Series: TOS

Character: Yeoman Smith

Andrea Dromm portrayed Yeoman Smith in the Star Trek: The Original Series first season episode “Where No Man Has Gone Before”. Dromm was the second actress to play a captain’s yeoman, after Laurel Goodwin, who played yeoman J.M. Colt in the first, un-aired pilot, “The Cage”.

Dromm was slated to become a regular on Star Trek, though studio executive Herb Solow, somewhat cynically, recalled in what matter Dromm was brought aboard, “Model Andrea Dromm, also fitting the mold [i.e. being cute, shapely, bubbly and not too bright, at least for Gene Roddenberry according to Solow], came aboard for the second pilot as Yeoman Smith. Actually, it was a non-part. But during the casting process, director Jimmy Goldstone overheard Gene say, “I’m hiring her because I want to score with her.” It was not only a non-part, I’m sure it was a non-score as well.” (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, p. 75) When asked about it decades later, Dromm was surprised, and said, “I had no problems with Gene at all. I thought he was a very nice man.”

Though considered for a recurring role, Dromm had a decision to make, “I was offered a role in “The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming”. They told me that you either do the film or the series. I chose the film, but if I had known that Star Trek would become such a phenomenon, I probably would have opted for the series. But this episode was still only a pilot. Not only did nobody know if it was going to be picked up as a series, but nobody had a clue that it was going to turn out as big as it did. In fact, William Shatner told me that if the show didn’t hit, he didn’t know what he was going to do. Since Star Trek was only a pilot, they could keep you under option for six months and change your character, or even worse, drop you from the show. [A fate that befell Laurel Goodwin]. You had no guarantee that they would sign you for the series. I thought doing the movie would be more exciting and a great thing to do. That was a choice I had to make and you can’t look back.” The series was picked up however, and Dromm’s role was from then on filled by Grace Lee Whitney, playing the third yeoman, Janice Rand.

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