The Secret Life of Grace Lee Whitney (Janice Rand from Star Trek) 

I had the pleasure to meet her at a Star Trek convention in the 1980's near Harrisburg, PA. I got to speak with her there. She was very nice and kind.

I met her once in the parking structure at a Pasadena Star Trek Convention. She was unloading her car of things and I recognized her and asked her if she could use my help with her things. She thanked me but said she did not need any help. I thanked her for coming to the convention and I told her that I looked forward to getting her autograph during the convention and I left her to go to my own car. I cherish her autograph still to this day. Sad to find out of her being assaulted during her time during the show's production. Nice lady.

Fun Fact: Grace Lee Whitney was directly responsible for the iconic Star Trek miniskirt uniforms! Originally female officers were going to wear pants just as they did in the two pilot episodes. There are even early publicity photos with Grace in that costume. But she wanted something that would show off her dancer's legs. Short skirts were i fashion at the time so it wasn't that unusual of a request. Once Nichelle Nichols was on board the rest was history!

Star Trek should have never canceled her.. she was awesome

Always had a thing for Grace, happy that she battled her way forward and ended up having a wonderful life.

She was a terrific lady. I regret that I never met her. In Harlan Ellison’s original screenplay for “The City on the Edge of Forever,” Janice Rand played a vital role, defending the Enterprise from barbarian pirates. I regret that they wrote here out of the script. She was my first “blonde goddess,” before even Barbara Eden on “I Dream of Jeannie.”

At the 2011 Las Vegas convention, she said that Leornard Nimoy was the cast member looking after the cast. Leonard Nimoy was doing a small get-together to discuss his photography. Grace walked up to the room and was waiting outside with everyone. She was shown in early at the request of Mr. Nimoy and someone said, "Why does she get in before the rest." The rest the group reminded him she is a cast member. I only spoke with her briefly, but she was a very sweet Lady.

Her adopted parents gave her a fitting divine name. She moved through her life challenges with incredible grace.

A nice lady who was most gracious to us adoring fans. I had the pleasure of meeting her in 1976 at a convention.

Thank you for posting. It would seem sadly she was not alone in her experience within that industry. I did wonder why she suddenly disappeared from the show; which i use to watch as a child religiously every week. Glad to hear her life ended up well and fought her demons and won.

I met her in Philly at a convention in her in the mid 80s and got her autograph. Beautiful and sweet I will never forget her.

I never met her, but I admire her inner strength & resilience for becoming sober, and extending a helping hand to AA members. She really lit up the screen in Star Trek, and even had a happy off-screen life afterward.

Highly recommend her bio Amazing Grace. My favorite Star Trek character and one of my favorite people since I read it.

I didn’t hear of her passing. I always thought that she gave a certain impression when she entered the bridge. I am glad she found some peace in her life and may she rest in peace.

I met Grace while I was an elementary student in the 5th grade. Since I was born in the month of August, I was 10-years-old throughout the entire 5th grade school year. Most of the other kids in my grade were usually one full year older than me. Anyways, there was this girl in my 5th grade class, who, during the 1975-76 school year, I thought was the most beautiful girl that I had ever seen. In my mind and heart, throughout the entire school year, I would regularly stare at this girl, from halfway across the classroom. In my imagination, I always pictured little 💕❤hearts, floating around her. She was a lovely, platinum blonde, who always had perfectly applied lipstick. One day, I finally got up the nerve to go talk to her, and she told me that she was transferring to another school. Sure enough, the next day, her mother came to pick her up. From watching _Star Trek_ reruns since 1969, I immediately recognized her mother... as Grace Lee Whitney! The three of us had a wonderful talk. Personally, I couldn't get over how much Grace's daughter looked exactly like her mother (only shorter, of course.) When you see Grace in the original series _Star Trek_ reruns, that is exactly what her daughter looked like, and especially when it came to those deeply emotional facial expressions. I am always a bit perplexed that these RU-vid biographies never mention Grace's daughter. Out of respect and kindness, I am withholding the first and last name of the daughter.

Grace was a strikingly beautiful woman with talent to match,what happened to her was disgraceful,that she picked herself up and moved forward and found happiness later is a blessing RIP Grace❤️

She may be the most beautiful woman who ever lived. Sheer female perfection. What a tragic loss to the series writing off her character. Captivating in every scene.

