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

gracely Whitney has been with Star Trek almost since the very beginning and yet it is fair to say that not everyone might know her name in the same way that we know Leonard nemoy Nichelle Nichols and William Shatner however there is an awful lot to know about both gracely Whitney herself and the most famous hairstyle in all of Star Trek I'm Sean feric for Trek culture and here are 10 things you didn't know about Janice Rand number 10 she was involved in Star Trek from the earliest days yman Janice Rand went through a series of developments before the character would appear on screen though actor Grace Le Whitney was involved in Star Trek from the very beginning even if it took a little longer for her to actually be shown than say Leonard nemoy Whitney had worked with Gene rodry before Star Trek being cast in both the lieutenant and the unsuccessful Pilot police story she along with nishelle Nichols and Majel Barrett was one of the first people rodary was determined to have on the Enterprise the character of yman cult played by Laurel Goodwin and then later yman Smith played by Andrea drum were both templat for Rand neither of these performers would return after their episodes the cage and where no man has gone before respectively so it was Whitney and of course Yom and Janice Rand who received the coveted series order she was contracted to appear in seven out of the first 13 episodes for the Tidy sum of $750 per episode which is around $7,000 in 2023 number nine Rand and Kirk were always meant to share an attraction but never act on it one of the rules that Gene rodeny set out for Rand on the bridge was to be someone who was attractive to and attracted to Captain Kirk however under no circumstances could they ever act on it highlighting the fact that despite their own personal feelings they were both professional members of Starfleet in interviews during the first season of Star Trek gracely Whitney categorically stated that Rand did not go out into the Stars to find a man but rather to explore while much has been said about how the show both did and didn't succeed when it came to feminism in the 1960s there is something to be said for intent the closest that Rand and Kirk ever come to actually displaying their emotions physically and Know The Enemy Within th certainly doesn't count only occurs when both of them are under extreme giresse such as when the grp sickness is advancing in them in Miri or the Enterprise is under attack in balance of Terror number eight Ran's uniform was Grace Le Whitney's idea Ran's red dress is instantly recognizable to All Star Trek fans as it's one of the most enduring of all designs we've seen aora Jad Zia Dax marlem M givers and others da the Scarlet design but it was originally made by William wey for gracely Whitney this came from Whitney's observation to rodb that the standard uniforms were hiding her dancer's legs which led to roden's request to create something as Whitney herself would describe it as Sensational according to the making of Star Trek by Steven Whitfield even though the uniform was designed for Whitney costume designer William W I was still conscious of the actor's weight and repeatedly advised her to concentrate on losing more she would see a doctor who prescribed her amphetamines to kill her diet which she supplemented with alcohol her own autobiography the longest trekk my tour of the Galaxy describes her ongoing struggles with alcohol addiction and abuse at this time number seven the hair Saga another one of the most iconic looks from the original series was that of Ran's distinctive beehive hairstyle it was so elaborate that it is now almost hard to imagine her without it despite it being a latter 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 her head into a machine push a button and presso 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 solo inside Star Trek the real story producer Robert jman jokes 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 desolo set after Whitney's departure from the show never to be recovered number six her overthe shoulder camera led to the tricorder the image of the tricorder and particularly the original series version of it is so attached to both Dr McCoy and Mr Spock in public mind that anyone will be forgiven for believing it was specifically invented for them while the tricorder would certainly become associated with both as time went on it actually had rather humble beginnings as an accessory for yman Rand Gene rodeny suggested to Robert Justman in a memo from 1966 that Rand be provided with an over thee shoulder recording device one that would double up as a scanner so that she would be as able to record Captain's logs Etc while on a away Mission as she would have been on the bridge rodb also openly stated that it would be a fun accessory for female type children to have as well which certainly indicated he intended the original device to be something akin to something specifically targeted as a toy for girls as opposed to one of the most important devices in Star Trek's history of course the world has a funny way of combining these things number five she was originally written to appear in the city on the edge of forever it has been well documented Ed that Grace Le Whitney's time on Star Trek came to a close much earlier than originally intended at least in the original series she was contracted to appear in seven of the first 13 episodes though merely days after a meeting with an executive adzu that she refused to name she was informed that Rand was being written out of the show the official reasons for this included the fear that Captain Kirk was growing too attach to yoan Rand which would then damage the writer's ability to pair him up with alien women she returned to the set to film her scenes for the conscience of the king a process Whitney found extremely ult she was scripted to appear in episodes like court marshall and the Galileo 7 both of which were Rewritten to switch her character out Harlen Ellison the author who wrote the episode that would become the city on the edge of forever had included Rand in the screenplay though this was later heavily Changed by rodeny while that process would leave a rift between Ellison and Star Trek forever Ellison would go on to begin a relationship with Whitney after this a final example of this is when writer David Gerald wrote Rand Into The Trouble with Tribbles