ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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You'll enjoy this 8 minute bio about Grace Lee Whitney, which features dozens of lovely pictures of her.

I was amazed at how different she looked in many of the shots. And not just different from her Janice Rand character, the non-Rand shots are different from each other, partly because of the various hair styles — all of which are better than that silly blond beehive wig they made her wear.

_Grace Lee Whitney's Mystery: The Beauty of 'Star Trek'


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[johnnybear]

Kiki the Cossack was gorgeous and I never forgot the character once I'd seen her...
JB

[Pow]

Grace Lee Whitney recounted in her autobiography about the time Gene Roddenberry arranged for her to play a joke on ST:TMP director Robert Wise.

Gene had a routine where he would welcome new individuals to his staff by playing a prank on the unsuspecting person.
And Robert Wise was no exception.

The prank had Grace Lee dressing up looking like a hooker. She sat on her desk filing her nails and blowing bubblegum. She was pretending to be Wise's brand new secretary.

It worked because Wise was aghast by his "new secretary."

According to Grace Lee it also backfired big time against her and her role in the film as the transporter chief.

Wise was not at all amused by this joke. To that end he denied the makeup department services to Grace Lee as retribution for her part in the prank.

I believe that Whitney also wrote that Wise lit her for her scene in a detrimental way on purpose.
Grace said that actress Persis Khambata saw what was happening and pulled Grace aside and said this was wrong.

However, Grace had no power whatsoever on the production so she had to go along with Wise's vengeful choices against her.

When her scene came up on screen during the premiere of the film she heard some of the audience gasp & remark at how poor she looked. She was deeply hurt.

She wrote that she forgave Wise because it was her Christian duty to do so although I don't think she was able to do so in person or via a note.

[Gord Green]

Grace had a very hard life after ST , and I think she was very mis-used by Roddenberry. Gene often bragged that he had intimate relations with most of the women in the cast (and guest stars as well), saying that there only TWO that he did not score with! Grace claimed her life became overcome with drugs and prostitution but she was saved from this lifestyle.

Thankfully, she overcame much of her negative afflictions and became a better person.

That Gene thought his little "joke" was funny really makes me think less of "The Great Bird of the Galaxy"!
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There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.

[Bud Brewster]

[Pow]

Yeah Bud, I was terribly disappointed in Robert Wise's mean spirited retaliation against Grace Lee. Wise is a director whose work I greatly admire, so to read about this aspect of his personality is sad.

Gene has always been a mixed bag based on what I have read about him over the years. Yes, he certainly was an imaginative and creative force that produced some marvelous projects over his career. He was a brave World War II pilot whose service I salute.

However, he was quite a number of negative things that were despicable too.