black cat on star trek

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‘Star Trek’ Mystery Solved – Isis Actress From “Assignment: Earth” Identified

| March 12, 2019 | By: Anthony Pascale 50 comments so far

Once again our friends at Roddenberry Entertainment have unearthed a piece of Star Trek history. Today’s episode of Larry Nemecek’s The Trek Files solves a casting mystery that dates back to Star Trek: The Original Series .

A Star Trek mystery

One of the memorable performers from the second season finale of Star Trek: The Original series had no lines and shared billing with a cat, but is still enduring to this day. That season finale, titled “Assignment: Earth,” was a sort of backdoor pilot from Gene Roddenberry as a backup plan in case Star Trek didn’t get a third season. It was a time travel show, with the Enterprise traveling back to 1968, the year the second season was on the air. The focus of the episode was on the mysterious character Gary Seven, trained by aliens to save the Earth from itself. Gary’s constant companion was a shapeshifting pet cat named Isis. While Isis seemed to speak telepathically with Gary Seven, the actress who played Isis in her human form never spoke. As such, she was one of many extras who was never credited, leaving her identity a bit of a mystery.

Kirk, Gary Seven and his cat Isis in “Assignment: Earth”

For years Playboy pinup and actress Victoria Vetri was associated with the role, even garnering her a page on Memory Alpha, the Star Trek wiki. TrekMovie even did an article about Vetri back in 2010 when she ran into some legal trouble. However, in 2018 the actress and model revealed she was never part of Star Trek , and her credit was subsequently removed from Memory Alpha , leaving the identity of the performer as “unknown.” Star Trek history knew the name of one of the cats who played Isis (Sambo), but the name of the human actress remained a mystery. Until today.

Isis in her human form in “Assignment: Earth”

Isis Identified

Combing through Gene Roddenberry’s archive of documents from Star Trek: The Original Series , the team from The Trek Files came upon documents for “Assignment: Earth.” These documents regarding production details for the episode could finally solve this mystery of the Isis actress. The standard actors call sheet for January 5th – the one day Isis was on set in her human form – includes a listing for a performer to be on set 10:00 AM, but only lists that performer as “1 Female (New)” under “Atmosphere and Standins.”

Actor call sheet for “Assignment: Earth” doesn’t give the name for the “new” actress due on set at 10:00 am

However, the “Extra Talent Call Sheet” for that day was the key. Along with other familiar “Standing” background extra actors such as Eddie Paskey , there is a listing for “1 Cat Girl” to be on set at 10:00 AM. Importantly, it includes the performer’s name as April Tatro. Tatro herself was contacted by The Trek Files and confirmed she played Isis in human form for “Assignment: Earth.” According to the sheet, Tatro was budgeted to be paid the standard rate for all the extras of $29.15 for the day, plus the cost for time for being fitted with her costume and body makeup. An additional production report unearthed by The Trek Files shows her adjusted rate of $84.51.

Extra Call Sheet for “Assignment Earth” identifies actress who played Isis as April Tatro

April Tatro worked mostly as a contortionist , performing on stage and on television. Just months after her work on Star Trek she appeared again on NBC, on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson . Tatro also appeared on Laugh-In, Fernwood Tonight and The Gong Show . Her career on television ran through to 2001, appearing again as a contortionist on an episode of Malcolm in the Middle.

April Tatro in a 1997 episode of the sitcom Ellen

Isis actress April Tatro interviewed by Trek Files

Larry Nemecek had a chance to speak to April Tatro about her time working on Star Trek’s “Assignment: Earth” on the episode of The Trek Files released today. Nemecek tells TrekMovie: “This week’s episode is one of those that makes the whole concept of The Trek Files worthwhile. We’re going to be solving a Star Trek mystery.”

Larry Nemecek with April Tatro (The Trek Files)

On the podcast, Tatro talked about her fitting for her rather skimpy costume, saying, “I’d never had so much attention in all my life.” Speaking of attention, Tatro also reveals that Star Trek star William Shatner asked her out. Even though she was engaged to be married in just two weeks, she accepted the offer and went out to lunch with Shatner.

Get all the details by listening to the podcast available on iTunes , or you can warp on over to podcasts.roddenberry.com .

You can download the “Assignment: Earth” production documents on Google Drive . For more on April Tatro in “Assignment: Earth” and other Trek Files head on over to the program’s hub on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/TheTrekFiles/posts/1160454300795482?__xts__[0]=68.ARCOlXil2QMrfyaDUduPfK_bOIGeEgtr2uOMjEkRnVUQGdNKOeJLJ4uJAEI274s9z-Id1wIHUG_QjP3q_koO392RjThcoBezZT3cXLSgbQo9Q9zzStM69KXlQFSNxN4KR6dtBPRsGjptIp9k5nKAiEEtBEX7qIVlgvuLTDCTXdcTVYgiBVFq1voodX47e9nM10_xXSyZbog3Xc1SeLxpN6SO3LgY-xyRGi6H90aA2yk_KerqmivkQo6f6ohIWfR_tHMavxCrGNRozXUksDRU6pQMLT5WZ6lSIKdHYv2SrUvS_xeYZTpUqf6M2xWZbLI7ikfUEcUkYOS9oS8cPTsfe7og5GdwaOebB6yW8-_4N2YVHA4TUQg4zeeYIGwfn6asii1EgHWU8dXVG2ELDn5gW1s2EkyUOYyOrrMLSjSny_H5EI0hPrqf53gx9wiXo392QXI66vYFIJgt_IXNn2dA&__tn__=-R

Keep up with all our coverage of Star Trek history at TrekMovie.com .

