Grace Lee Whitney, Star Trek Actress, Dies at 85

Grace Lee Whitney, one of the early cast members of Star Trek passed away recently. She was a ripe 85 years of age when she breathed her last.

When Star Trek came on television in the 60s, there was a beautiful lady who was one of its early cast members. Her name was Grace Lee Whitney and she just died recently. She suffered from addiction and later on conquered her dependency and became an outspoken force for change. 

Grace died at her Coarsegold home a few days ago, her son told The Fresno Bee. She was a singer at the beginning of her career. Later on she became the character of Yeoman Janice Rand in the Star Trek series. She was William Shatner’s lovely assistant on the show. She left the show halfway through her stint though. The reasons range from her addictive personality all the way to unpredictable acts of outrageousness.   

However, Grace wrote in her autobiography that she was sexually harassed by someone on set and later on told point blank to leave the series. After that she entered a sort of Dark Ages from which she was to emerge only with extreme difficulty. 

Her bouts with the bottle lasted long enough to seriously mess up her life. However, it was faith in God and her fans’ love and admiration for her that helped pull her out of the doldrums of blind addiction. She has a son named Jonathan who survives her. 

Later on in her life, she would campaign in order to spread greater awareness about issues such as alcoholic addiction. She was a vociferous advocate of giving up the constant need to take a drink. Today she had left us for good. /4/her family and friends find solace in the fact that she did not die in vain but was an asset in many people’s lives which she enriched by her message of sobriety.  

Grace Lee Whitney’s Star Trek co-star William Shatner (James T. Kirk) tweets tribute to her. See the tweet below.

Condolences to the family of Grace. She was a constant shining smile over the years every time our paths crossed.— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) /4/4, 2015