I appreciate this story about her life.. I liked on star trek, as I got older I wondered what happened to happened to her, I'm glad she found peace with her struggles and lived a happy life.

Her portrayal of Janice Rand added a unique depth to 'Star Trek' that was distinctly her own

Excellent biography! Thank You for fleshing out this wonderful actress and talent!

Leonard Nimoy knew all about this. He and Grace had become fast friends and she confided everything to him but had him promise never to tell anyone.

Much of this I didn't know. Sad to hear what she went through and glad to hear she fought back. She may not have been a main character like Kirk, Spock, or Bones but she was nonetheless an important character on Star Trek. I was overjoyed to see her in the Voyager series. I was saddened to hear of her passing. Rest in Peace Yoman Rand you are indeed missed and contrary to what you may have thought you did make your mark on the Star Trek franchise. We miss you. 😢

Beautiful woman, I remember seeing her for the first time, and couldn't believe she was real....

I would have loved to have seen Janice Rand in all three seasons.

I've met Grace at different Star Trek Conventions and interviewed her a few times. Of all of the ST cast, she and George were the most down to earth.

After sexually assaulting someone and them fighting you off you don't fire her because you're embarrassed. You fire her because she might go to the cops. You fire her so that if she ever does decide to go to them you can say well she's making it up for revenge because we fired her for not being right for the show. It gives that producer a protective screen. They didn't fire her because of any shame, rapists don't care. They just don't want to get caught.

All men liked her. She was on many tv programs in the 1950s and 1960s. You’d see her familiar looks all over tv. Many westerns. She was just amazing looking; blonde, tall, etc. Its too bad that she didn’t continue on Star Trek. All though the years she has been a fan favorite.

she should have had more roles in star trek

She was an amazing woman indeed... We all miss her !!!!😊❤❤❤❤

This was all news to me. I have wondered what happened to Yeoman Rand for years. Thanks for the update for me. Too many distractions to do any research. I am really sad about the way she was jerked around, too. Thanks again for sharing your research. 🙈🙉🙊 😎 🇺🇸

A striking woman, i do remember her from the early episodes, never knew she was not in many, stunning in her day. RIP.

I first saw her in one of my favorite, Outer Limits", episodes, "Controlled Experiment" with Barry Morse (one of my favorite actors) and Carroll O'Connor before he was "Archie Bunker". It was a cheaply made episodes but great none the less with subtle humor. Robert Fortier was in it as well. He also appeared in Star Trek.

If you or someone you know is struggling with alcoholism, Grace's Book is a must read.

She was an absolute knock out. I can't remember if she was written out or just disappeared. I'm glad she found peace.

I never knew she wasn't around after the 1st season that surprises me I didn't even know she was missing until I saw her in the Star Trek movies it never occurred to me that she wasn't in star trek TV shows all this time I'm glad she SHOWED up again in star trek and now learned about her life She was a beautiful lady and it turns out a beautiful person I hope to find some of her material to enjoy her memory Thank you people for putting this out here I'm happy she made a good life for herself We'll all miss her

i thought her hair was new and who ever did her makeup was brillant

She was still a hopeful for the 1st Star Trek movie when I saw her singing at one of the earlier ST Conventions @The Bi-Centennial-10 Star Trek convention held at the Statler Hilton NYC Sept 1976 when I was 14

Grace Lee Whitney (born Mary Ann Chase; April 1, 1930 - May 1, 2015) was an American actress and singer. Her entertainment career spanned over a half century in a variety of capacities in radio, on stage, in music as a singer and songwriter, in television and in movies. She played Janice Rand on the original Star Trek television series and subsequent Star Trek films.[1][2]

In her own words, " . . You take hostages" summed her ability to take personal responsibility fir her life. Refreshing in an era where taking personal resonsiblty is a lost art. My fondest whish is that she now has the peace that ofter eluded her in life. God's speed to you Grace ! ! ! 🖖

The short skirts certainly grabbed the boys attention to watch the show, the black stocking too, but the series was brilliant besides and myself and my brothers would never miss an episode in the 70s when it came on our tv. We were young teens here in Ireland at the time and the beautiful Yeoman Rand was one of the highlights of our maturing young minds week.

She was a really good actress. I remember watching her Star Trek episodes as a kid & really believing her nuanced performances.

