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Laurel Goodwin, an actress who appeared in “Girls! Girls! Girls!” and the rejected “Star Trek” pilot, died on February 25 at age 79. The star’s sister Maureen Scott confirmed her passing in an obituary but didn’t disclose the cause of death.
Born on August 11, 1942, in Wichita, Kansas, Goodwin made her big-screen debut in the 1962 musical comedy “Girls! Girls! Girls!” opposite Elvis Presley. In fact, it was during a steamy dance scene with the then-starlet that King of Rock and Roll infamously popped an erection on camera.
The actress was also the last surviving member of the original pilot for Gene Roddenberry’s “Star Trek” entitled “The Cage,” in which she portrayed Yeoman J.M. Colt opposite Jeffrey Hunter’s Captain Pike and Leonard Nimoy’s Captain Spock.
“I said, ‘Oh, no. ‘Star Trek’ is it” Goodwin recalled in a 2016 interview for StarTrek.com. “I’ve got to do ‘Star Trek.’ It’s great, it’s gonna be wonderful.”
Alas, the maiden episode, finished in 1965, was ultimately scrapped after negotiations with Hunter fell through. However, snippets from “The Cage” were featured in the 1966 “Star Trek” episode, “The Menagerie.” Meanwhile, the pilot was released in its entirety on VHS in 1986.
After her “Star Trek” stint went belly up, the actress appeared in TV shows ranging from “Get Smart” to “The Beverly Hillbillies” and “Mannix.”
Goodwin also appeared in a variety of other hit flicks of the 60s, including the Jackie Gleason comedy “Papa’s Delicate Condition (1963),” and the westerns “The Glory Guys” (1965),” “Stage to Thunder Rock (1964),” “Law of the Lawless (1964)” and “The Glory Guys (1965).”
The thespian retired from acting in 1971 to go into nursing.
Goodwin also produced the Burt Reynolds-Loni Anderson action-comedy “Stroker Ace” (1983) alongside her husband, Walter Wood, with whom she had a 43-year relationship until his death in 2010.
Goodwin is survived by her sister, Scott, who lives in Bellingham, WA “and a multitude of friends and relatives around the world,” per the obit.
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