Laurel Goodwin death: Star Trek and Girls! Girls! Girls! actor dies aged 79

Kansas-born star made her movie debut opposite Elvis Presley in 1962

(Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock)

Star Trek actor Laurel Goodwin has died aged 79.

Goodwin died on 25 February in Cathedral City, California, her sister, Maureen Scott, announced.

A cause of death has not been disclosed.

The Kansas-born actor made her movie debut opposite Elvis Presley in the 1962 musical-comedy Girls! Girls Girls!.

She also starred as the elder daughter of Jackie Gleason and Glynis Johns’ characters in the 1963 film Papa’s Delicate Condition, as well as appeared in 1965’s The Glory Guys.

Goodwin was cast as Yeoman JM Colt opposite Jeffrey Hunter’s Captain Christopher Pike in the rejected first pilot episode made for Star Trek: The Original Series, titled “The Cage”.

The pilot finished filming in early 1965 but did not sell. As noted by The Hollywood Reporter, the show’s producers wanted to keep Goodwin, Hunter and Leonard Nimoy (who played Spock) on board and try again.

When negotiations with Hunter stalled, however, it was decided that Goodwin would also be let go.

Footage from “The Cage” was later used in the 1966 two-part instalment – titled “The Menagerie” – before the entire episode was released on VHS in 1986.

The actor went on to appear in episodes of Get Smart, Mannix, and The Beverly Hillbillies.

In Girls! Girls! Girls!, she starred as rich girl Laurel Dodge opposite Elvis’s tuna fisherman.

Goodwin and the King of Rock and Roll memorably shared a dance number to “The Wall Have Ears”.

She retired from acting in 1971 and went into nursing.

Goodwin co-produced the 1983 film Stroker Ace alongside her husband Walter Wood, who died in 2010. The film starred Burt Reynolds and Loni Anderson.