We know the first photo is an early publicity photo of Yeoman Janice Rand taken before the first season aired. And we know the second photo photo is the same Yeoman Rand wearing her signature beehive. So how did we get from the first hairstyle to the second?
Gene Roddenberry had already approved one change in Yeoman Rand’s look. Instead of the blousy top and plain black slacks worn by females in both the first and second pilot, a more fitted tunic and a short skirted uniform was designed by William Ware Theiss. But Gene also wanted a more futuristic hairstyle for Rand. So Theiss designed her signature beehive. But those are not his hands in this set of photos. So whose are they?
They belong to Virginia Darcy, who was already a well-known and respected Hollywood stylist by the time she began working for Star Trek. Darcy was the one who actually took Theiss’s design and created the wig itself that she meticulously put on Grace Lee Whitney’s head every morning and adjusted it into place.
According to Whitney, the wig was created from two Max Factor wigs placed over a cone and woven together. Naturally, it was very heavy. Grace claimed it had to be nailed into place every morning to keep it from shifting when she moved.
Virginia Darcy became one of Grace’s closest friends according to her autobiography, The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy. Virginia would dish up the gossip from the days of when she was the hair stylist for Ester Williams on the set of the movie musicals in which Williams would display her swimming skills. However, Ms. Darcy’s stories often had Grace in stitches and that would set them both off laughing even more loudly. The sound evidently carried from the dressing room onto the nearby set and A.D. Greg Peters would often storm in angrily, telling them to tone it down because they had just ruined another of his takes. *Special thanks to Billy Kobylak for letting me post these two rare photos. The back of Rand’s head was something you rarely saw in this much detail.
Indeed if you had asked anyone she had ever worked with on a Hollywood set, he or she would likely have told you that Virginia Darcy loved to laugh and was known for keeping things lively. Yet she was very disciplined and a perfectionist when it came to her craft.
By the time Virginia was hired for Star Trek’s first season, she had already accumulated quite a resume. Starting off as an apprentice in the major studios such as MGM, Universal, and Fox, she joined the Make-up and Hair Stylist Guild in 1947. Ms. Darcy was credited (and sometimes uncredited) with working on a number of Alfred Hitchcock films such The Man Who Knew Too Much,The Birds, and Marnie (she remained good friends with Tippi Hedren right up until her death in 2018). She was also a stylist for fourteen episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. That wasn’t all. Darcy had worked in movies such as Miracle on 34th Street and Cape Fear and in quite a number of popular television shows including The Munsters, McHale’s Navy, and Wagon Train.
Virginia Darcy only worked as a hair stylist with Star Trek for one season, but her career continued. She served as a hair stylist in Funny Girl and Funny Lady as well as Kung Fu and The Dukes of Hazzard among others. In 1985, Virginia and two others were nominated for an Emmy for their work on the mini-series North and South. Shortly afterwards, she retired but kept in touch with her many friends and colleagues. Ms. Darcy died at age 98.
Now why would we go to so much trouble to spotlight a person who has what one would think is a minor position? Ms. Darcy wasn’t just any hair stylist. She had a stellar reputation before she was hired for Star Trek. And those hair styles, especially that of Yeoman Janice Rand’s, helped create the illusion we were watching the future unfold before us every bit as much as Theiss’s costumes, Matt Jefferies’ spaceships, or Wah Chang’s props. She is another example of Gene’s intention of hiring the very best people for his new show.
Rand: It’s not that. Captain, I’ve seen the look before, and if something isn’t done, sooner or later I’m going to have to hurt him. Tell him to leave me alone, and that wouldn’t be good for him right now. You see, I’m his first crush, his first love, and his first Kirk: Yes, Yeoman, I’ll talk to him. I’ll look into it. Rand: Thank you, sir.
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