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Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

60

Gender

Female

Birthday

1930-04-01

Day of Death

2015-05-01 (85 years old)

Place of Birth

Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Also Known As

Amazing Grace

Gracie

Mary Ann Chase

Grace Lee Whitney

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.

Known For

Acting

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

1979

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

as

CPO Janice Rand

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

1991

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

as

Excelsior Communications Officer (Janice Rand)

Way Down Cellar

1968

Way Down Cellar

as

Velma

The Man from Galveston

1963

The Man from Galveston

as

Texas Rose

The Texan Meets Calamity Jane

1950

The Texan Meets Calamity Jane

as

Cecelia Mullen

A Public Affair

1962

A Public Affair

as

Tracey Phillips

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

1984

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

as

Commander Janice Rand (Woman in Cafeteria)

Top Banana

1954

Top Banana

as

Miss Holland (uncredited)

Ironside

1967

Ironside

as

Stripper (uncredited)

Some Like It Hot

1959

Some Like It Hot

as

Rosella (uncredited)

The Captains

2011

The Captains

as

Self

Pocketful of Miracles

1961

Pocketful of Miracles

as

Queenie's Broad (uncredited)

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

1986

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

as

Commander Rand

Irma la Douce

1963

Irma la Douce

as

Kiki

The Naked and the Dead

1958

The Naked and the Dead

as

Girl in Dream Sequence

Critic's Choice

1963

Critic's Choice

as

Minor Role

Star Trek

Star Trek

as

Yeoman Janice Rand

Star Trek: Voyager

Star Trek: Voyager

as

Commander Janice Rand

Batman

Batman

as

Neila

Gunsmoke

Gunsmoke

as

Pearl

General Electric Theater

General Electric Theater

as

Audrey Henderson

Bat Masterson

Bat Masterson

as

Louise Talbot

The Outer Limits

The Outer Limits

as

Carla Duveen

Diagnosis: Murder

Diagnosis: Murder

as

Encounter Group Abductee

Temple Houston

Temple Houston

as

Tangerine O'Shea

Arrest and Trial

Arrest and Trial

as

Sally Burns

The Virginian

The Virginian

as

Heather

Mannix

Mannix

as

Gloria

Bewitched

Bewitched

as

Babs Livingston

Peter Loves Mary

Peter Loves Mary

as

Roxanne Jones

Sam Benedict

Sam Benedict

as

Susan Craig

Surfside 6

Surfside 6

as

Bernice

Production

Crew

Directing