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“Tatro also reveals that Star Trek star William Shatner asked her out. Even though she was engaged to be married in just two weeks, she accepted the offer and went out to lunch with Shatner.”

Of course, Shatner was married as well. But lunch seems innocent.

His marriage was already over at that point; papers may not have been yet been signed, but it was done.

WOW WOW WOW! What an incredible find. Larry Nemecek is truly the Jeffrey Burton Russell of Trekdom.

That is really good.

Very neat trivia. Shatner, you Rascal! :)

Oh, cool! It’s so amazing that we’re still learning new things about TOS after all the time. I mean, it’s not as if there haven’t been innumerable books and articles published about the show already. :-)

Corylea TOS has a gold mine of information we don’t know yet.

That is a incredibly cool trivia! What a neat find! It’s stuff like this that makes me proud to be a Trek fan, that we love the show so much and want to know every possible bit of information about it. I should start to listen to Larry’s podcast!

What a cool bit of trivia. Good work Detective Nemecek.

So odd that this has taken this long to come out. For years I fought the notion that it was Victoria Vetri. I never understood that. Didn’t look like her to me.

Again, a really cool bit of trivia to know here.

And now that I’ve seen her contortionist video it seems they cast well….an actress as, or more, flexible than a cat.

What ever happened to starships time traveling to the past all willy nilly for “historical research” anyway?

So there was some inner Kirk in Shatner himself :))

He did this for a lot of the women. The bellydancer from Wolf in the Fold has an account in her book of her being shocked when he came to pick her up without his toupee. He was married as well.

What a great find. Great story!

Oh. Pondering if the aliens who sent Gary Seven could be the Red Angels in Discovery? Or if there’s some connection between those aliens and the ones behind the Red Angels.

Maybe Gary Seven is the Red Angel!

spock said the red angel was human and female

Larry, thanks for this Trek Files episode that reveals the true identity of Isis. I see the article mentions that in 2018 Victoria Vetri denied being Isis. I would like to point out that way back in 2012, I revealed that Vetri was not Isis in my self-published comic, 3-D Pete’s Star Babe Invasion Comics, issue 3. I corresponded with her while she was in prison! I tried to let the Trek world know, but no one would listen! Anyway, thanks for the scoop! Mike Fisher Instagram: galacticfishproductions

What a great discovery, especially since “Assignment: Earth” is one of my favorite episodes! Listening to the podcast, Miss Tatro sounds like such a kind person. :}

Any relation to the late Richard Tatro, who played Norman in “I, Mudd?”

The same question occurred to me. Can somebody call her back and ask her?

Or composer Duane Tatro, who scored episodes of Quinn Martin’s superb ’60s TV series, THE INVADERS?

This is a strange synchronicity. I was just thinking about Gary Seven yesterday. I had an image of the British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor playing him on the new Philippa georgiou section 31 series. Interesting coincidence.

His semblance to Robert Lansing is indeed quite uncanny. :P

This is amazing — what a find!

You know there are whole pages dedicated to the watch Gary Seven wore (evidently was a Rolex – I’d never even noticed or thought about it) http://www.rolexmagazine.com/2008/11/start-trek-rolex-gmt-master-at-nasa.html https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=83222 http://rolexdiamond.blogspot.com/2011/07/ https://forums.watchuseek.com/f2/watches-star-trek-4674575-2.html

There’s even a crazy guy who wrote and recorded music and put together opening credits for what an Assignment: Earth show might have been like…. http://supervisor194.com/

All forms of minutia the internet and fandom feed into and off of, but I’m still very surprised this bit of information never came out.

Fascinating!

All those wasted years she could have been on the convention circuit! She’s a legit Star Trek legend!

I was thinking that. Hopefully she’ll get a lot of bookings now.

Did she not realize what a big deal this is? Who knows, maybe not. She has to have known what Star Trek became.

What a neat story. She looks good today.

Shatner took her to lunch? I wonder if that worked out to be an entry for his captain’s log!

What, nobody has a comment for my double entendre??

oooooh, nasty, man! How much you wanna bet he buttered her muffin at lunch?

Very cool. Nice detective work, Roddenberry Entertainment.

She really was perfect for that role…such supernatural feline grace ! Old Cat-Man .