Very attractive woman ♀️ n a wholesome way. A delight to watch alongside Capt. Kirk

Early on in your clip you mistakenly show Mariett Hartley from the episode "All our Yesterdays"

What a wonderful woman ❤ RIP

She was fabulous in the Outer Limits episode "Controlled Experiment."

OI had the pleasure of meet Grace, an apt name if there ever was one. On page 14 of my autographed copy of her book she made a simple request "Don't Ask" from then on I think of her request as Directive 14.

I always enjoyed watching Star Trek in the 60s when I was just a kid I know it thought about why she left until after I grew up

I was just a kid, but she was so BEAUTIFUL 💞😘💓💐

Sounds and looks like a good role model to me.

She was a great woman, and Star Trek would have never been the same with out her.

Thumbs down for the bot-compiled, bot-voiced, repetition.

Grace lee Whitney will be remembered as Janice rand in Star Trek by Star Trek fans

Excellent.

What many probably didn't know, on Star Trek she was already in her 30s but looked much younger.

It would be nice if the narrator knew the correct pronunciation of the actors' names. I met her several times over the years and had good conversations with her. She helped me understand how to cope with my feelings toward my alcoholic sister.

Like many, I enjoyed episodes including Yeoman Rand’.

I had a crush on her

And you also incorrectly show Ricardo Montalban when you're talking about Ensign Chekov

Grace Lee Whitney always seemed like a real person, and not a caricature. I never met her, but she never seemed like a shell of a person portraying a facade. Sometimes, stories like hers make you hate what we accept from Hollywood and its minions to be entertained.

Let's be real here, and not to take away anything from her acting talents,... It was her Gorgeous legs in her Star Trek mini skirt uniform, and her beautiful face that made her very popular amongst Trekkies who were mostly young males. One of the hottest women on TV at that time, which also included Lt Uhura!

She was a true beauty and deserved better! RIP. 😢 20:30

I am always amazed by the number of famous people born or associated with Michigan.

Hollywood is full of power hungry and evil people and Grace deserved much better than she was treated by them. I was a kid then but I wish I had the chance to help her feel better about herself and tell her what a beautiful person she was. They cancelled Star Trek didn't they- It seems all good long lasting shows were cancelled at some point- idiots of Hollywood.

52 year Hollywood crush.😍😝😈 What a shame we lost her.😭

Star trek was suppose to have been in the 22 century. If you remember the episode Tomorrow is Yesterday, the Colonel told Captain Kirk, ( I am going to lock you up for 200 years) In which will make it the 22 century.

Smurfette !! 😍

I would have really liked to see this to the end but unfortunately it's being bombarded by advertisements literally every 2 minutes

They let her go because they wanted Kirk to be free to romance the aliens. She was becoming a love interest for Kirk, but they didn't want that.

A voice that was silent about her....Shatner.

I got to see her at a convention.

One has to wonder WHICH of the producers of STAR TREK was the one who sexually assaulted her. By not pointing the finger at one specific man, she unwittingly has us wondering if it might have been So-and-So, or maybe that other guy . . . or, maybe, could it have been Gene Roddenberry himself, who has been revealed to have been an adulterous horndog -- could he have been even worse? There's a limited number of men who could have been The Guy, as no network show had an unlimited number of Producers working on any given show. It's curious that in the episode "The Enemy Within" her Yeoman Rand character, after telling the 'good' Kirk (et al.) about the near-rape incident with the 'evil' Kirk, mentions that she wouldn't have told anybody about it, not wanting to get him into trouble -- even though the man's conduct represented HIM getting HIMSELF into trouble. I wonder if Grace felt similarly about her own experience as a victim of rape, not wanting -- like Yeoman Rand -- to get her rapist/producer into trouble, and being willing to keep quiet about it. Certainly, nobody outside the tight circle of STAR TREK's Cast-&-Crew knew about the 'incident' -- and, as far as I know, there were no hints of scandalous tabloid stories about it during the 3 years the show was in production, so she DID keep quiet about it. I also wonder if the unnamed producer got turned on by watching dailies of the scene where the Saurian Brandy-swigging 'evil' Kirk, lurking in Rand's quarters, makes his moves on her . . . "We've both been pre-TEND-ing too long . . ." [Kirk GRABS her by her upper arms] "Let's stop pretending. Come here, Janice -- don't fight me . . ." etc. The predatory look in Shatner's face as he played up the 'evil' side of Kirk's Id . . . I can imagine some producer on the show, perhaps someone who had personal experience of taking advantage of young women seeking advancement in Hollywood, getting a 'stiffie' just imagining getting Grace in such a vulnerable situation, leveraging his power to get his way with her. Was Grace assaulted just AFTER this scene had been filmed, I wonder? Did that scene inspire the producer/rapist to do what he did to her? Evidently, she took the secret of his identity to her grave with her. Might there be anybody still alive from those years who knows the identity of the producer/rapist who could 'out' him once and for all? To think that all-the-while that dark secret was haunting the STAR TREK production, Bill Cosby over on "I SPY" was being a secret serial rapist, roofying unsuspecting women whom he had offered to 'mentor' . . .