only for someone to scratch out her name and say no know she had transferred off the Enterprise by that stage season 2 number four she was invited back to be a part of Star Trek phase 2 once the original series ended Whitney was left without work for some time in fact in 1976 she bumped into dearis Kelly at an unemployment Center who proceeded to inform her about a convention that was coming up she got in touch with B Joe and John Trimble who were organizing it and she appeared there was such a positive response to her return and she discovered that fans were consistently asking what had happened to Janice Rand that she got in touch with Susan Gene roden's assistant as soon as the communication was open again rodeny immediately invited her to be a part of the then in development Star Trek phase 2 he apologized to her for what had happened blaming NBC exec for the decision to let her go this was enough for Whitney to agree to return in her autobiography she discussed her relationship with Jean which of course had begun years before though she claimed he did make several attempts to start something romantic with her she always turned him down and he never attempted to force the situation this seems like a quiet confirmation that he was not the executive who had assaulted her nor had he been instrumental in her firing number three Leonard nemoy ensured that Rand was in Star Trek 3 and Star Trek 4 Janice Rand does not appear in Star Trek 2 the Wrath of KH nor officially does she appear in Star Trek 3 The Search for Spock although this one comes with a rather large asteris after it because gracely Whitney does appear in the latter film Leonard nemoy directing Star Trek 3 was Keen to have Whitney appear once again in a Starfleet uniform to that end he included an unnamed officer who was in space do in the cafeteria watching the Enterprise return to Port covered in the Battle Scars it received from the Reliant here Whitney recalled being advised to look both warmly and a little shocked at her old ship for Star Trek 4 the Voyage Home Rand not only appeared but thanks to nemoy has lines she's present in Starfleet now serving as a counselor this was confirmed by Whitney herself in an interview with an issue of starlog in 1986 wherein she Drew parallels between Rand and her own Journey she was recovering from addiction at the time and the idea of Rand going from as she called it space gisha to a count celor was one that she loved initially both Rand and Chapel had a full scene with four pages of dialogue though this was trimmed down to what was finally appearing in the film number two expanded media granted Rand extra appearances and fixed some mistakes though her screen time was relatively brief Janice Rand appeared in a number of expanded media tie-ins with the series and films the original series novel Enterprise the first Adventure by Vonda n McIntyre establishes that Ran's Starfleet career began after her enlistment in the Starfleet Communications Corp then was quick assigned to the Enterprise she would struggle in her first couple of years then enrolled in stared Academy before returning to her role as yman to Captain Kirk according to the novel The Captain's Daughter by Peter David she took a leave of absence during which time she became a mother to Annie Rand though her child would die a mere 2 years later she would later be assigned to Starfleet Communications Headquarters in Iceland before returning again to the Enterprise again she would leave the ship taking up a posting at Starfleet headquarters by this time she had graduated from stared Academy holding the rank of Lieutenant by 2286 by 2290 various tyin media confirmed that the newly promoted Lieutenant Commander Rand was handpicked by Captain Sulu to serve as Communications officer aboard the USS excelsia though it was first revealed in the DC comic story test of Courage that she was also sulu's first officer finally according to the Lost era novel The sundered by Michael a Martin and Andy Mangal Rand was promoted to full Commander by 2298 and would see out the rest of her career in her role of first officer and Communications officer aboard the exceler number one flashback gave her extra but could have done more for the 30th anniversary of Star Trek the episode flashback featured the return of gracely Whitney along with George teay Jeremy Roberts and Baris kog all of whom reprised their roles from Star Trek 6 the Undiscovered Country all involved in the episode particularly singled out Whitney's performance and energy as being a highlight of the shoot she was delighted that she wasn't just returning to just stand on the bridge but was given dialogue and responsibilities as well including leading gamma shift this allowed her scenes with Tim Russ and Kate MGR with Russ in particular enthusing about her saying how great it was to have C there having been such a fan of the original series flashback is an excellent episode and if there's one failing is that I didn't do more to highlight Grace Le Whitney as Janice Rand the huge fan response to her return she'd already been congratulated on coming back before she even knew herself that it was happening was heartwarming calling to mind the constant questions that the producers were asked in the 1960s what had happened to Janice Rand and when would they be getting more for a character who had their Origins as a futuristic assistant Janice Rand is one of the most immediately recognizable memorable Star Trek characters who have never had their name in the starring role that's everything for our list today folks is there anything that you think we could have included let us know in the comments below don't forget to check out the original article over on whatculture.com remember you can catch us over on Twitter @ TR culture you can get us on Instagram at triculture YT catch myself at Sean feric on the various socials look after yourselves until I see you again make sure that you live long and prosper to our friends in Ukraine Slava ukrania to everyone who might be going through a bit of a hard time don't be afraid to reach out and vice versa everyone reach out to people if they've gone a bit quiet just let them know that you're thinking of them you're all wonderful thanks very much for everything and I'll see so by

Channel: TrekCulture

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Length: 11min 0sec (660 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 22 2023