episodes of Star Trek before being let go. Whitney reported to a British tabloid that her drinking "was not serious" during her tenure on Star Trek. Yet her release and self-perceived rejection from the show sent her on a downward spiral that would take years to overcome.
As quoted by CNN.com; "I just about killed myself over that reject. And when I would go on interviews, I would smell of alcohol. I was very Lindsay Lohan-ish, very Charlie Sheen. I was lost. I was lost and I began to bottom out," she told startrek.com in 2011. "It took me about 10 years after getting written out to come to my senses when I bottomed out." With support from friends and colleagues - including Leonard Nimoy who suffered from his own problems - Whitney eventually got onto a 12-step program.
Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry decided to include her in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and she then went on to star in a further 3 "TOS movies". Eventually, Whitney would appear in Star Trek: Voyager, with her character Janice Rand having attained the rank of Commander.
By the time of Star Trek: Voyager, Whitney had spent more than 30 years of her life helping others with substance abuse problems, after coming out to fans about her addictions at a Star Trek convention.
Grace Lee Whitney released her memoir, The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy [Amazon US, Amazon UK], in 1998.
As a sporadic, but integral part of the Star Trek universe, the loss of Grace Lee Whitney will be felt among the Star Trek community and I'm sure I speak for all of the UFPlanets.com community that our thoughts go out to her family and friends during this difficult time.
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WRITTEN BY FALLEN
EDITED BY McCLINTOCK - UFP.CLINT@HACARI.COM
Anyway, it's a shame to hear she's gone