"Yeah, how'd you like to have her as your own personal yeoman?"
Janice Rand was a female Human Starfleet officer in the 23rd century. She began her service career in the operations division in the mid-2260s, serving aboard the USS Enterprise during its five-year mission under Captain James T. Kirk. (TOS: "The Corbomite Maneuver", "The Man Trap", "Charlie X", "Miri", "Balance of Terror"; Star Trek: The Motion Picture; VOY: "Flashback")
Service career[]
The five-year mission[]
Rand was a non-commissioned officer serving aboard the USS Enterprise in 2266, under the command of Captain James T. Kirk. She was assigned as the captain's personal yeoman by Starfleet Headquarters. (TOS: "The Corbomite Maneuver") Rand was first quartered in room 3C 46 on Deck 12. (TOS: "The Enemy Within") She was later moved to room 3F 125. (TOS: "Charlie X")
Initially, the fact that Starfleet had assigned a female yeoman to his command annoyed Captain Kirk. Much to his surprise, Rand delivered dietary salad to him, incorrectly believing he was aware his diet card had recently been changed by Doctor Leonard McCoy. Furthermore, the way Rand attended to Kirk at first frustrated him but, moments later, he thanked her. To that, Rand politely replied he was welcome, then exited, which left Kirk and McCoy to comment about her during her absence. (TOS: "The Corbomite Maneuver")
In the final draft script of "The Corbomite Maneuver" (dated 3 May 1966), Rand served Kirk a bowl of soup, rather than dietary salad, but Kirk's surprised reaction to the food was also written into the script. By way of explanation, Rand stated she had ordered it for him. She was anguished and surprised when Kirk headed away to the bridge without finishing his soup, though McCoy advised her, "You keep after him."
In the second revised final draft of the teleplay for "The Corbomite Maneuver" (dated 20 May 1966), the discussion about Rand that Kirk and McCoy speak following her departure was slightly longer; Kirk began to say to McCoy, "The first mistake this yeoman makes…" but a smiling McCoy interrupted, answering, "She won't."
Soon thereafter, Rand heated a pot of coffee. Since the power was out in the Enterprise's galley, she used a phaser to heat the pot. Rand then served the hot coffee to the bridge personnel. (TOS: "The Corbomite Maneuver")
Rand is shown serving the coffee on the bridge, but not heating it. In the version of the bridge scene from the final draft script of "The Corbomite Maneuver", she admitted to having heard, along with the rest of the Enterprise's crew, interaction between Kirk and the Balok puppet. Rand also made it clear she had made the coffee in an attempt to "keep the faith", which Kirk thanked her for in addition to the coffee itself.
An artist as a hobby, Rand had several paintings she had created hanging in her quarters aboard the Enterprise. (TOS: "The Enemy Within")
At one point in 2266, Rand was sitting at the office area of Captain Kirk's quarters, holding a batch of crew manifest microtapes when Kirk arrived. She was unaware that, due to a transporter malfunction, the captain had been split into two distinctly different versions of Kirk, one of whom was weak and indecisive whereas the other was bestial and lustful. Without knowing the newcomer was actually the former manifestation of Kirk, Rand gave him the manifest records and, interrupted by him, was summarily dismissed.
This scene wasn't included in any drafts of the story outline nor the script for "The Enemy Within" apart from the revised final draft of the episode's teleplay.
Soon thereafter, Rand was sought out by the aggressive and bestial version of Captain Kirk, who hungered for her while drunk on Saurian brandy. So, the inebriated duplicate Kirk entered her quarters and laid in wait for her to return. Later, she returned to her quarters and was attending to her hair in a mirror, all the while believing she was alone, when she was suddenly startled to see the person she believed to be the whole Captain Kirk emerging from the shadows in her bedroom holding a bottle of Saurian brandy. Rand was surprised to the point of speechlessness – meanwhile under the impression her visitor was Kirk himself – when the duplicate Kirk began speaking to her intimately. He amorously mentioned to her the feelings they'd been hiding, claiming she was "too beautiful to ignore," "too much woman," and that they had both been "pretending too long." Rand screams, however, when he suddenly grabs her and begins to violently kiss her. While she is fighting back, he pushes and pins her to the floor and attempts to rape her; but Rand fights back in self-defense, leaving a large scratch on the duplicate Kirk's face, a distinguishing feature which ultimately helps the crew differentiate between the two Kirk "halves." The situation was resolved, and the two halves of Kirk were merged in the transporter. (TOS: "The Enemy Within")
Rand's efficient work ethic was observed by the real Kirk, while he grew to respect her as a crewmember and friend. Despite their professional relationship, an undercurrent of sexual attraction remained between the two. Rand's feelings for Kirk couldn't be requited by him, however, due to his position as ship's captain. Nonetheless, in certain crises, Rand and Kirk were instinctively drawn together and reached out for each other. (TOS: "The Naked Time", "Balance of Terror", "Miri")
According to script sources, Rand already felt drawn to Kirk by the time of "The Enemy Within". The final draft teleplay of that installment remarked about Rand, "She is obviously attracted to the Captain." The revised final draft of the episode's script instead stated about her relationship with Kirk, "She's conditioned herself to maintain aplomb in his presence […] She has hidden her attraction to the Captain for too long to change her attitude, play female, […] suddenly."
