Movies - TV
Gene Roddenberry Always Regretted Cutting One Specific Star Trek Character
By WITNEY SEIBOLD
Yeoman Janice Rand, played by Grace Lee Whitney, appeared in eight episodes of the original “Star Trek” series, but then mysteriously vanished from the show.
Whitney later revealed she left “Star Trek” after being sexually assaulted by an executive. No one wanted her character to go, least of all show creator Gene Roddenberry.
Although Whitney was contracted for 13 episodes, she was fired from the series before she could call out her assaulter, known only as “The Executive.”
In the book “Fifty Year Mission,” Whitney shared, “The main reason was that they told me they wanted Captain Kirk to have more female friends.”
She continued, “They felt Rand and Kirk were getting too close and they didn’t want that.” Roddenberry also shared that the executives wanted Kirk to have multiple love interests.
Although he initially said no, he shared that he eventually gave in to the network’s request for “a different, exciting young lady every week, rather than the same one.”
Roddenberry added, “Looking back now, I would’ve kept Rand on the show and I’m sorry I didn’t. I know what a disappointment it was to Grace Lee Whitney ...”