Fans flipped for Lt. Saavik when Kirstie Alley embodied the role in the second "classic" Star Trek film, The Wrath of Khan. When Alley declined to repeat the role in two more movies, Curtis took her place.
Curtis continued working extensively in supporting roles in films and television until 1999, when she officially "retired" from the business, married and moved east.
Self-described as "effusive, expressive and full-of-life," it wasn't easy for someone like Curtis to play a coldly logical Vulcan. Her effervescent personality would embarrass her repressed alien counterpart.
"I spill all over everybody, excitement leaks from every pore," Curtis said in a telephone conversation with Suite101. "(The fans) realize how difficult that must have been for me."
Actress Describes Her Career as a Work of Fiction
According to Curtis, her body of work could only be considered "a career" if it were put together with "some paste and Duco cement." During the mid-1990s, Star Trek conventions helped pay the rent. She sometimes appeared at 17 or more in a year's time.
"I've kind of let fans in on the fact that actors spend most of their time unemployed or looking for work," she said. "And they have let me in on what I have become a small part of."
Curtis said her status as a replacement was never an issue among the cast or the fans.
"It's interesting how, in life, the obvious problems are the ones that never materialize," she said. "The fans appreciate me for me."
Another Convert Preaches the Gospel of a Positive Future
The positive message behind Trek–that the future is bright and full of adventure–took Curtis a while to comprehend. She had never been a real Star Trek fan before landing the Saavik role, but has since immersed herself in the lore of future history.
"Who knows why the hell these things come to us? I'm just pleased to be part of something I consider to be a good thing," Curtis said. "I like what I've learned and how these people think. I hate to stereotype, but on the whole, I find the fans to be interesting, thoughtful, fun-loving people."
Curtis caught some good-natured ribbing for her stint hosting an infomercial for the Braun Handblender in the 1990s, but she doesn't apologize for blatant hucksterism. After all, in some ways, that's what sci fi conventions cater to.
"As long as it doesn't go up an orifice, we'll sell it," she said, laughing. "Actually, I wish I had a nickel for every one they sold (through the infomercial). Sales quadrupled and they renewed my contract for another year."
After Trek, She Built a Life Beyond the Stars
In 2004, Curtis began working as a residential real estate agent. In 2005, she opened a one-woman show, Not My Bra, You Don't! – The Sexual Odyssey of a Forty-Nine Year Old Woman. Today, she makes only infrequent appearances at science fiction conventions.
Like the conventions, where fans often go to see the big name stars, her role was pared down in the fourth Trek to give more screen time to the ensemble of original players, including William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. She said that was fine with her because that group of actors deserved the attention.
"My association with Star Trek has been nothing but beneficial, really. To think I'm still generating income from a job (so many) years ago is astonishing," she said.
Tony Simmons - Tony Simmons is a veteran journalist, having worked for The Tri-City Ledger, The Pensacola News-Journal, The Nautilog, and for the past 16 ...