During her service aboard the Enterprise, Rand developed a close relationship with several officers and crewmembers, including Lieutenants Uhura and Sulu. Rand frequently struck up conversations with, and delivered meals to, Enterprise officers other than Captain Kirk, and she accompanied them throughout the ship. She enjoyed a more informal relationship with them as compared to the professional relationship she maintained with the captain, which implied she was doing it out of friendship rather than an assigned duty as a yeoman. (TOS: "The Man Trap")
In an ultimately omitted scene from the final draft script of "The Man Trap", Rand had a chance encounter with Kirk in a corridor, while she was carrying a tray she intended to give to Sulu because, as she explained to Kirk, he had "missed mess call." She asked Kirk if he needed her but he declined, so she continued on her way to see Sulu.
After a waterborne virus spread through the Enterprise, affecting the emotions of the crew, Kirk suddenly shouted to Spock, "I have a beautiful yeoman!" Later, in the center seat on the bridge, befuddled by the virus, he reached a hand out to his "beautiful yeoman" standing next to him looking away at the screen and whispered under his breath, "No beach to walk on," meaning he and Rand, in other circumstances, might have had a life together. (TOS: "The Naked Time")
In the final draft script of "The Naked Time", Rand at one point left a briefing to bring Kirk and his fellow senior officers some coffee, on Kirk's request. Because that dialogue was ultimately excised, Rand, in the final version of the scene, seems to suddenly disappear from the briefing, her abrupt absence left unexplained.
Later that year, orphaned teenager Charles Evans came aboard the Enterprise. Rand's maternal instincts were drawn out by the troubled boy, and she quickly befriended Evans, hoping to help him ease back into regular life. Evans, the sole survivor of a transport crash, had little experience with other Humans and quickly became infatuated with Rand. She, unsure how to deal with Evans' crush, asked Captain Kirk to speak to the boy on her behalf. Soon thereafter, the Enterprise crew discovered Evans' secret – while Evans was alone on Thasus, the mysterious Thasian race had taken pity on the boy and granted Evans special powers. Rand turned down Evans' advances, so he literally made her disappear from the Enterprise. The Thasians intervened and quickly returned Evans to Thasus. After her return to the Enterprise, Rand was shocked and troubled by the Thasians' actions. Having seen how desperately Evans wanted to stay aboard the ship, Rand confided to Kirk her feelings of friendship for the boy. (TOS: "Charlie X")
Yeoman Rand was among the most popular female members of the Enterprise's crew, second only to Lieutenant Uhura, who was her good friend. (TOS: "Charlie X") She was known for her compassion and thoughtfulness toward others. Rand was regarded highly by Kirk for her hard work and diligence. In 2266, the Enterprise played cat and mouse with a Romulan ship in the Neutral Zone. When Kirk was in his quarters resting during a lull in the battle, Rand entered without knocking to check up on him and found him lying in bed. Alone with the captain, she was hoping to console him, as he was preoccupied by the potential for a second Romulan war, so she offered to bring him food or coffee to help him. Rand was on the bridge, with Kirk, when the Romulans fired a plasma torpedo at the Enterprise. As the torpedo got closer to the ship, Rand immediately walked up close behind the Captain for protection, and rested her chin on his shoulder. For a very brief moment, Kirk protested, but as the torpedo was just seconds from hitting the ship, Kirk turned and let Rand fall into his arms for protection. (TOS: "Balance of Terror") ,
During one mission, Rand, Kirk, and other members of a landing party were trapped on Miri; adults on the planet had quickly developed a virus which had been accidentally as a result of a life prolongation project conducted there. Eventually, Rand began showing signs of the disease. She admitted that for a long time she tried to get Kirk to admire her legginess, but this time she needed Kirk to see her legs in a professional manner as Bones was unavailable. Kirk did look at her legs, and was shocked to see lesions and sores present. Alone in a corridor with the captain, crying and upset, she found comfort in his arms. Miri, a teenage girl whom the team had befriended, witnessed this, became jealous of Rand, and later briefly betrayed them by having her abducted by the other children. Kirk, under stress from the disease, became preoccupied with Rand's whereabouts and was desperate to find her, affectionately using her first name whenever he referred to her. (TOS: "Miri")