You call that a skimpy outfit? Even with the stricter rules of the times, there were women on Star Trek who wore more revealing costumes than that.

What a great story! She looks wonderful today and as many said here, it’s nice to learn new things about TOS all these years later. The question that was never answered: Is she a woman, is she a cat, ot a shapeshifter? GREAT article, thanks :)

Interesting bit of Trek hisstory. I wonder why there was so much pussy-footing around this casting issue for years. Though, it was classy of Tatro not to pounce on the false attribution.

I see what you did there :)

Oh come on., She’s didn’t want to come off like a clawed.

Gary Seven is one of the intriguing corners of TOS that has never been explored on screen beyond the one episode. I wonder if the Discovery team is sniffing around story possibilities for ol’ Gary and Isis.

I hope not.

I would have felt that way too until I saw how elegantly they revisited The Cage. Probably they won’t touch Gary Seven as he would not have shown up in the Discovery timeline yet.

TOS, Fernwood tonight AND the Gong Show!

sorry that english not my first language.

my feeling are, as usual, mr shatner was a very naughty rascal!

Now identified, instant elevation to iconic role.

Yep….

https://www.vidoevo.com/video/MXlwbDVWcWuRpWVhlZEU/april-tatro-show My friend, Jim found this video on YouTube of April Tatro performing on the Gong Show. And as Chuck Barris notes, she’s from my home town of Astoria, Oregon.

dang she missed out on so many star trek conventions…

I’m surprised that Marc Cushman missed that detail when he researched his very thorough and complete ‘These Are The Voyages’ volumes.

We will keep fighting for all libraries - stand with us!

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Catspaw 1967

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Saw Promo Video on Archive:

That Time Captain Kirk Fought a Giant Cat - 13:55

Seemed Interesting!

https://archive.org/details/youtube-ed7VBh8_Bl0

---xxx---xxx---xxx--

Looked On Archive For Full Show!?

Achive has 9,923,870 movies! Searching...

Found: Star Trex (TV-Rip) Catspaw - Spanish Language!

https://archive.org/details/startrek-tvrip/Star+Trek+-+The+Next+Generation+-+Datalore.avi

Not Sure If English Version On Archive,

So Up loaded English version?

----xxx---xxx---xx---

(part one: Main show)

" Catspaw " Is The Seventh Episode Of The

second season of the American science fiction

television series Star Trek Written by Robert Bloch

and directed by Joseph Pevney , it was first broadcast

October 27, 1967. The crew of the Enterprise encounter

two aliens from another galaxy with magical-seeming

powers. This episode was the first filmed to include

series regular Pavel Chekov ( Walter Koenig ),

although it was broadcast after several other episodes

with the character had already been aired; the airing

was delayed to coincide with Halloween .

The USS Enterprise , under the command of Captain

Kirk , orbits the apparently lifeless planet Pyris VII.

Contact has been lost with the landing party, consisting

of Chief Engineer Scott , Lt. Sulu , and Crewman Jackson .

Jackson calls for Transport back to the ship, but falls from

the platform dead. His open mouth emits an eerie voice,

telling Captain Kirk that Enterprise is cursed and must

leave the planet immediately, or death will follow. Kirk

beams down with First Officer Spock and Chief Medical

Officer Dr. McCoy to search for the missing crewmen,

leaving Assistant Chief Engineer DeSalle in charge of

Enterprise . The landing party comes upon three

apparitions that appear as witches, who warn the landing

team not to proceed any further. The team ignores

the warnings and discovers what appears to be a

medieval castle.Entering the castle, the landing party

comes upon a black cat wearing a diamond pendant.

As they follow the cat, the floor collapses, and the fall

knocks them unconscious . When they awaken, they

find themselves held in a dungeon . Scott and Sulu

soon appear, walking as if in a trance,and unlock

their restraints

(part two: intermission show)

Star Trex Cats play on Halloween!!!

(Part Three: intermission show)

The Witches Scene From Catspaw

(Part 4 : intermission show)

Witch Hunter Sees Witches and sings:

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Our 8 Favorite Cats from “Star Trek” (and Beyond)

The sci-fi series has had numerous iterations -- and lots of cats in space..

Last Updated on January 29, 2024 by Catster Editorial Team

Many of my fellow members of Generation X look back on things their families enjoyed and feel a sense of regret — or at least a sense of “Ugh, I can’t believe we were into that.” It’s a common side effect of growing up in the 1970s. Not me, though. I’ve always considered myself fortunate to grow up in a family that was into the good stuff. The first song I consciously remember recognizing, for example, was Bob Dylan’s “Ballad of a Thin Man.” And by the time I was 7 years old, my two favorite TV shows were M*A*S*H and Star Trek .

And, of course, there were cats. We were a big cat family, and we still are, hence me cat-sitting for my brother and sister-in law , or taking my own cat Perdita with me when I visit my mother .

I also still enjoy all those elements of pop culture, particularly Star Trek , partially because of all the various cats in the various Treks over the years.

