Celeste Yarnall obit

'Star Trek' actress Celeste Yarnall dies at 74 following cancer battle

She was not on the list.

Actress Celeste Yarnall, who made memorable appearances on "Star Trek" and the 1968 Elvis Presley movie "Live a Little, Love a Little," died Sunday of cancer at her home in Westlake Village, California. She was 74.

The news of her death was first announced Tuesday on the official website of "Star Trek," where she had written about her four-year cancer battle. Her death was also confirmed by her husband, artist Nazim Nazim to People.

Although she appeared only once on the original series, she made an impression as crewmember Yeoman Martha Landon in the 1967 episode "The Apple." She remained a member of the "Star Trek" franchise, appearing at conventions.

At a 2012 "Star Trek" convention panel, Yarnell shared that creator Gene Roddenberry had been inclined to wait and cast her in a bigger role, but she said yes to the Landon role to pay her mortgage.

"They said, 'Do you want to kiss Chekhov or do you want to kiss the captain?' she recalled. "I said, 'I'll kiss anybody so long as I can pay the rent!' "

A native of Long Beach, California, she was declared the "Most Promising New Star" of 1968 by the National Association of Theater Owners at that year's convention, known today as CinemaCon.

She appeared in two films that year: the cult classic "Eve" and "Live a Little, Love a Little," for which she joked she said she "got paid to kiss Elvis" and have him sing "A Little Less Conversation" to her.

She recalled a memorable story from that movie set in an interview with an Australian Elvis fan site.

"This was the week that Martin Luther King had been assassinated," she explained. "So here I am with one of the roles of a lifetime, meeting and working with Elvis in 'Live A Little, Love A Little', with this tragedy on television. So, we go back to his dressing room to have lunch. Elvis sang 'Amazing Grace' to me. And he sobbed in my arms like a baby, because he was so, so devastated by Martin Luther King's assassination."

Yarnell, a self-professed practitioner of holistic health, was diagnosed with stage 3 primary peritoneal cancer, a relative of ovarian cancer, in 2014. Because it hadn't metastasized to any vital organs, she had emergency surgery that November, followed by six rounds of chemotherapy.

"What’s happening to me, it's crazy. It’s like an alien invasion," she wrote in a "Star Trek" blog post the following February. " So, yes, I had to be practical. And I just kept thinking about Steve Jobs. In my case, stage 3 was not the time for a strictly holistic attack; it was time for the big bomb because I’ve had one dropped on me. Holistic and Western treatments can be complementary."

Her first chemo session seemed straight out of science fiction: "The nurses get all suited up like they’re going to the moon." She also received experimental immunotherapy injections that she said "Star Trek" character Dr. McCoy would be impressed by.

Yarnall went into remission just in time to participate in the show's 50th anniversary in 2016 but her cancer later returned.

Her other TV credits include "The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet," "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.," "Hogan's Heroes," "Columbo" and more recently, "Melrose Place."

She was also one of 42 "Star Trek" alumni to participate in the 2018 sci-fi comedy film "Unbelievable!!!!!" and reunited with William Shatner for the 2012 documentary "Get a Life," exploring the cultural impact of "Star Trek."

 

Actress (52 credits)

 2020 Unbelievable!!!!!

Celeste Yarnall

 2007 Star Trek: Of Gods and Men (Video)

Special Wedding Guest

 2007 The Two Sisters

Nurse Louise Brennan

 2005 Skinwalker: Curse of the Shaman (Video)

Gwynn Stevens

 2003 Shrink Rap

Gloria

 1995-1998 Melrose Place (TV Series)

Mrs. Huntington / Mrs. Pemberton

- Amanda's Back (1998) ... Mrs. Huntington

- Oy! to the World (1995) ... Mrs. Pemberton

 1994 Metaltech: Earthsiege (Video Game)

Base Commander #5 (as Celeste Yarnell)