Several reasons have been stated for Rand's abrupt departure during the first season, including the character's relationship with Kirk, where "the network insisted that the good captain should have many girl friends and romances, all to be provided by a succession of female guest stars, so Yeoman Rand faded from sight. (Roddenberry stated many times in the intervening years that he had been mistaken in yielding to network pressure, and should have retained [her] on the series.)" (The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture)
David Gerrold included Rand in his outline for his story premise titled "The Fuzzies," which was an early draft of "The Trouble with Tribbles". Upon reading the premise, Gene L. Coon crossed out Rand's name and wrote "No" next to it on the outline because Grace Lee Whitney, as Rand, would not be back for the second season. When Gerrold asked him why, Coon responded, "She transferred to another ship." (The Trouble with Tribbles)
In The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, published several years before her death, Grace Lee Whitney admitted to her ghost-writer that she had endured sexual assaults, and that these had awakened her latent chemical dependencies and behavioral compulsions, which she had needed years to force into remission. They had also led to her dismissal from the cast of TOS.
2270s[]
By the mid-2270s, Rand had been promoted to chief petty officer and transporter chief of the Enterprise. Before Rear Admiral Kirk assumed command of the Enterprise, she also served under the command of Captain Will Decker while the ship underwent a major refit in spacedock. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)
2280s[]
In 2286, Rand was a communications officer assigned to Starfleet Command on Earth. When the Whale Probe began vaporizing the Earth's oceans, she was on duty and reported that Juneau, Alaska had ninety-five percent cloud cover. Later, Rand attended the trial of Kirk and his senior officers at the Federation Council Chambers. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)
When Whitney learned that Director Leonard Nimoy had hoped to use Whitney again in the yet unwritten Star Trek IV, and as, at the time, an individual recovering from chemical-dependence, she mused two fan ideas she was keen on having Rand pursue as a character. "I would like to think that Rand has moved into counseling. I would like to get her into a more intimate relationship with everyone aboard, in a position where everyone could come and share their problems with her. […] Since I'm on a spiritual path in my own life, that might be interesting. It certainly would be a switch – from space geisha to chaplain." (Starlog #105, April 1986, p. 49)
Communications officer of the USS Excelsior[]
By 2293, Rand was promoted to the rank of Commander and was the communications officer on the USS Excelsior, under the command of Captain Hikaru Sulu. Sometime before this year, she had completed her officer training, and was promoted in three years to commander. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country; VOY: "Flashback")
In the first draft script of "Flashback", Rand stated it had taken her seven months to be promoted to ensign, though that duration was changed to "three years" by the time the installment's final draft script was issued.
That year, Captain Sulu violated his orders in order to attempt the rescue of Captain Kirk and Dr. Leonard McCoy from the Klingon prison colony Rura Penthe. Rand understood his motivations and agreed with his decision. She even chided Ensign Tuvok for questioning the captain's decision. (VOY: "Flashback")
In a character description of Rand from the script of "Flashback" (in both the first draft and the final draft of the teleplay), a sentence about her relationship with Tuvok commented, "She likes Tuvok, has taken an interest in his career."
As evidenced by the first draft script of "Flashback", Rand was originally to have reported a coded message from the Enterprise was being picked up and would have also displayed it on Excelsior's viewscreen. However, these actions, and the transmission itself, were excised from the episode by the time the final draft of the script was written.
