Grace Lee Whitney is confirmed to be dead.

The original "Star Trek" actress died in Coarsegold, California last May 1. Having the real name Mary Ann Chase, the former star of the hit TV series died because of natural causes.

It can be recalled that Grace appeared in the original 1996 "Star Trek" series as Yeoman Janice Rand. She played the role of Captain James Kirk, played by fellow actor William Shatner. Whitney only appeared briefly on the TV series, particularly for only eight episodes before the producers killed her character off. Regardless, her character was remembered even after the end of the series. Her first appearance in the series was in the episode called, "The Man Trap."

One episode that fans consider to probably be one where Grace's character made the most impact on, is the episode titled, "The Enemy Within." It showed Shatner's character, Captain Kirk gets an actual dopelganger caused by a transporter issue. His dopelganger turned out to be an evil version of him that tried to make sexual advances towards Whitney's character, Yeoman. Being the smart woman that she is, Yeoman fights back and realizes something's wrong. She then calls Kirk's best friend, Spock.

Yeoman Janice Rand was written off from the series because of the fact that her character might become a nuisance in terms of Captain Kirk's romantic involvements. This eventually made her a victim to drugs and alcohol addiction. However, she was able to fight her demons and become sober through the help of family and friends, especially "Star Trek" cast member Leonard Nimoy, who played the role of Spock in the series.

After the series, Whitney got another opportunity to be included in more of "Star Trek's" endeavors, particularly the four movies, "Star Trek: The Motion Picture;" "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock;" "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" and "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country."