So, in her singing performances she showcased her singing voice? 😆🤣😂

My first crush. Such a beauty.

she was a very attractive woman, on all levels

Kaley Cuoco for the part of Janice Rand in the movies with Pine, Keith Urban, and the rest of the new cast!

I liked Whitney's performance in TOS but her performances in the movies were lacking and she playing like, look who I am, Janice Rand! It's too bad.

A similair thing happenned to Jennifer LIen aka Kes of Star Trek :Voyager. She seemed to have been let go after 3 Season to make room for Jeri Ryan's character- Seven of Nine aka the Gorgous Hot Borg. I think Grace Whitney has been treated a lot better than Jennifer Lien. Jennifer has been completely osctrazied from the STar TRek Universe- in particular the Star Trek Conventions. Jennifer Lien also apparently spiraled into Substance Abuse and Mental Health Problems. I wish they would let JL be a Panelist at Star Trek Conventions. I personallly like btht Kes and the Seven of Nine Characters I think they would have been great together with Kes mentoring 7 of 9's Chararcterswhen she first came aboard Voyager. Maybe Grace could make a 12 Step call to Jennifer?

Hollywood can be brutal and unfair..

Star Trek may well have completed their five year mission had she remained on the show.

Some narcissist, probably Roddenberry, wanted the wig. I liked Star Trek as an adolescent. It's tiresome to watch now, I can't stand 2 minutes of any of it. Desi Arnaz was quite a jerk. Lucy greenlighted Star Trek. "...It is well-documented that Arnaz cheated on Ball, and the bandleader and actor admitted it himself. But, one Hollywood insider made quite the bold claim about Arnaz's cheating: Escort-to-the-stars Scott Bowers claimed that he procured women for the I Love Lucy star at the rate of two or three a week. ..."

Some of the pictures you're showing in this video are fakes and very insulting to Whitney's good memory.

Should have dumped SULU. She was my favorite character. Idiots for getting rid of her

The Biggest Star of All.

She was such a hottie! 😘

She deserved better writing than this.

Funny Marilyn Monroe was on some like it hot and it's mms photos you used. Lot of inaccurate info. Guess you didn't have enough of Grace's photos

RIP We kill to live and live to die.If we stay here we die. We have nothing to lose. We must explore the center of our Plane directly under Polaris at Magnetic North and the lands beyond our ice wall to see if Hyperborea exists and if there is a portal out of this no win situation.

Uh….didn’t one …wasn’t one…accused by his daughter of…..fans don’t know….there’s a myth and then there’s the reality.

If the Star Trek universe had become real they would have found a way to cure of her addiction. The whole thing is neurological, not a character flaw.

Narrator is the most annoying and awkward computer voice I've ever heard!

DeForest met her in an unemployment line?? HAHAHAHAH

Your voiceover bot is 😆🤣😂.

Could have beemed me right next 2 tgat

David R Lentz, Columbus, Ohio, USA (Thursday, 8 August, 2024) Oh, enough of the archaic, inherently a-scientific, fundamentally flawed, dualistic, Freudian, reductio ad absurdum of Captain Kirk (William Shatner) split into “good”, albeit emotionally weak, and “evil”, yet impulsive, forceful. The whole point of the episode’s underlying narrative was that as we grow, we learn to develop a harmony of different emotions, none intrinsically “evil” or “good”. Then a Mr. 1950 bumbles along, yet again to muddle the reality of the human condition.

Kirk honorable? LOL

Auto generated videos are shit.

Thank you Grace ☺️🥰

What's with the beehive on her head

Worst??? Speak English