The Excelsior later played a key role in the Khitomer Conference that same year, by assisting the USS Enterprise-A in its battle with General Chang's prototype Klingon Bird-of-Prey, thereby preventing the assassination of the Federation President and Klingon Chancellor Azetbur. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)
Please see "Rank ambiguities" and "Woman in Cafeteria" for more information.
Appendices[]
Appearances[]
Background information[]
Serialized appearances[]
Janice Rand was played by Grace Lee Whitney. She once joked that, even aged four months old, she "was already working on my Yeoman Rand beehive!" (The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, p. 18) Janice Rand was the third find for the role of the captain's yeoman, following Laurel Goodwin as Yeoman J.M. Colt and Andrea Dromm as Yeoman Smith. Whitney was handpicked by Gene Roddenberry to portray the role. (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, p. 156) Her casting as Rand was precisely because a part she had played in Roddenberry's unsold pilot, Police Story, had been hugely popular with a test audience. (The Best of Trek, p. 177) Whitney's part in "Police Story", flirtatious Sergeant Lily Monroe, not only served as her screen test for Star Trek but was actually transferred by Roddenberry into the latter series, whereupon it became the Janice Rand character. (The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, pp. 70-71) Herb Solow commented, "Unlike the two prior 'model-type and cute' Yeoman actresses, she [Whitney] appeared to him as what she was – pretty, sexy and vulnerable. Yeoman Janice Rand was piped aboard the USS Enterprise." (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, p. 156) Offered Whitney herself, "By the time he had cast me in that role for the regular series, he had given a lot of thought as to how Yeoman Rand would fit into the chemistry of the Star Trek ensemble." (The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, pp. 73-74)
In the first draft script of "Mudd's Women" (written by Stephen Kandel in May 1965), Rand was to appear with Spock on a screen in Captain Kirk's quarters (referred to in a memo from Robert H. Justman to Gene Roddenberry, dated 20 April 1966).
In April 1966, a phone call from Grace Lee Whitney's agent which she waited at home to receive, in hope her agent would announce to her that Police Story had been sold, actually informed the actress that, though Police Story had been unsuccessful, Gene Roddenberry wanted her to play a part in Star Trek. After she arrived at Roddenberry's office at Desilu, she learned more about the character she was to personify. "He explained the part of Yeoman Janice Rand, and how she would fit into the overall chemistry of the show as the captain's yeoman and the object of his repressed desire," remembered Whitney. "It was a sexy part, with lots of possibilities. I instantly loved it. I signed the contracts without a moment's hesitation. I couldn't wait to get started […] Finally, I had what I wanted: a continuing role on a weekly series." As such, Whitney considered herself "one of the first actors signed to do Star Trek." (The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, pp. 72 & 10)
The character of Janice Rand was originally thought to be elemental to the series. "The way Gene outlined the role, Janice Rand was an important character to the show," recalled Grace Lee Whitney. "Sort of a sci-fi Miss Kitty to Captain Kirk – a confidant and trusted adviser." (Star Trek: Communicator issue 119, p. 55) Whitney elaborated, "I had signed [to appear on Star Trek] as a lead, not a featured player." (The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, p. 10) In fact, during the pre-production phase of the first season, Whitney as Rand was advertised as the show's third star, along with William Shatner as Captain Kirk and Leonard Nimoy as Spock. She was featured in many promotional photographs made at the time, posing with the other two. Also, Whitney's credit for playing Rand was, in the end credits, on the same card as Doctor McCoy actor DeForest Kelley. (The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, p. 10)
In a revised draft of the teleplay for "Mudd's Women" (written by John D.F. Black and dated 17 May 1966), Rand appeared in a scene at the start of the episode's second act, standing beside "her station," in the words of Robert Justman. Later in the script, she asked Dr. McCoy, "Shall I order you a half dozen for Christmas, Doctor?" In a memo of notes that Justman wrote about that version of the script and sent to John D.F. Black (on 18 May 1966), Justman suggested about Rand's scene at the beginning of the second act, "Since she has nothing to do in this short scene, perhaps it would be better not to see her here." In the same memo, he additionally expressed confusion at precisely what Rand was offering to order McCoy for Christmas and asked, "Is she referring to Mudd's Women?"
As scripted for "The Corbomite Maneuver", Janice Rand was to initially appear in a scene set in Captain Kirk's quarters, where she firstly prepared Kirk's uniform then, after he arrived, was dismissed by him. In the final version of the installment, however, Rand doesn't appear until later in the episode, when she serves him dietary salad. Her way of doing things, in the episode's second revised final draft script (dated 20 May 1966), was repeatedly referred to as "professional".
