Gene Roddenberry's original pitch for
Star Trek featured a female Captain's
Yeoman named "Colt". She was described as "blonde and with a shape that even a uniform could not hide." In this first version of
Star Trek, she worked as Captain Robert April's "secretary, reporter, bookkeeper, and undoubtedly wishes she could serve him in more personal departments." Roddenberry's description of her ended with "She is not dumb; she is very female, disturbingly so." This character was cast for the first pilot of the series, "
The Cage", with
Laurel Goodwin cast in that role. A similar character was created for the second pilot, "
Where No Man Has Gone Before", this time called "Smith", and she was played by model
Andrea Dromm. However, during discussions with the casting director on
Star Trek, Roddenberry stood up in the casting process for three women he had worked with before –
Majel Barrett,
Nichelle Nichols and
Grace Lee Whitney. Whitney had previously appeared in Roddenberry's unsold pilot
Police Story where she played Police Lieutenant Lily Monroe. She was available to appear in the series and was promptly cast in the role, being paid $750 per episode and being guaranteed to appear in seven episodes out of the first thirteen. The casting led to rumours that she and Roddenberry had been previously involved romantically, something she strenuously denied later saying that "I never had a romantic relationship with Gene Roddenberry before
Star Trek, during
Star Trek, or after
Star Trek." She admitted that he had made numerous passes at her, but she wanted their relationship to remain professional only. wanted
Kirk and Rand to have an undercurrent of affection but never to act on it. Roddenberry explained to Whitney that he wanted Rand to be Captain Kirk's confidante but never wanted them to express their affection for one another; instead he wanted it to be played as an ongoing undercurrent. In the early publicity photos, Whitney was dressed in the same manner that the women had been in the two pilots – a loose gold colored tunic and black trousers. She complained to Roddenberry about them hiding her "dancer's legs", so he had
William Ware Theiss design a short skirt and tunic for her to wear, a uniform which was adopted by the other female characters on the series. She said the outfit was "sensational" and that "it stopped traffic". Despite the outfit being designed specifically for Whitney, Theiss was concerned and would tell her to lose weight. She was subsequently prescribed
amphetamines by her doctor for the purpose of weight loss. Whitney stated that this was the start of her addiction to them, and in order to come down off them at night, she began drinking in the evening to take away the "edginess". He also developed her hair styles for the series, which Roddenberry insisted must be unique and futuristic so that the viewers could believe they were seeing the future on television. She originally appeared with straight hair in promotion photos, but this was changed to a
beehive, which was so solid looking that
Bob Justman joked that "You could hit it with a sledgehammer and never make a dent." It was created by weaving two
Max Factor wigs into a mesh cone. Whitney described the application of the wig, saying "they nailed it to my head every morning." It was created by placing a cone on her head and then weaving the blonde hair from two separate wigs together resulting in such an unusual look that Whitney said she was unrecognizable without it. In the press, she explained that on the show, Rand would have stuck her head in a machine which would have made up her hair instantly. The wig was later stolen from the Desilu lot after Whitney was no longer on the series; it was never recovered. When interviewed by the media at the time, Whitney expressed enthusiasm in the role and about science fiction in general. She described Rand's role on board the
Enterprise as "She's in charge of the other women aboard the space ship. She's Miss Efficiency." She also added that the character did not go into space "to catch a man." Whitney enjoyed several of the episodes she appeared in, and found it hard to choose between "
The Enemy Within", "
Charlie X" and "
Miri". Two weeks before the series was about to shoot, it was cancelled by Paramount executives. Instead there was going to be a film. Whitney returned for
Star Trek: The Motion Picture, with Roddenberry bringing her back as Rand who was now the transporter chief on board the
Enterprise. She did not appear in
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and was not in the script for
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. But for the latter film, Nimoy, who was directing the movie, gave Whitney a cameo as another character who was looking out of a window in spacedock watching the return of the damaged
Enterprise at the start of the production. As he was also directing
The Voyage Home, he was looking to give Whitney a larger role. By this time, she had hoped that Rand had moved over to become a counselor – an idea originally suggested by a fan. After a further appearance as Rand in
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Whitney returned for a final official appearance in the
Star Trek: Voyager episode "
Flashback". She praised the "incredible experience" and enjoyed working with
Kate Mulgrew and
Tim Russ. Following the appearance in
Voyager, Whitney was supportive of a new
Star Trek series focused on the adventures of the
Excelsior with Rand appearing once more alongside
George Takei as Captain
Hikaru Sulu. Following the relaunch of
Star Trek in 2009 with a new cast playing those roles seen in
The Original Series, there was commentary online about the lack of female characters and whether Rand might be appearing in future installments. While the sequel,
Star Trek Into Darkness, was in production, Rand was one of five characters who was stated not to be appearing in the film by writer
Roberto Orci. But there was still speculation at the time of the broadcast of the first trailer about who
Alice Eve was portraying in the film. The options given by
Tor.com was that it was either Janice Rand or
Carol Marcus.
Daily Variety reported that she was cast as someone new to the franchise, but she was actually cast as Marcus. ==Appearances==