 1994 Sisters (TV Series)

Rita Zaylor

- Chemical Reactions (1994) ... Rita Zaylor

 1993 Midnight Kiss

Sheila

 1993 Born Yesterday

Mrs. Hedges

 1993 Civil Wars (TV Series)

Gwendolyn

- Split Ends (1993) ... Gwendolyn

 1991 Ambition

Beverly Hills Shopper

 1991 Driving Me Crazy

Volvo Boss

 1991 Daughters of Privilege (TV Movie)

Beautiful Woman

 1990 Funny About Love

Delta Gamma

 1990 A Shattered Dream

Madge

 1990 Knots Landing (TV Series)

Caroline Craig

- My First Born (1990) ... Caroline Craig

 1987 Fatal Beauty

Laura

 1973 Scorpio

Helen Thomas

 1973 Love, American Style (TV Series)

Florence (segment "Love and the Postal Meeter")

- Love and the End of the Line/Love and the Growing Romance/Love and the Postal Meeter (1973) ... Florence (segment "Love and the Postal Meeter")

 1972 McMillan & Wife (TV Series)

Miss Jones

- Terror Times Two (1972) ... Miss Jones

 1972 The Judge and Jake Wyler (TV Movie)

Ballerina

 1972 The Mechanic

The Mark's Girl

 1971 The Velvet Vampire

Diane LeFanu

 1971 Insight (TV Series)

Viola

- Bird on the Mast (1971) ... Viola (as Celeste Yarnell)

 1971 Columbo (TV Series)

Gloria

- Ransom for a Dead Man (1971) ... Gloria

 1970 Beast of Blood

Myra J. Russell

 1969 The Bold Ones: The Protectors (TV Series)

Ethel Miller

- Draw a Straight Man (1969) ... Ethel Miller

 1969 In Name Only (TV Movie)

Anne

 1969 The Survivors (TV Series)

- Chapter One (1969)

 1969 Mannix (TV Series)

Tawny

- Eagles Sometimes Can't Fly (1969) ... Tawny

 1969 Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice

Susan

 1968 Land of the Giants (TV Series)

Marna Whelan

- The Golden Cage (1968) ... Marna Whelan

 1968 Hogan's Heroes (TV Series)

Nanny / Wilhelmina

- Will the Blue Baron Strike Again? (1968) ... Nanny

- LeBeau and the Little Old Lady (1968) ... Wilhelmina

 1968 Bonanza (TV Series)

Katie Kelly

- Queen High (1968) ... Katie Kelly

 1968 Live a Little, Love a Little

Ellen

 1968 Eve

Eve

 1968 The F.B.I. (TV Series)

Julie

- The Mercenary (1968) ... Julie

 1968 It Takes a Thief (TV Series)

Ilsa

- Locked in the Cradle of the Keep (1968) ... Ilsa

 1967 Star Trek: The Original Series (TV Series)

Yeoman Martha Landon

- The Apple (1967) ... Yeoman Martha Landon

 1967 Captain Nice (TV Series)

Rosalind

- May I Have the Last Dance? (1967) ... Rosalind

 1966 The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (TV Series)

Andrea Fouchet

- The Monks of St. Thomas Affair (1966) ... Andrea Fouchet

 1966/I Around the World Under the Sea

Secretary

 1966 Gidget (TV Series)

2nd Girl

- Independence: Gidget Style (1966) ... 2nd Girl (as Celeste Yarnell)

 1966 Bewitched (TV Series)

Student Nurse

- And Then There Were Three (1966) ... Student Nurse

 1965 The Wild Wild West (TV Series)

Miss Devine

- The Night of a Thousand Eyes (1965) ... Miss Devine (uncredited)

 1963 Burke's Law (TV Series)

Blonde

- Who Killed Beau Sparrow? (1963) ... Blonde (as Celeste Yarnell)

 1963 Under the Yum Yum Tree

College Girl (uncredited)

 1963 A New Kind of Love (uncredited)

 1963 The Nutty Professor

College Student (uncredited)

 1962-1963 My Three Sons (TV Series)

Ginny Stewart

- How to Impress a Woman (1963) ... Ginny Stewart

- Chip's Last Fight (1962) ... Ginny Stewart

 1962 The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (TV Series)

Girl

- Rick and the Maid of Honor (1962) ... Girl