When a revised draft of the "Mudd's Women" script was submitted by John D.F. Black (on 23 May 1966), Rand was still included in that story. However, she wasn't in the final draft of the teleplay (issued on 26 May 1966), apart from in the cast list at the start of the document. Rand was also mentioned in a memo from Gene Roddenberry to Robert Justman (dated 31 May 1966). The memo declared to Justman that Rand's name would be excised in a corrected version of the cast sheet.
Because the Women's Liberation movement had not yet gained widespread publicity when the first season of TOS was produced, there was no influence from that political movement on the creation of the Rand character. "But it did upset me," expressed Grace Lee Whitney, "that she had to shake, cry, and fear so much. I suppose the only part of me that was in the character of Rand was the innocent little girl part of me." (The Best of Trek, p. 177) On the other hand, Whitney was delighted to play Janice Rand in the series. (Star Trek: Communicator issue 119, p. 56) "In Yeoman Janice Rand, I had a character of my own to explore and develop, week after week […] I had no idea how soon it would all be ripped away from me," the actress stated. (The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, p. 1)
During Grace Lee Whitney's first few weeks of filming Janice Rand's scenes in Star Trek, Leonard Nimoy was Whitney's acting coach, helping her portray Rand more believably. (The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, p. 6)
In a developmental memo Robert Justman wrote Gene Roddenberry about the second draft script of "The Man Trap" (the memo was dated 2 June 1966, while the episode had the working title "Damsel with a Dulcimer"), Justman commented, "I do wish there was some way to combine the parts of Yeoman Janice and Uhura in this story and possibly give the part of Janice."
Although Grace Lee Whitney not only acted but also sang, she was concentrating more on her acting career than her singing when she appeared as Janice Rand in TOS. In retrospect, Whitney cited this as a reason why the character never sang on the show. She also attributed the exclusion of her singing to her role lacking development time. (The Best of Trek, p. 179)
In Adrian Spies' original script for "Miri", Rand was revealed to be twenty-four years old at the time, suggesting a birth year of 2242. [1]
Portraying Janice Rand tied up by children in "Miri" was difficult for Grace Lee Whitney. "I was so much into the role, I found it hard to separate fantasy and reality," she remembered. "It was a genuinely scary experience, being tied up, trapped and victimized." (The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, p. 3)
Following a day's filming midway through production on "Miri" (on 26 August 1966), Grace Lee Whitney became intrigued when an executive on the Desilu lot told her, "I think Yeoman Janice Rand has been under-utilized. The character has been developing some interesting possibilities in the past few episodes. I have some ideas – Why don't we find a place to sit down and talk about it?" After finding a private room on the lot, the man persuaded Whitney to adopt the persona of Rand in some sexually oriented role-playing, the man assuming the role of Captain Kirk. Decades later, Whitney recollected, "'You know,' he said after we'd been talking a while, 'the thing that is so fascinating about Janice Rand is her repressed desire – her hunger for sex.' 'Not sex,' I said. 'Love. She loves the Captain.' 'Same thing,' said The Executive. 'She wants the Captain so badly, but she represses it. She doesn't admit it – not even to herself. We all know what she really wants – but she herself doesn't know. She denies it. Janice Rand can't face her own desires, her own sexuality.' 'Absolutely,' I agreed. 'That's the key to the character.'" The man then insisted the sexual repression in Rand was also in Whitney and, later that night, committed a terrifying sexual assault on the actress. (The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, pp. 1-6)
On the morning of Monday 29 August 1966, Grace Lee Whitney – with two more days of shooting "Miri" scheduled – was again made-up in preparation for playing Janice Rand, in the make-up room of Desilu Stage 9. "I sat down in the chair next to Leonard [Nimoy], so that hairdresser Virginia Darcy could attach Yeoman Janice Rand's trademark beehive wig to my head," said Whitney. "As Virginia worked on my hair, [Makeup Supervisor] Fred Phillips looked over at me and seemed to groan a silent 'Oh, no!' He saw he had quite a reconstruction job to do on me as soon as he was through with Leonard. My face was swollen and distorted from a weekend of too much crying and too much drinking. I know I looked sick, not only from anxiety but from being hungover." Darcy finished working on Whitney's hair before Phillips started on the performer's face. (The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, pp. 7-8)
Exclusion[]
The first draft script for TOS: "Court Martial" (which had the working title "Court Martial at Star Base 811") suggested that Janice Rand's place on the bridge of the Enterprise was at the science station. In a memo Gene Roddenberry sent Gene L. Coon about that teleplay (dispatched on 15 August 1966), Roddenberry pointed out that Rand had been incorrectly placed at the station which was rightfully meant to be manned by Spock instead. Roddenberry also remarked about Rand, "We should keep her playing her role as Captain's secretary-aide-valet. If we want to keep her alive in the story we can arbitrarily say that the filing of Kirk's log, notes, memos, and so on, are her responsibility." Ultimately, however, Rand was evidently omitted from the entire installment.
