Grace Lee Whitney

Grace Lee Whitney

Nascimento : 1930-04-01, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Morte : 2015-05-01

História

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.

Perfil

Grace Lee Whitney
Grace Lee Whitney

Filmes

Jornada nas Estrelas VI: A Terra Desconhecida
Excelsior Communications Officer (Janice Rand)
Após a explosão da lua Praxis os klingons são obrigados a propor um acordo de paz, para garantir a sobrevivência de sua espécie. A tripulação da Enterprise é convocada a escoltar a missão diplomática klingoniana até o local a reunião, mas a nave klingon é atacada e o seu chanceler acaba sendo morto. E tudo indica que o ataque partiu justamente da Enterprise.
Jornada nas Estrelas IV: A Volta para Casa
Commander Rand
Marcados como fugitivos pela própria Federação que juraram proteger, os tripulantes da Enterprise volta para a Terra para enfrentar a corte marcial por crimes cometidos ao salvar a vida de Spock. Em seu caminho, contudo, descobrem que o planeta está sendo devastado por uma gigantesca sonda alienígena, que exige uma resposta de uma forma de vida há muito extinta da Terra. Dentro da nave klingon capturada, Kirk e sua tripulação devem voltar no tempo para salvar a Terra e redescobrir o sentido da amizade.
Jornada nas Estrelas III: À Procura de Spock
Commander Janice Rand (Woman in Cafeteria)
Ainda sob o pesar do sacrifício final de Spock, a tripulação da U.S.S. Enterprise volta para a Terra do recém-nascido planeta Genesis. Mas nada vai ser fácil: Scott foi destacado para um outro posto; o Dr. McCoy parece estar vivendo um surto psicótico, e a Enterprise A será desativada.Quando Kirk recebe a visita de Sarek, pai de Spock, descobre que o falecido amigo pode ter a chance de ter uma segunda vida. E para isso, deve retornar a Genesis, onde enfrentará o maior dilema de sua carreira.
The Kid with the 200 I.Q.
A 13-year-old genius goes to college and tries to cope not only with campus social life, but also with his professor.
O Caminho das Estrelas
CPO Janice Rand
Quando uma entidade espacial destrutiva é avistada a aproximar-se da Terra, o Almirante James T. Kirk regressa à nova e transformada nave U.S.S. Enterprise para interceptar, examinar e, principalmente, deter a ameaça.
Way Down Cellar
Velma
Three friends find a secret tunnel under the ruins of a church that leads them to the basement of a dilapidated house and, incidentally, a group of counterfeiters.
The Man from Galveston
Texas Rose
Circuit-riding Texas lawyer Timothy Higgins defends a former girlfriend against a murder charge stemming from an extortionist's threat to reveal her shady past. Through adroit courtroom work, Higgins is able to acquit her and reveal who actually shot the fatal bullet.
Irma la Douce
Kiki
Nester Patou, a naive police officer, is transferred to the red light district in Paris and organizes a raid on a dodgy hotel running as a brothel. In doing so he inadvertently disrupts the corrupt system of the police and the pimps union, and even nets his station superior. Fired from his job, Nester goes to the local bar for a drink and befriends a pretty young lady named Irma la Douce. Upon realizing she is a prostitute, Nester invents a crazy scheme to keep her from seeing other men.
A Public Affair
Tracey Phillips
Expository internal affairs drama which brings to light the often unprincipled tactics used in negative "smear" campaigning, and its effects within the political arena.
Dama por Um Dia
Queenie's Broad (uncredited)
Conto de fadas de Damon Runyon, carinhoso e engraçado, contado pelo diretor Frank Capra. A preciosa Annie das Maçãs, uma mendiga com uma cesta de maçãs, é tão parte do centro de Nova York quanto a própria Broadway. O contrabandista Dave Dude é um fã das suas maçãs, ele acha que elas dão sorte. Mas Dave e sua namorada Queenie Martin precisam de muito mais do que sorte quando se descobre que Annie está em uma enrascada e só eles podem ajudar: a filha de Annie, Louise, que viveu toda sua vida em um convento espanhol pago pela pobre Annie, está vindo para a América com um Conde e seu filho. O filho do conde quer se casar com Louise, que acha que sua mãe faz parte da alta sociedade de Nova York. Cabe a Dave e Queenie e seus peculiares companheiros transformar Annie em uma dama e convencer o conde e seu filho que eles estão se unindo a elite de Nova York.
Quanto Mais Quente Melhor
Rosella (uncredited)
Em 1929, Joe e Jerry, dois músicos desempregados, testemunham sem querer o cruel Massacre do Dia de São Valentim. Desesperados para não serem pegos pelos gangsters, eles se disfarçam de mulheres e entram para um grupo feminino musical, que está indo para Miami fazer shows. Joe se apaixona por Sugar, a garota problema do grupo, enquanto um milionário se apaixona pelo disfarce de Jerry, tudo isso em meio a uma convenção de criminosos, que também está acontecendo em Miami.
Top Banana
Miss Holland (uncredited)
Jerry Biffle is the star of the Blendo Soap Program. He has been invited to participate in an autograph-signing party for his new book at an important department store. Jerry meets Sally Peters, one of the department store models, and makes her part of his TV troupe. As part of his campaign to court Sally, Jerry gets Cliff Lane, the tenor of his TV company, to sing to her over the phone. When Sally and Cliff meet, they fall in love, with Biffle ignorant of the complications.
The Texan Meets Calamity Jane
Cecelia Mullen
A western in which Calamity Jane's (Evelyn Ankers) rightful ownership of a gambling hall is challenged. She nearly loses the business to a shady crook, but Texas lawyer Ellison puts up a legal battle to help her stay in charge. After a sensational fight, the letters proving her right are discovered.
To the Journey - Looking Back at Star Trek: Voyager
self (archival)
The documentary explores the legacy of Star Trek: Voyager (1995).