Grace Lee Whitney was a versatile actress and vocalist born in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Beginning as a "girl singer" on Detroit's WJR radio, she soon opened in nightclubs for Billie Holiday and Buddy Rich, and toured with the Spike Jones and Fred Waring Bands. Grace debuted on Broadway in "Top Banana", and subsequently appeared in the United Artists film Top Banana (1954). Grace is probably best known for her portrayal of Yeoman Janice Rand on the original Star Trek (1966) series. She later reprised her role for a string of successful Star Trek films: Star Trek, le film (1979), Star trek III - À la recherche de Spock (1984), Star Trek IV - Retour sur Terre (1986), and Star trek VI - Terre inconnue (1991). Grace continued to delight fans in personal appearances at conventions and events throughout North America and Europe. In 1998, she appeared in an episode of Diagnostic: meurtre (1993) with her Star Trek castmates George Takei, Walter Koenig and Majel Barrett. Grace Lee Whitney died at age 85 of natural causes in her home in Coarsegold, California on May 1, 2015.