Indeed, there weren’t a whole lot of cats in science fiction until Star Trek came long; there’d been more of a fascination with monkeys, in movies such as Forbidden Planet and especially Robinson Crusoe on Mars , in which “Mona, the Woolly Monkey” got third billing in the trailer .

But Star Trek brought the focus to cats, where it belonged. Here are my favorites.

Our 8 Favorite Cats from Star Trek

1. Sylvia, Star Trek , “Catspaw”

In the original series’ 1967 Halloween episode, Capt. Kirk & Co. encounter a haunted planet with all the trimmings, including but not limited to a spooky castle occupied by shape-changing aliens. They spend most of their time looking like human wizards or witches, though the latter also occasionally changes into a black cat just because she can. (Wouldn’t you?) When it’s time for the big action climax, she turns into a really, really big black cat. And speaking of shape-shifting alien women who turn into cats ÔÇª

2. Isis, Star Trek , “Assignment: Earth”

Actually, this one is more of a shape-shifting alien cat who can occasionally turn into a woman, and then mostly does it to mess with people’s heads. (Wouldn’t your cat?)

What’s interesting is that this episode was intended to be the pilot episode for a new television series, about the adventures of Isis and her raised-by-aliens human companion Gary Seven on Earth, but it didn’t sell. More’s the pity.

3. Lt. M’Ress, Star Trek: The Animated Series

The animated Star Trek could do things that the not-animated Star Trek couldn’t, like have a crewmember who was a sentient, bipedal cat by the name of Lt. M’Ress. She was from the planet Cait, because ÔÇª well, of course she was, and she had a tendency to purr/ululate between sentences.

The animated series fell out of favor (and out of the Star Trek canon) in the 1980s, particularly by the time Star Trek: The Next Generation hit the airwaves, but M’Ress always been significant for me. When I was very young in the late 1970s, the live-action as well as the animated Star Trek s were in reruns, and I didn’t differentiate between them.

I mean, I grokked that one was a cartoon and one wasn’t, but to me they were both legitimate Star Trek s, and that a cat was a valuable member of the crew made perfect sense at the time. And it still does. M’ress never appeared again after the animated series, but a fellow Caitian did appear in one of the movies, if you look closely .

4. The Kzinti, Star Trek: The Animated Series , “The Slaver Weapon”

Not all felinoid races were as peaceful as the Caitians, such as this more warlike race of sentient, bipedal cats. Though they were originally introduced in Larry Niven’s non- Trek stories in the late 1960s, they’re best known outside of sci-fi book clubs from this single appearance in the animated Star Trek .

The fearsomeness of the Kzinti in that episode is somewhat undone by their pink-and-purple uniforms, a result of director Hal Sutherland’s unfortunate color blindness.

A couple of non- Star Trek cats from the fallow period between The Animated Series and The Next Generation bear mentioning.

5. Jake, The Cat From Outer Space

Not until Snakes on a Plane had a movie so baldly stated its thesis in its title. It’s a cat, and it’s from outer space! Produced toward the end of Disney’s decade-long rut of dire live-action films, The Cat From Outer Space was the company’s first attempt to scramble onto the suddenly lucrative space-wagon created by Star Wars , but unfortunately, it’s just another banal Disney kiddie flick. The cat in question, Jake, communicates by telepathy, which solves a lot of budgetary issues but doesn’t make for a very compelling character. M’Ress had more depth than Jake ever would.

I remember getting dragged to see this as a 5-year-old, and even though I was the film’s target audience, it left me cold. (Maybe I was just bitter because I didn’t get to see Star Wars .)

6. Jonesy, Alien

Unlike Jake, Jonesy is a regular, nontelepathic domestic cat, which raises an important question: Just what is a regular, nontelepathic domestic cat doing on a mining ship in space? The answers: to provide plenty of opportunities for “Boo!” scenes, and to watch impassively as the humans get killed off.

Jonesy also gets credit for being one of the rare cats to make it to the end of a horror movie, and he even makes a cameo appearance in the sequel. (Warning: The above clip is a bit violent, though Jonesy doesn’t get hurt.)

Which brings us back to Star Trek , and ÔÇª

7 and 8. Spot, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Chester, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Spot was Lt. Cmdr. Data’s pet cat on Star Trek: The Next Generation , and much like Jonesy in Alien , Spot managed to pull of the remarkable feat of surviving — not only making it from the television series to the movie Star Trek Generations , but surviving the destruction of the Enterprise itself. By his own account, actor Brent Spiner did not like working with the cat who played Spot , but you can’t tell from Spiner’s performance.

Not getting nearly as much screen time was the cat Chester , who appeared in only one episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , but he’s worth mentioning because he was a rescue. It’s reassuring to know that even in the 24th century, people are still fighting the good fight.

