Grace Lee Whitney

We, along with the Star Trek community, are saddened by the unexpected loss of film and television icon Grace Lee Whitney, known to most for her standout role as Janice Rand in Star Trek.

On May 3 posts about her passing spread through social media as websites reported the sad news. Leery of death hoaxes, some fans didn’t want to believe it until confirmation from official sources. Unfortunately it was confirmed Grace Lee Whitney died at the age of 85 on May 1 in her home in Coarsegold, California. According to family she passed away peacefully.

Grace portrayed Janice Rand in eight episodes of the original Star Trek series, four of the feature films, as well as the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Flashback.” In addition to her role in Star Trek, Grace Lee Whitney had a successful career in theater, as well as numerous roles in film and television throughout the 50s, 60s, 70s and into the 90s. In 2007, Grace reprised her role as Janice Rand in Star Trek fan-films with Star Trek: Of Gods and Men and the Star Trek: New Voyages episode “World Enough and Time.”

In 1998, she wrote her memoir The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy which boldly delves into her life before, during and after Star Trek. In the book she wrote candidly about the hardships she endured and overcame. The forward to the book was written by Leonard Nimoy, who passed away earlier this year.

She will forever be loved and remembered.

#RIPGraceLeeWhitney

Related Links

StarTrek.com – Remembering Grace Lee Whitney, 1930-2015
Memory Alpha – Grace Lee Whitney, Janice Rand
Wikipedia – Grace Lee Whitney

by Deyvid