Star Trek's Grace Lee Whitney Has Died

It's been a sad year for Star Trek fans. Earlier this year both Star Trek actor Leonard Nimoy and producer Harve Bennett passed away. Now, according to StarTrek.com, Grace Lee Whitney, who played Yeoman Janice Rand on Star Trek: The Original Series has also passed away. Whitney reportedly died on May 1 at her home in Coarsegold, California. She was 85 years old at the time of her passing.

Whitney played Rand in eight first-season episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series.  She also appeared in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, The Search for Spock, The Voyage Home, and The Undiscovered Country. She even made an appearance in the "Flashback" episode of Voyager.

Whitney's autobiography, The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, was published in 1998. Over the years, she appeared at numerous Star Trek conventions around the world.