Because Star Trek wouldn’t have happened without the U.S. space program and all the hard work that led up to it, we can’t forget the real-life cats who paved the way:

Weightless cats, Bioastronautics Research

They’re not in outer space — they’re on a Convair C-131, and they didn’t go higher than 12,000 feet — but they’re real cats from 1947, and they’re floating in zero gravity! It was part of a cruelty-free experiment in weightlessness by the U.S. Air Force’s Aerospace Medical Research Laboratories in 1947. (Here’s the full video , of which the cats are just a minute and a half.)

With all due respect to M’Ress and the others, these cats are the real heroes.

1. Sylvia, Star Trek, “Catspaw”
2. Isis, Star Trek, “Assignment: Earth”
4. The Kzinti, Star Trek: The Animated Series, “The Slaver Weapon”

About the Author

Catster Editorial Team

Catster is a cat magazine and cat website where cat lovers come together and get expert advice about cat behavior, cat health and cat news.

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Star Trek: Catspaw

3 comments:

Ben, those ideas are hilarious! Especially no. 1... (on a side-note, one of the good things about Who Mourns for Adonais, I think, is that Apollo is supposed to have really been Apollo, not just taking on a familiar form, which makes this plot - which I find both tired and tiresome already and we're only near the beginning of season 2! - marginally more intersting).

This one is probably my least favourite episode. Apart from the humorous dialogue in some parts, it just bores me.

"...and I couldn't stop thinking about it while writing this review. It was a dark and stormy night, and our starship broke down. Didn't we pass a castle back down the road a few miles?" Love this part! I watch a large chunk of classic horror and this is a such a common event! I have always liked this one as it brings 2 of my 3 favorite settings for stories (sci fi, fantasy, and horror), and it almost brings all 3 together, as it does borderline on fantasy for a time, and it's a good Halloween romp that works.

We love comments! We moderate because of spam and trolls, but don't let that stop you! It’s never too late to comment on an old show, but please don’t spoil future episodes for newbies.

View history

According to Robert Lansing , " We had three black cats. That was because in those days, the theory was that you couldn't train cats. Cats would have a certain propensity: One would like somebody, would want to follow them around, so that day, you would release the cat that would probably do what you wanted it to do. One of the cats took a great liking to me. It was always loose on the set when I was working, so it happened that the stuff on the rocket gantry was all ad lib. I would say something like, 'Isis, come on, you're getting in the way. You know, there is a bit of a hurry. This is not the time to be jealous.' We added meows in later. " [1] [2]

Cast & crew
User reviews

The Gamesters of Triskelion

Episode aired Jan 5, 1968

Kirk, Uhura and Chekov are trapped on a planet where abducted aliens are enslaved and trained to perform as gladiators for the amusement of bored, faceless aliens. Kirk, Uhura and Chekov are trapped on a planet where abducted aliens are enslaved and trained to perform as gladiators for the amusement of bored, faceless aliens. Kirk, Uhura and Chekov are trapped on a planet where abducted aliens are enslaved and trained to perform as gladiators for the amusement of bored, faceless aliens.

Gene Nelson
Gene Roddenberry
Margaret Armen
William Shatner
Leonard Nimoy
DeForest Kelley
29 User reviews
13 Critic reviews

William Shatner, Nichelle Nichols, and Joseph Ruskin in Star Trek (1966)

Captain James Tiberius 'Jim' Kirk

Mister Spock

Ensign Jana Haines

Andorian Thrall
Lieutenant Hadley
(uncredited)

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Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Did you know

Trivia The look of the character Galt was modeled after Ming the Merciless, the archenemy from the Flash Gordon comic strip.
Goofs In addition to Kirk and the Thralls stepping on each other's colors in the contest without being penalized, Shahna is allowed to submit and give up when the fights are supposed to be "to the death".

Dr. McCoy : You're out of your Vulcan mind, Spock!

Alternate versions Special Enhanced version Digitally Remastered with new exterior shots and remade opening theme song
Connections Featured in Star Trek Logs: An MTV Big Picture Special Edition (1991)
Soundtracks Theme Music credited to Alexander Courage Sung by Loulie Jean Norman

User reviews 29

Apr 26, 2011
What is Gamesters of Triskelion about?
January 5, 1968 (United States)
United States
Official Facebook
Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
Paramount Television
Norway Corporation
See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

Runtime 50 minutes

More to explore

A cat named Grudge is beaming into 'Star Trek: Discovery' season 3

Among the many new characters that "Star Trek: Discovery" on CBS All Access will introduce in Season 3 is one of the non-human sort: a fluffy feline named Grudge.

The cat, played by a, 18-lb. (8 kilograms) Maine Coone named Leeu, is just the latest cat star in the 54-year-old franchise — but he's already stealing the show.

"We put out a casting call for a large cat … and he fit the bill. So far he seems to be a one-take wonder," said Leslie Lawrence, one of Leeu's trainers, in a short video released by CBS All Access Sept. 8.

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The two-year-old Maine Coon, like any Hollywood star worth their claws, is on Instagram and Twitter so that you can follow along with his adventures. So far, the staff on "Discovery" is impressed by his stamina.