The character also went through a similar process of exclusion during the writing of TOS: "The Galileo Seven". An early draft of that episode's script featured her among a group of characters who crash landed in the shuttlecraft Galileo. In a memo to Gene Roddenberry regarding that script draft (dated 23 August 1966), Robert H. Justman asked Roddenberry, "Are you happy with the Janice-Kirk routine on page 8?" Evidently, Rand was again later written out of the episode altogether.
After wrapping production on "Miri" (on Tuesday 30 August 1966), Grace Lee Whitney received a call from her agent, Alex Brewis, about her character of Janice Rand, while the actress was at home just a couple days into a two-week hiatus before shooting was to begin on the next episode, "The Conscience of the King". Brewis first ensured Whitney was sitting before telling her the news that the decision had been made to remove Rand from Star Trek, with Whitney about to be written out of the show and with no intent to replace her. (The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, p. 9) In reply to Whitney asking why this choice had been made, Brewis relayed to her that he had been told Rand's romantic relationship with Captain Kirk was becoming too obvious and that – because the network NBC insisted on depicting Kirk having a more varied romantic life with numerous women played by a succession of guest-starring actresses – it would seem Rand was being cheated on by him, if her relationship with him was too intense. (The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, p. 9; The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, p. 120; The Best of Trek, p. 178) It was obvious to Whitney that this reasoning was the opposite of what the executive who had violated her had said the previous Friday night: that Rand's relationship with Kirk could be strengthened and that many story possibilities would result from expanding the participation of the Rand character on the show. Brewis told Whitney, "You have a contract for thirteen episodes. You'll have one more episode to shoot. You can finish out your contract, and then you'll be through." (The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, p. 9)
Grace Lee Whitney was utterly distraught by her character being written out of the show. (Star Trek: Communicator issue 119, p. 56) "I had lost my favorite role among all the roles I had performed," she reflected. The first person she informed about Rand's departure from the show was James Doohan, who was similarly shocked. (The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, pp. 13 & 10) Robert Justman protested Rand leaving the series, wanting the character to at least be brought back on a guest-starring basis in future episodes, though this did not come to pass. (The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, p. 67) Whitney at first felt bitter resentment toward Gene Roddenberry and the studio as well as feeling even suicidal, upon first learning of Rand's exclusion, but by 1976, those feelings had subsided. (The Best of Trek, p. 178) In a 1998 interview, Whitney stated, "I am still often hurt when Yeoman Rand is left out of things […] I thought I had lost a part of myself – that it was me, Grace, that had been written off, not the character." (Star Trek: Communicator issue 119, p. 56)
Grace Lee Whitney formed her own unsubstantiated theory to account for Janice Rand's expulsion from Star Trek, suspecting it was related to the incident between her and an executive. "Because those events happened just a few days apart – the Friday night sexual assault and the call informing me that I had been written out of the show – there has always been a clear cause-and-effect linkage in my mind," she related. "I have always believed that The Executive had me removed from Star Trek because he didn't want to be reminded of what he did to me that night […] Because I never received any official explanation, there was always that faint glimmer of doubt in my mind – the nagging suspicion that maybe I was jettisoned from Star Trek for some other, unknown reason […] A number of conflicting theories have been advanced in various Trek-oriented books and magazines to explain why I was let go from the series, yet no single, definitive, once-and-for-all answer was ever put forward. No internal memo ever surfaced that said, 'The producers of Star Trek have decided to toss Yeoman Janice Rand out the nearest airlock because…'" (The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, p. 15) Gene Roddenberry later repeatedly expressed regrets that, instead of keeping Rand in the series, he had given in to the pressure from the network. (The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, p. 120)
The excising of the Janice Rand character happened during the making of TOS: "Dagger of the Mind". As a result, Rand's part in that outing was instead rewritten for the character of Helen Noel, whom Marianna Hill acted out in the installment. (The Best of Trek, p. 178; The Star Trek Compendium, 4th ed., p. 41) According to Whitney, "The hardest thing was to watch somebody else say my lines." (Starlog #105, April 1986, p. 49)
