# Yeoman Rand has died **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 4, 2015, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeoman-rand-has-died/719229 "2015-05-04T11:44:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeoman-rand-has-died/719229/21 "2015-05-04T20:49:43Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > What explains the males, then? Heh. You have a point. (Some producers are just tone-deaf to acting ability. Modern-day example: _Once Upon a Time_, which appears to have gotten a couple of cast members who can act purely by accident.) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeoman-rand-has-died/719229/22 "2015-05-04T21:06:26Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > _gasp_ > > Not Nurse Chapel, too! ESPECIALLY Nurse Chapel! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeoman-rand-has-died/719229/23 "2015-05-04T21:24:19Z")
Even the ship’s computer! ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeoman-rand-has-died/719229/24 "2015-05-04T21:43:09Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Surely that was Bjo Trimble, who answered much of _ **TOS** _’s fan mail? :dubious: No, it was either Coon or Roddenporker. I’d have to go look in Whitfield’s book to be sure. As for Trimble, her role in the actual production era has inflated itself (or, perhaps to be fair, was inflated by fandom) over time. She was not the sole link between the sound stages and the fans, much as that’s how the story is told now. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeoman-rand-has-died/719229/25 "2015-05-04T21:46:51Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Some producers are just tone-deaf to acting ability. Roddenberry was of that hustling, pandering studio era - Jack Webb was another - who didn’t really give two shits about this “quality” stuff as long as they could keep doggedly grinding it out and the broadcasters kept buying it. “Get it shot, get it to the studio and keep it on budget” was pretty much the whole mission statement. The prattle about changing the world and being a visionary and so forth is largely later self-promotion and adoring fanwank… and he bought it. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeoman-rand-has-died/719229/26 "2015-05-04T22:58:38Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Roddenberry was of that hustling, pandering studio era - Jack Webb was another - who didn’t really give two shits about this “quality” stuff as long as they could keep doggedly grinding it out and the broadcasters kept buying it. “Get it shot, get it to the studio and keep it on budget” was pretty much the whole mission statement. > > The prattle about changing the world and being a visionary and so forth is largely later self-promotion and adoring fanwank… and he bought it. Sounds about right. But you have to admit the _he’s a visionary_ stuff was being said very loudly by very many, and for a very long time. It’s easy to understand what a temptation buying into it had to have been. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeoman-rand-has-died/719229/27 "2015-05-04T23:05:25Z")
I don’t like to be morbid (at least not in this case; I loved Yeoman Rand), but what constituted a 36-year-old’s “drug problem” in 1967? I doubt she was mainlining heroin. Prescription barbituates? Speed? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeoman-rand-has-died/719229/28 "2015-05-04T23:05:00Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > She was only in eight episodes, and was then released from her contract (read: fired). Reasons given for her being let go vary, from simple budget cuts, to limited story possibilities, to her drug and alcohol problems making her unreliable, to her being sexually assaulted by an unnamed producer, which apparently happened only days before she was fired. > > Whatever the true story behind her release from Star Trek, her struggles with substance abuse are well documented and rather heartbreaking. She was able to get clean eventually, and made a bit of a comeback in later years at conventions, and appearing as Janice Rand in some of the movies. > > I’m sad to learn of her passing. Yeoman Rand was one of the few regular women characters on original Star Trek, and it’s a shame she wasn’t treated with more dignity. The story possibilities being that she was originally intended to be a love interest for Kirk, but they decided not to go down that route. I believe that, I just wonder if they were going to keep her on anyways before she complained about the rape. And I could see any boozing being in response to her lesser role and exaggerated to cover up the rape part. In other words, I have no problem accepting all of these utlimately as the reason, and I doubt we would get any closer if she were still around. Still sad, however. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeoman-rand-has-died/719229/29 "2015-05-04T23:48:01Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Was Yeoman Rand supposed to come across as a young hottie? To me, she always looked like somone who was approaching middle age; not old, but not particularly young either. Almost all of the women on Star Trek looked like suburban housewives in their mid-30’s, regardless of marital status, age, or home address. It was the times, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeoman-rand-has-died/719229/30 "2015-05-05T00:03:55Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > Almost all of the women on Star Trek looked like suburban housewives in their mid-30’s,… …but dressed like 23rd century car hops. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeoman-rand-has-died/719229/31 "2015-05-05T00:05:05Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > I don’t like to be morbid (at least not in this case; I loved Yeoman Rand), but what constituted a 36-year-old’s “drug problem” in 1967? I doubt she was mainlining heroin. Prescription barbituates? Speed? It was alcohol, from what I recall. Yeoman Rand was gorgeous to my young teenaged self. I only saw TOS in syndication, but Grace Lee Whitney was one beautiful woman. Of course the mini-dresses helped. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeoman-rand-has-died/719229/32 "2015-05-05T00:05:34Z")
