12 Actors Who Hated Being On Star Trek

8. Grace Lee Whitney

Janice Rand And Beauregard
CBS

Grace Lee Whitney has one of the sadder stories when it comes to Trek alumni. She was an actress and singer before being cast in Star Trek. She appeared in eight episode of the first season of the Original Series, playing Yeomen Rand, Kirk's personal assistant. However, she was then released from her contract. She went on to claim that she had been sexually assaulted by a producer on the series and that Leonard Nimoy had been of great support to her during that time.

She returned to the franchise for The Motion Picture, after co-star DeForrest Kelley found that she was unemployed. She appeared in four of the movie, two internet episodes and returned for the 30th anniversary special, Flashback, with George Takei. She also managed to capitalise on her Trek fame by releasing Trek themed music in this period of her career.

She suffered from alcoholism and substance dependency, but was able to get off both as she went on. She was quoted later in life as preferring to be seen as a survivor of addiction than as a Star Trek cast member. She died in May, 2015, just months after her old friend Leonard Nimoy. The Star Trek Continues episode Divided We Stand is dedicated to her memory.

Contributor
Contributor

Seán is the host and head writer/presenter for TrekCulture, as well as a writer/presenter on WhoCulture and WhatCulture Horror. He has authored two novels, dozens of short stories, and hundreds of articles for WhatCulture. He holds a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from University College Dublin. As part of his work with TrekCulture, Seán has been invited to participate in collaborations with Roddenberry Entertainment, as well as contributing to several Star Trek community projects. An avid fan of Star Trek, Doctor Who, and the horror genre at large, Seán's expertise has helped develop these channels to the successes they are today. As host of the Ups & Downs series on TrekCulture, Seán has become internationally recognised for his positive yet critically informed approach to reviewing every episode of modern Star Trek, ensuring he is one of the go-to voices in the Trek community. Favourite Quote to describe himself: "I'm serious about what I do, just not always about the way that I do it"