Grace Lee Whitney, who played
Captain Kirk's assistant on the original "Star Trek" series, has
died. She was 85.
Her son Jonathan Dweck said she
died of natural causes Friday in Coarsegold, California, about 50 miles north
of Fresno.
Whitney played Yeoman Janice
Rand in the first eight episodes before being written out of the series. In her
autobiography, she wrote that she became an alcoholic before getting treatment
and regaining her career with the help of Leonard Nimoy, who starred as Spock
in the series.
She returned for the movie
franchise, appearing in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," ''Star Trek
III: The Search for Spock," ''Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" and
"Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country."
Dweck said his mother wanted to
be remembered more as a successful survivor of addiction than for her
"Star Trek" fame.