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Grace Lee Whitney‌

Gender

Female

Birthday

calendar1930-04-01

Popularity

star11.0

Grace Lee Whitney

Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Grace Lee Whitney

Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Gender

Female

Birthday

calendar1930-04-01

Popularity

star11.0

Biography

Grace Lee Whitney (April 1, 1930 - May 1, 2015) was an American actress and singer, best known for her role as Janice Rand on the original Star Trek television series and subsequent Star Trek films. Born Mary Ann Chase, she was adopted by the Whitney family, who changed her name to Grace Elaine. She started her entertainment career as a "girl singer" on Detroit's WJR radio at the age of fourteen. After she left home, she began to call herself Lee Whitney, eventually becoming known as Grace Lee Whitney. In her late teens, she moved to Chicago where she opened in nightclubs for Billie Holiday and Buddy Rich, and toured with the Spike Jones and Fred Waring Bands. Whitney debuted on Broadway in Top Banana, playing Miss Holland. Following the successful run of the show, she joined the cast in Hollywood, where she recreated the role in the 1954 movie of the same name. In Los Angeles, Whitney auditioned for and was cast in the starring role of Lucy Brown in the national tour of The Threepenny Opera. Whitney made more than a hundred television appearances following her television dramatic debut in Cowboy G-Men in 1953; The Real McCoys, Wagon Train, Gunsmoke, Bat Masterson, The Rifleman, 77 Sunset Strip, Bewitched, Batman, and The Untouchables. During the 1950s and early 1960s, Whitney was also on live television shows including You Bet Your Life, The Red Skelton Show, The Jimmy Durante Show and The Ernie Kovacs Show. Whitney was cast as a member of the all-female band in Billy Wilder's comedy Some Like It Hot. She shared several scenes with Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Marilyn Monroe, including the famed "upper berth" sequence. She had uncredited roles in House of Wax, Top Banana, The Naked and the Dead, and Pocketful of Miracles. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry cast Whitney in the role of Yeoman Janice Rand, the personal assistant to Captain James T. Kirk, in 1966. Whitney appeared in eight of the first fifteen episodes, after which she was released from contract. She had claimed that, while still under contract, she was sexually assaulted by an executive associated with the series. Later, in a public interview, she stated that Leonard Nimoy had been her main source of support during that time. She went into more details about the assault in her book The Longest Trek, but refused to name the executive, saying in the book, "This is my story, not his." Whitney returned to the Star Trek franchise in the 1970s after DeForest Kelley saw Whitney on the unemployment line and told her that fans had been asking for her at fan conventions. Whitney reprised her role as Janice Rand, who had received a promotion to chief petty officer in Star Trek: The Motion Picture). She also appeared in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, with another promotion, as Lieutenant Commander Janice Rand. Five years later, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the franchise, she returned in the 1996 Star Trek: Voyager episode "Flashback", along with George Takei. She also reprised her role in two internet Star Trek episodes. In the 1970s, she appeared in The Bold Ones, Cannon, and Hart to Hart. In 1998, she appeared in an episode of Diagnosis: Murder, which reunited her with her Star Trek colleagues George Takei, Walter Koenig and Majel Barrett.

Movie Credits

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Star Trek: The Motion Picture‌
star6.5
calendar 1979

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country‌
star7.0
calendar 1991

Way Down Cellar

Way Down Cellar‌
star6.0
calendar 1968

The Man from Galveston

The Man from Galveston‌
star5.2
calendar 1963

The Texan Meets Calamity Jane

The Texan Meets Calamity Jane‌
star0.0
calendar 1950

To the Journey - Looking Back at Star Trek: Voyager

To the Journey - Looking Back at Star Trek: Voyager‌
star0.0
calendar 2024

A Public Affair

A Public Affair‌
star0.0
calendar 1962

Bring Back... Star Trek

Bring Back... Star Trek‌
star3.5
calendar 2009

The Kid with the 200 I.Q.

The Kid with the 200 I.Q.‌
star5.0
calendar 1983

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock‌
star6.6
calendar 1984

Top Banana

Top Banana‌
star5.0
calendar 1954

Ironside

Ironside‌
star5.0
calendar 1967

Some Like It Hot

Some Like It Hot‌
star8.1
calendar 1959

The Captains

The Captains‌
star6.3
calendar 2011

Star Trek: Of Gods and Men

Star Trek: Of Gods and Men‌
star4.3
calendar 2007

Pocketful of Miracles

Pocketful of Miracles‌
star7.3
calendar 1961

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home‌
star7.1
calendar 1986

Irma la Douce

Irma la Douce‌
star7.4
calendar 1963

The Naked and the Dead

The Naked and the Dead‌
star5.9
calendar 1958

Critic's Choice

Critic's Choice‌
star5.5
calendar 1963

Tv Credits

Star Trek

Star Trek‌
star8.0
calendar 1966

77 Sunset Strip

77 Sunset Strip‌
star6.7
calendar 1958

Star Trek: Voyager

Star Trek: Voyager‌
star7.8
calendar 1995

Batman

Batman‌
star7.3
calendar 1966

Mannix

Mannix‌
star6.7
calendar 1967

Surfside 6

Surfside 6‌
star5.0
calendar 1960

Hart to Hart

Hart to Hart‌
star6.9
calendar 1979

Arrest and Trial

Arrest and Trial‌
star5.0
calendar 1963

Gunsmoke

Gunsmoke‌
star6.5
calendar 1955

General Electric Theater

General Electric Theater‌
star5.5
calendar 1953

Cannon

Cannon‌
star6.5
calendar 1971

Bring Back...

Bring Back...‌
star6.0
calendar 2005

Run for Your Life

Run for Your Life‌
star7.2
calendar 1965

Cimarron Strip

Cimarron Strip‌
star5.0
calendar 1967

The Virginian

The Virginian‌
star6.4
calendar 1962

Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre

Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre‌
star5.2
calendar 1963

The Big Valley

The Big Valley‌
star6.0
calendar 1965

The Eleventh Hour

The Eleventh Hour‌
star6.0
calendar 1962

The Rifleman

The Rifleman‌
star7.0
calendar 1958

Bat Masterson

Bat Masterson‌
star6.3
calendar 1958

The Detectives

The Detectives‌
star5.6
calendar 1959

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre‌
star5.5
calendar 1956

Rango

Rango‌
star0.0
calendar 1967

The Walter Winchell File

The Walter Winchell File‌
star5.0
calendar 1957

The Outer Limits

The Outer Limits‌
star7.8
calendar 1963

Diagnosis: Murder

Diagnosis: Murder‌
star7.1
calendar 1993

The Outsider

The Outsider‌
star5.2
calendar 1968

The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp

The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp‌
star6.7
calendar 1955

The Untouchables

The Untouchables‌
star7.8
calendar 1959

Temple Houston

Temple Houston‌
star5.7
calendar 1963

The Name of the Game

The Name of the Game‌
star6.8
calendar 1968

Arrest and Trial

Arrest and Trial‌
star5.0
calendar 1963

Run for Your Life

Run for Your Life‌
star7.2
calendar 1965

The Detectives

The Detectives‌
star5.6
calendar 1959

77 Sunset Strip

77 Sunset Strip‌
star6.7
calendar 1958

The Virginian

The Virginian‌
star6.4
calendar 1962

Death Valley Days

Death Valley Days‌
star6.4
calendar 1952