Grace Lee Whitney, who played Captain Kirk's assistant, Yeoman Janice Rand in the first eight episodes of the original "Star Trek" series, has died at the age of 85.  According to her son Jonathan Dweck, the actress died from natural causes on Friday in her home in Coarsegold, Central California, a town, 50 miles north of Fresno. 

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In her 1998 autobiography, titled, "The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy," Whitney wrote that at one time, when her role was written out of the script, she became an alcoholic. She said that she struggled with alcoholism for many years before getting treatment.  She regained her career when Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock in the series helped her.

When Star Trek was reborn as a movie franchise in 1979, Whitney reprised her role in movie franchise Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and her final appearance as Rand was in 1991's Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

According to her son, Dweck, his mother like to be remembered as a successful survivor of addiction rather than for her role in the Star Trek series. For the last 35 years, Whitney had dedicated her life in helping people with addiction problems.  Some of those were people she met in Star Trek conventions.  As a whole, she had helped thousands of people complete the 12-step addiction programs.

Dweck continued to say that his mother had developed meaningful relationships throughout the years with Leonard Nimoy, other cast members and Star Trek fans.

Whitney is survived by her sons Jonathan and Scott Dweck.

William Shatner, who played Whitney boss in Star Trek, tweeted his condolences on Monday saying the actress was a constant shining smile.   Whitney, played the loyal Janice Rand, Captain James T. Kirk's (William Shatner) personal assistant who served aboard the USS Enterprise in the first season of Star Trek.

TagsStar Trek, Grace Lee Whitney, Whitney, Janice Rand