Born on 1 April 1 1930, Grace Lee Whitney donned the hats of an actress and singer. Regrettably, she isn’t with us anymore as she bid adieu to life in 2015. However, she was able to leave a legacy behind and she will be forever remembered for her portrayal of the character, Janice Rand, in the television series, ¨Star Trek.¨ Her career spanned over five decades!
So, how much was Grace Lee Whitney worth before passing away? Authoritative sources estimate Perrey´s fortune to be worth around the $2 million mark. She made most of her fortune appearing in over 15 films and making over 100 appearances In TV shows and series.
Grace Lee Whitney Net Worth $2 million
Not many people are aware of the fact that Grace Lee Whitney is actually not the actress´s original name. Before being adopted by the Whitney family, she was formerly known as Mary Ann Chase. When just 14 years old, she dived into the entertainment industry working as a “girl” singer on Detroit´s “WJR radio”. In her late teens, she decided to leave her home and move to Chicago, where she pursued her singing career, often performing as an opening act for Buddy Rich and Billie Holiday in nightclubs. She would eventually get the opportunity to tour with the likes of Spike Jones and Fred Waring too, laying the basis to her net worth.
Although Whitney was involved in a host of movies, notably “A Public Affair”, “Critic´s Choice”, and “The Man from Galveston”, and though she made numerous appearances on TV shows such as “You Bet Your Life”, “The Red Skelton Show”, and “The Jimmy Durante Show”, it was not until she was cast as Yeoman Janice Rand in 1966 in the TV series, “Star Trek” that she truly tasted success. On being cast for the role, she later mentioned, “I was on diet pills trying to stay thin—and I was very thin. They wanted you to fit into the uniforms and I couldn´t quite so I went on amphetamines”. She would later claim to be sexually harassed while under contract. The actress was released from her contract after appearing in eight of the first thirteen episodes, after which she said in an interview, “They wanted William Shatner to have romances in each episode with a different person, because for him to be stuck with one woman was not good for him and it wasn´t good for the audience. That´s what they told me, so I was written out”.
After her contract termination from the show, it would be a fair while before she would land a meaty role again. Ironically, her next major role would come in Star Trek again, in the 1979 film, “Star Trek: The Motion Picture”, for the role of Transporter Chief Janice Rand, which she would go on to reprise in the following Star Trek film franchise.
The last time she would create a major stir would be in the year, 1998—that year saw her releasing her autobiography, “The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galax”, in which she gave the public insights on how she was hired and fired from “Star Trek”. She was also honest about her addiction to substance and alcohol.
In her personal life, Whitney was married to Sydney Stevan Dweck from 1954 to 60, with whom she had two sons, and to Jack Dale (1970-91). She worked tirelessly towards helping people overcome their substance and alcohol abuse. The actress crossed the great divide on 1 May 2015 at the age of 85 of natural causes, at her abode in Coarsegold.
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