While no one mentioned it in the video, it's likely that American Humane is making sure that Leeu remains happy and safe, as the society monitors animal safety and health on film and TV sets.

"Everybody says that their cat can make a good set cat. But it does take a specific animal to be able to stay cool and calm and collected, because when cats are done, they're done," Lawrence said. The staff works hard to make sure Leeu feels safe in his environment. And to get him to look at the camera, Leeu's handlers catch his attention with tin foil and treat bags.

Leeu follows a long line of feline stars in the storied "Star Trek" franchise . Usually the first cat that fans cite is Spot, who was owned by the android Data in "The Next Generation" (1987-1994). Another starring cat was Neelix — owned by Reginald Barclay of "Star Trek: Voyager" (1995-2001).

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But the "Star Trek" fan site Memory Alpha reminds us that there were many other cats; we'll remind you of a few examples below.

Fans of "The Original Series" (1966-1968) may remember Isis, who appeared in the episode "Assignment: Earth" when the U.S.S. Enterprise goes back in time to the 20th century to meet a benevolent alien who tries to stop civilizations from destroying themselves. The cat also appeared to have powers, such as understanding exactly what the alien (Gary Seven) was saying at all times.

Chester the cat made appearances in " Star Trek: Deep Space Nine " (1993-99), first showing up with an owner named Chester before Miles O'Brien (played by Colm Meaney) took over the cat's care. Fans of TNG may remember the crew discussing their feelings about cats in a few episodes, with William T. Riker and Geordi La Forge coming out against cats and Beverly Crusher and Deanna Troi saying they loved the species.

Perhaps the most terrifying cat of the series, however, showed up briefly in "Star Trek: The Animated Series." A 1973 episode called "Once Upon a Planet" featured a "mechanical manifestation of an abnormally massive cat," while the crew was on shore leave, according to Memory Alpha. Several crew members were trapped in a cave, partly out of fear of the cat doing something to them.

Let's hope that Leeu never gets that angry.

Leeu joins an ever-more-diverse cast of actors on the show, which will include several new additions this season : transgender actor Ian Alexander, nonbinary actor Blu del Barrio, and Black actor David Ajala — the latter of whom is the owner of Grudge in the show.

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Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, " Why Am I Taller ?", is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and a Bachelor of History from Canada's Athabasca University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science at several institutions since 2015; her experience includes developing and teaching an astronomy course at Canada's Algonquin College (with Indigenous content as well) to more than 1,000 students since 2020. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace

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SirStephenH Isis was briefly shown as a humanoid woman, suggesting that it wasn't a cat with "superpowers", but actually an alien in cat form. Reply
Lovethrust Cats rule, dogs drool! Reply
Mergatroid There was another alien in TOS that changed into a giant cat to hunt the crew in the episode Catspaw. Note, Gary Seven was not an alien. Looks like Discovery needed another gimmick to try and pull people in. It's so unfortunate that CBS just can't seem to make any Star Trek that fans like, which may have something to do with the toxic producers who refuse to listen to what the fans want. For an excellent example of something fans love, see Prelude to Axanar on youtube. A fantastic effort. No matter if you like the guy who pulled it off or not, he did an excellent job. He was true to Gene Roddenberrie's vision and does not think he is so awesome that his own personal vision should supplant Gene's. I would be happy to pay to see a show like that, or indeed a series. Just check out the comments below the video to see thousands of people who believe Axanar is far better than anything produced by CBS or Paramount over the lats 15 years. If CBS really had anyone with real think-meat, they would have hired this guy instead of suing him. If they want to really revitalize Star Trek, that would be the way to do it. Something fans want. Something canon. Reply
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Written by William Satterwhite

July 22, 2016, featured | news.

From the very beginning, creator Gene Roddenberry’s vision for the world of Star Trek was an optimistic view of an Earth where humans had reached the pinnacle of understanding, a societal maturity where differences are not simply tolerated but embraced. A major part of this, from the very beginning, has been a diversity not only in major players but also supplementary characters. What follows here is a rundown of 10 non-starring black characters from the broad scope of the Star Trek universe who, each in their own way, represent the Star Trek vision.

Note- Only characters who are human or humanoid aliens virtually indistinguishable from humans were considered for this list.

Richard Daystrom

Imagine for a second a television show establishing that one of, if not the, most brilliant scientist in the world was a black man responsible for not just one, but two, of the greatest technological creations known to man. In 2016 with someone like Neil deGrasse Tyson well known as a foremost scientific mind this might not seem like a big deal but this isn’t 2016- this is March 1968; no one has ever seen Planet of the Apes , Lyndon Johnson is running for President, Robert Kennedy isn’t and both Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and Bobby Hutton are still alive (in less than a one full month all of these statements would be flipped).