I liked her in the few episodes she did. I recall reading an interview and she mentioned getting hooked on diet pills. A common problem for actresses trying to maintain a slim figure for tv work. Apparently she was pressured to lose weight for the Rand role. Add in alcohol and she was in serious trouble. Happy to learn her later years were much better. R.I.P. Grace ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeoman-rand-has-died/719229/33 "2015-05-05T00:34:42Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > It’s quite possible that she was never an addict at all, but that the story was circulated to cover up someone else’s bad behavior. That seems unlikely. Grace Lee Whitney herself wrote quite candidly about her drinking and drug use in her autobiography. According to her son (quoted in her Chicago Tribune obituary), she also did a lot of work helping other recovering addicts. She seems to have considered herself an addict, and I’m not about to second guess her. Did the assault perhaps exacerbate whatever problems she already had? Quite possibly. But she was quite clear that her addiction, whatever led to it, was very real. From what I recall, it was mostly amphetamines (in the form of “diet pills”) and alcohol. I’ve also seen some mention of marijuana. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeoman-rand-has-died/719229/34 "2015-05-05T01:08:43Z")
Oh NOES! Tell me she wasn’t a MARIHUANA ADDICT??? ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeoman-rand-has-died/719229/35 "2015-05-05T01:11:04Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > One of the saddest episodes in all Star Trek history … > > I think that also had something to do with the reason why Leonard Nimoy (in particular) but also the entire rest of the cast never had anything nice to say about Bill Shatner. Uhh…what? Nimoy and Shatner were friends forever. And Kelley refused to get involved in the drama. ---
**Author:** ![Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disgruntled_Penguin)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeoman-rand-has-died/719229/36 "2015-05-05T01:25:53Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Yeah, Roddenberry was rather notorious for the casting-couch stuff. (The proof is right there on the screen: of the original series female guest stars, maybe two could actually act.) > > Whatever the facts of Whitney’s dismissal, the fact that she lived to be 85 has to cast at least _some_ doubt on the ‘too drugged/drunk to be employable’ story. Sure, people do get clean, but then again, not all stay that way. It’s quite possible that she was never an addict at all, but that the story was circulated to cover up someone else’s bad behavior. Absolutely. She was never an addict. She was just a big liar. > [@](#): > > Her son Jonathan Dweck confirmed her death. > > Ms. Whitney played Yeoman Rand in the first eight episodes before being written out of the series. In her 1998 autobiography, “The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy,” she wrote that her acting career largely ended after that. > > She also wrote of becoming an alcoholic. She described struggling with her addiction for many years before seeking treatment and resuming her career with the help of Leonard Nimoy, who starred as Spock in the series. Mr. Nimoy died in February. > > She returned for the “Star Trek” movie franchise, reprising her role 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.” > > Ms. Whitney was born Mary Ann Chase on April 1, 1930, in Ann Arbor, Mich. > > Before joining the cast of “Star Trek,” she appeared on many television series, including “Bewitched,” “77 Sunset Strip,” “The Untouchables” and “Gunsmoke.” > > Mr. Dweck said his mother wanted to be remembered more as a successful survivor of addiction than for her “Star Trek” fame. She dedicated her last 35 years to helping people with addiction problems, some of whom she met at “Star Trek” conventions, he said. She kept the cover story for 35 years acting like she had a substance abuse problem. Damn, she was good. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeoman-rand-has-died/719229/37 "2015-05-05T01:37:43Z")
She also was in the _Voyager_ episode “Flashback.” IIRC, Rand was a sort of mentor to Tuvok, showing him how to get along with Captain Sulu of the _Excelsior_. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeoman-rand-has-died/719229/38 "2015-05-05T01:44:08Z")
> [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](#): > > Absolutely. She was never an addict. She was just a big liar. > She kept the cover story for 35 years acting like she had a substance abuse problem. Damn, she was good. You’re claiming that she had a substance-abuse problem for 35 years? Or are you referencing the well-documented fact that for 35 years, she spoke about _having had a substance-abuse problem in the past_? Surely, no matter how Disgruntled you are, you can see that these are not the same thing. She found a career for herself in working on sobriety issues. If that meant disclosing, often, in interviews, speeches, and in her 1998 book, that she had used diet pills and alcohol at points in her life–then she disclosed those things. But it does _not_ follow–logically–that she was canned from Star Trek or that she was unemployable as an actress due to addiction. And it certainly doesn’t follow logically that she was “a liar.” (Really?) It just means that she found her calling as someone who disclosed abuse in the past that she had overcome through sobriety programs. It was what she did: > [@](#): > > “When I told the fans I was an alcoholic, they all applauded. When I told them I had given myself to a higher power, they cheered again,” Whitney told The (Fresno) Bee in 2013. > **[Grace Lee Whitney, Yeoman Rand on ‘Star Trek,’ dead at 85 | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2015/05/04/entertainment/feat-obit-grace-lee-whitney-star-trek/)** > > Grace Lee Whitney, who played Yeoman Janice Rand in the original “Star Trek” series and a handful of movies based on the series, died Friday at her home in Coarsegold, California. She was 85. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeoman-rand-has-died/719229/39 "2015-05-05T03:17:54Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Surely, no matter how Disgruntled you are, you can see that these are not the same thing. I, uhm, think Pengy was, perhaps, making “a leetle joke”\* here? :dubious: \*To be read in the voice of Ensign Chekov. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeoman-rand-has-died/719229/40 "2015-05-05T11:27:48Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Yeah, Roddenberry was rather notorious for the casting-couch stuff. I refuse to believe this about Susan Oliver. I prefer to believe our girl could land one awesome kick to the nuts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeoman-rand-has-died/719229.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeoman-rand-has-died/719229.md?page=3)