Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Janice Rand

7. The Hair Saga

Star Trek Yeoman Janice Rand Voyager
CBS

Another of the most iconic looks from The Original Series was that of Rand's distinctive beehive hairstyle. It was so elaborate that it is now almost hard to imagine her without it, despite it being a later addition to the character. In the earliest production and publicity photos, her hair was straight, so this was something of a surprise when it entered the bridge.

Whitney would joke that in the future, all one needed to do to achieve a hairstyle such as this would be to stick their head into a machine, push a button, and presto: magic space hair! Alas, in the 1960s, no such device existed, and it was a lengthy process to create the look.

Two Max Factor wigs were woven together over a cone, creating that design of crisscrossing on top of her head. This would then be, according to Whitney, 'nailed' to her head every morning to ensure it stayed in place. In his book with Herb Solow, Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, producer Robert Justman joked that there was so much intricacy - and hairspray - that the wig could be attacked with a sledgehammer, and he'd be more worried about the sledgehammer.

The wig was so iconic, in fact, that it should have been granted its own protection. It was stolen from the Desilu set after Whitney's departure from the show, never to be recovered.

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Writer. Reader. Host. I'm Seán, I live in Ireland and I'm the poster child for dangerous obsessions with Star Trek. Check me out on Twitter @seanferrick