Dr. Richard Daystrom, played by the legendary William Marshall, is introduced in season two of the original Star Trek series as creator of the computer system that helps run ships like the Enterprise and whose new system is capable of running a ship by itself, sans crew. While the latter creation doesn’t quite work out in the end, showing a black man as one of, if not the, greatest scientific mind in the world in the turbulent 60s was an obvious way to show Roddenberry’s dream for the future realized.

One of the few alien characters on this list, Guinan, portrayed by Whoopi Goldberg on Star Trek: The Next Generation , was an El-Aurian, a race of “listeners” scattered by The Borg. Serving as a bartender on the Enterprise, Guinan developed friendly relationships with many members of its senior staff, particularly Captain Picard. She also had great sense of style when it came to fabulous hats.

Captain Clark Terrell

In command of the starship Reliant in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , Captain Terrell has the unfortunate luck of running into the vengeful Khan Noonien Singh. Simply described by his First Officer Chekov as a strong man, Terrell, played by the great Paul Winfield takes his own life instead of acting as as a pawn to take another’s.

Lily Sloane

Considered a legend in space exploration within the Star Trek mythos, Doctor Lily Sloane is another example of the Star Trek universe taking great care to show black scientific leaders playing a crucial role in the humanity’s reach for the stars. Played by Alfre Woodard in the Star Trek: The Next Generation film First Contact, Sloane is an aeronautical engineer who works on the development of the first warp drive on Earth.

Commodore Stone

Even before the original Star Trek series gave us a pioneering black scientist in it’s second season with with richard Daystrom, the first season episode “Court Martial” gave us another pioneering black Star Fleet official. In early 1967, the same year the United States Navy would see its first black Captain (Samuel L. Gravely, Jr., also to be the Navy’s first black admiral a few years later), classic actor Percy Rodriquez portrayed Commodore Stone, a top ranking Star Fleet officer who oversees the court martial of Captain Kirk.

Emory Erickson

Played by actor Bill Cobbs, Emory Erickson is another one of the Star Trek universe’s examples of great black scientists. Developer of the molecular transporter, Erickson appeared on Star Trek: Enterprise where he was shown to be something of a surrogate father to Captain Jonathan Archer, both having lost the corresponding figure in their lives.

Kasidy Yates-Sisko

As the name implies, Kasidy Yates-Sisko becomes the wife of Captain Benjamin Sisko on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . Introduced by Sisko’s son Jake and portrayed by actress Penny Johnson, the multi-faceted relationship between Yates and Sisko is another example of Star Trek guiding the way in a world of sci-fi where fully developed relationships between a black and a black woman are few and far between.

Calvin Hudson

An old friend and Starfleet Academy classmate of Benjamin Sisko, Calvin Hudson was an experienced officer and leader who could inspire trust in his cohorts. Unfortunately that trust was misguided as Hudson, portrayed by Bernie Casey on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , was a double agent working with the rebellious Maquis.

Captain Silva La Forge

While perhaps slightly more prevalent than black romantic relationships in the world of sci-fi, fully developed black familial relationships in sci-fi are unfortunately also a rare sight. With Geordi La Forge a key featured member of the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew, we are allowed to see the exploration of his family relationships and the stresses of being in a military/service type family as both his mother and father are members of Starfleet.

The mother Silva stands out as Captain of her own ship, though it is in this capacity that she becomes lost in action. Notably, this role was the fourth time that the late actress Madge Sinclair played the on-screen mother of LeVar Burton.

Another standout from the initial Star Trek run, Don Marshall’s Lt. Boma represented another example of Star Trek being bold in its portrayal of black characters in the 60s by being just that- bold- as he engages in an episode long back and forth with Spock as the latter suffers through a trial of leadership while rescuing Boma and his shipwrecked crew.

Shown to be a highly competent and forceful officer, Boma was actually intended to be a recurring character but scheduling conflicts served to rob this character of an even greater role in the annals of Star Trek lore.

William Satterwhite is the creator of the superhero webcomic Stealth and a freelance designer, internet consultant and illustrator living in Douglasville, Ga. His professional website can be found at www.williamsatterwhite.info .

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Published Feb 1, 2023

The Heroes of Starfleet's Black History

One fan reflects on Star Trek's Black history makers and how it showed him that Black people could and would have a future.

StarTrek.com

Being an African-American with a deep interest in history, especially Black history, I have always looked forward to February, when Black History Month is commemorated in the United States. The holiday started as Negro History Week in 1926, the creation of seminal scholar Dr. Carter G. Woodson, who set the commemorative week in February to honor the birthdays of both Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.

As a Generation Xer, born in the 1970s, Black History Month was always a part of my remembered education and provided a welcome respite from my history textbooks, as well as newspapers, movies, and television series where Black people, if not absent entirely, were often shunted to the margins. Black History Month, even if occupying the shortest month on the calendar, was a rejoinder to this pernicious narrative. It encouraged all Americans to reflect on the unique story and important contributions of Black Americans.