Grace Lee Whitney found that one of the most challenging aspects of her departure from Star Trek was having to return to the studio for her final appearance in "The Conscience of the King", in which Rand is present for about six seconds in only one scene and without any dialogue. At some point during the week of Monday 12 September 1966, Whitney arrived for her last early morning call and was offended to see that her name on the parking lot she used there had already been painted over. "I walked into Stage 9 and reported to makeup, where Fred Phillips applied my hair and makeup one last time," she said. "Then I went out to the set of the Enterprise bridge and waited to be called." (The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, p. 11)
Though Rand's on-screen appearance in "The Conscience of the King" is minimal, that wasn't always the case. In the episode's final revised draft script, she made a brief appearance in an additional scene, set on the Enterprise's observation deck, where she interrupted a tour Kirk was giving Lenore Karidian. The script's stage directions indicated that Rand had been searching for the captain, as she had a duty roster to give him. She also had one line of dialogue in the scene, in which she stated to Kirk, "Excuse me, sir… you said you wanted this roster as soon as it was completed." After handing the roster to Kirk, she exited "without batting an eye." Subsequently, Lenore Karidian commented that Rand was "quite lovely," to which Kirk added, "And very efficient." Shortly thereafter in the teleplay, Lenore admitted that she believed Rand didn't like her, due to being attracted to Kirk, but he protested that Rand's relationship with Kirk was "strictly business," though Lenore was sure that wasn't the case and that Kirk was simply naive about women. Some of these references to Rand were also included in a deleted scene from "The Conscience of the King", beginning with Lenore's line about having felt that Rand didn't like her, and proceeding from there on. ("Swept Up: Snippets from the Cutting Room Floor", Star Trek: The Original Series - The Roddenberry Vault special features)
Rand was also featured in the writer's first draft script of "The Squire of Gothos", though her part in the script was rewritten to become Teresa Ross by the time the episode's first draft teleplay was issued.
Grace Lee Whitney's TOS performances of Janice Rand had no great lasting effect on the actress' career in show business. "It was just another role," she said. "But it had a profound effect on my ego, first up, then being shattered." (The Best of Trek, p. 179)
Later appearances[]
When the decision to make Star Trek: The Motion Picture came about, it was also decided to include Janice Rand in the movie, again portrayed by Grace Lee Whitney. Unlike the other returning cast members from TOS, Whitney was not given a character description – from the Writers'/Directors' Guide for the ultimately aborted television series Star Trek: Phase II – to help with her performance in The Motion Picture, as she had not been intended to reappear in Phase II. The actress nevertheless found that reassuming the role for the film was not too problematic. Susan Sackett wrote, "Grace Lee was left on her own in developing this character. But this was not too difficult, for the talented actress and singer had always remained close to Star Trek, delighting fans at conventions with original songs about Yeoman Janice Rand's adventures aboard the Enterprise. She and Janice are old friends." (The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, p. 120)
Janice Rand's appearance in The Motion Picture is in keeping with the fact that long hairstyles were disallowed in that film. (The Making of Star Trek, p. 142)
In the script of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Rand was referred to merely as the "Communications Officer" of the Excelsior and she – instead of an unnamed officer played by Christian Slater – was written, at one point, as awakening Sulu to inform him that Starfleet was looking for the Enterprise. Despite the fact this scene was rewritten to replace Rand, Grace Lee Whitney considered her role in Star Trek VI to be "better" than it had been in Star Trek IV. Whitney said of how she prepared for Star Trek VI, "I had been hired for the part a few months before the movie had been shot. As it got closer to the filming date, I still had no script. I called casting and asked for a script, wondering if it was because I had [a] no speaking part. Well, this went back and forth until the morning I went to work on Star Trek VI and I still did not have a script. They sent me a few pages of the scene they were doing on that day which I read. We then shot about half the day and [director] Nick Meyer said to me, 'Can you cry real tears on camera?' As I was talking to him, I was mentally recalling a recent event where my daughter-in-law was pregnant and got very sick and was in the hospital taking intravenous feedings in her arms because she could not retain food or fluids by mouth. I began to cry just looking at him." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 22, No. 3, p. 20)
Rand later appeared in the episode "Flashback". In the script of that installment (both the first draft and the final draft of the teleplay), a scene description remarked, "Rand is a communications officer who has served for many years, and is nearing the end of her career. She has an easy-going, friendly manner." At one stage during production on "Flashback", Brannon Braga informed Grace Lee Whitney that the Rand character might later return, remarking, "We're not killing you off, Grace, so we can bring you back!" (Star Trek: Communicator issue 108) However, this possibility never came to fruition.
Rank ambiguities[]
Interviews with Grace Lee Whitney have suggested that Janice Rand held the rank of chief petty officer in The Motion Picture. (citation needed • edit) In the film, her character had the chief petty officer rank insignia. This was probably also how Associate Producer Jon Povill thought of Rand. Shortly after mistaking her for an ensign, Povill sent a memo to Costume Designer Robert Fletcher that recognized the error, stating, "Rand is not an ensign. She is a transporter chief. This means there should be no sleeve on her costume. Sorry about that, Chief." (The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, pp. 126-127) The designation "Chief" was often assigned to Chief Petty Officers.
According to the script for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Rand was either a master chief petty officer or a lieutenant. [2] She was identified in the credits as "Commander Rand".
A costume worn by Grace Lee Whitney as Janice Rand in Star Trek VI was auctioned off in the It's A Wrap! sale and auction and included two ten-year service pins and a five-year service pin, corresponding to the fact that she had served in Starfleet for around thirty years. [3](X)
Woman in cafeteria[]
Grace Lee Whitney played a command division officer in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. This character was a commander. The credits for the film identified the character as “Woman in Cafeteria”. The script for the film had no mention of Rand.
Since there was no part for Whitney in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan or the script for Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Director Leonard Nimoy corrected the oversight by giving her a cameo near the beginning of the film. She explained "Leonard was way up on the boom directing me as I was looking. And of course, there was no Enterprise there. It was simply a blank wall. I had to do all this imagining in my head. So Leonard talked me through it. He said, 'OK. You're seeing the ship. It's coming in. There it is. It's the Enterprise.' And I would look a certain way. And he would say, 'But it's hurt.' And then I would look at it sadly. Then, he would say, 'Look at it now and see the things that are wrong with it. And Captain Kirk is in trouble. And Mr. Spock is dead.' He was talking me through all of these things as I was watching it. He was putting into my mind what he wanted me to show in my eyes and my face." (Starlog #105, April 1986, p. 49)
Apocrypha[]
Some of the comics set around the time of Sulu taking command of Excelsior not only supported Janice Rand's rank as a lieutenant commander, but also implied she was the Excelsior's first officer.
In the comic book "Blaise of Glory", Rand's name is displayed on a computer screen as "Rand, Janice L".
Star Trek II: Biographies gives her name as Janice Rand Dale, presumably after she got married.
According to the novel Enterprise: The First Adventure, she had two brothers named Benjamin and Sirri. The novel The Captain's Daughter reveals that Rand had a daughter named Annie who died from an illness at the age of two.
According to the video game Star Trek: Starship Creator, Rand has an ex-husband named Jenneth Royce and a sister named Paula.
In the 1997 Marvel Voyager comic book "Ghosts", two prominent characters, Josh Rand (β) and Athena Rand (β), were said to be relatives of Janice. They were noted for coming from a long line of Starfleet officers.
In IDW Publishing's alternate reality adaptation of "The Galileo Seven", in the third and fourth issues of the Star Trek: Ongoing comic series, Yeoman Rand was one of several landing party members who became stranded and survived the experience on Murasaki 312, taking the place occupied by Mears in the TOS episode.
In "Parallel Lives, Part 1", her male alternate reality counterpart is seen.
The Janice Rand from the prime universe appears in one panel in "Connection, Part 2", the sixtieth and final issue of Star Trek: Ongoing.
External links[]
- Janice Rand at Wikipedia
- Janice Rand at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
- Janice Rand at the Star Trek Online Wiki