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What does any of this have to do with Star Trek you may be asking at this point. Well, Star Trek has its own part in Black history. Nichelle Nichols as Uhura, LeVar Burton’s Geordi La Forge, Avery Brooks’ Captain Sisko, or perhaps Sonequa Martin-Green’s Captain Burnham weekly saving the galaxy are obvious standouts, as reams could be written about each actor, the characters they’ve played, and their impact on the real world. But, in addition to the real-world Black history Star Trek has made, the franchise also has some profound in-universe Black history makers.

One perennial theme in many Black History Month commemorations is the acknowledgement and celebration of historical firsts, key markers of social progress for a people who were, and in many unfortunate ways continue to be, shut out of the mainstream of American life. Though human racism is largely a thing of the past in Star Trek ’s future, honoring and respecting human history was not. Let’s take a look at some of the people that students across the Alpha Quadrant might pay tribute to during a Federation-wide Black History Month.

Commander John Mark Kelly

"One Small Step"

Though Star Trek 's canon history doesn’t establish 21st Century astronaut John Mark Kelly (played by Phil Morris) as the first human to visit Mars, Kelly did command one of the first manned missions to Mars. Both Commander Chakotay and Lt. Tom Paris still remember and revere him centuries after his Ares IV module was lost, as we witness in the poignant Star Trek: Voyager episode “ One Small Step .” Interspersing Kelly’s last fateful days with Voyager ’s mission to retrieve the Ares IV module reinforced the importance of preserving history and honoring those who came before, and whose sacrifices forwarded human progress.

Lily Sloane

Star Trek VIII: First Contact

Lily Sloane’s (Alfre Woodard) contributions to humanity’s trek to the stars were uncovered by the timely time traveling of the Enterprise-E crew in the film Star Trek: First Contact . Whereas 23rd Century historians, and arguably those in the 22nd Century as well, gave the lions’ share of credit to Zefram Cochrane for creating Earth’s first warp-capable vessel, First Contact sheds light on the crucial role Sloane played in helping Cochrane accomplish his goal, not unlike the overlooked or under-appreciated roles many Black people have played throughout real history in achieving or assisting similar scientific and technological breakthroughs. Hidden Figures , anyone?

Doctors Emory Erickson & Richard Daystrom

"The Ultimate Computer"

Though their respective tragic stories take place over a century apart, there are notable parallels between the lives of Dr. Emory Erickson (Bill Cobbs, Star Trek: Enterprise 's “ Daedalus ”) and Dr. Richard Daystrom (William Marshall, Star Trek: The Original Series ' “ The Ultimate Computer ”).

Erickson, the inventor of the molecular transporter, and Daystrom, who created the comptronic and duotronic computer systems, were geniuses whose scientific breakthroughs came relatively early in their respective careers, and that dazzling early success left both men eager to scale to such heights again.

"Daedalus"

Dr. Erickson’s hunger for greater acclaim drove him to conduct a risky subquantum transporter experiment, while Nobel Laureate and Zee-Magnees Prize awardee Daystrom created the M-5, a multitronic computer designed to replace starship crews in search of the same glory.

The similarities didn’t end there as both geniuses’ stories took on tragic trajectories. The sub-quantum teleporter experiment cost several lives, including Dr. Erickson’s son Quinn; and when it took control of the U.S.S. Enterprise , the M-5, killed several hundred Starfleet personnel during its trial run.

Still, both Erickson and Daystrom are remembered as Federation heroes. Daystrom’s legacy leaves behind the Daystrom Institute, which continues to play a pivotal part in Star Trek history, as seen most recently in Star Trek: Picard . Erickson’s contributions have been remembered far into the future as well; eagle-eyed viewers may remember seeing his name in the opening credits of Star Trek: Discovery ’s first season.

Captain Tryla Scott

"Conspiracy"

Captain Tryla Scott (Ursaline Bryant), of the U.S.S. Renegade , appeared just once, in Star Trek: The Next Generation ’s first season episode “Conspiracy.” At the time, she was the youngest person in Starfleet history to achieve a captain’s rank — even before Kirk or Picard! Unfortunately, that promising start made her a target for the neural parasites who conspired to take over Starfleet. Scott became one of their victims, and her fate is still unknown. Scott’s story, as scant as it was, represents how some of the most important history makers are unsung or their stories can be quickly, and sometimes, completely swallowed up by time. Here’s hoping that we learn more about Captain Scott and what became of her in a future Star Trek production.

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These were but a few of the Black history makers that helped build Star Trek ’s imaginary future. Growing up, the fact that they were fictional mattered little to me — they were still heroes to be revered. Further, Trek’s Black history makers showed me, as a young kid, that Black people could and would have a future, one as positive and consequential as the rest of the human family.

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This article was originally published on February 11, 2021.

C. Edward Sharpe (he/him), hailing from Alexandria, VA, is an aspiring writer and hardcore fan of Trek as well as many other things sci-fi. This is his first piece for StarTrek.com, but he hopes it won’t be his last.