By GustavoLeao / 06:21, 26 December 2004 / TrekWeb Features

In December 1964, on a Desilu Sudios soundstage, production started on the first STAR TREK pilot "The Cage". It starred then-movie star Jeffrey Hunter as starship 'Captain Christopher Pike', and leading lady Susan Oliver as 'Vina', sole survivor of the spaceship SS Columbia, which crashed on the planet Talos IV. Her fantasy sequence as a green-skinned Orion Slave Girl became one of THE ORIGINAL SERIES' signature moments .



"It was very nice company" Oliver recalled of the filming of "The Cage" in a rare interview to Starlog magazine in 1988 "All of us in the production enjoyed doing it. We went to Gene Roddenberry's house several times and just sat around the kitchen, had coffee and talked. Gene was very much present on the set during filming."

For the Orion Slave Girl sequence, Oliver would be required to dance very well - and seduce 'Captain Pike' "One of the unique things about this job was I wasn't really a dancer" she admited "They had a choreographer work with me a solid week, every day, before I begin filming. There were different faces in this role, and the green girl was the most challenging."

"There were many experiments in make-up" she said "Fred Phillips, head of the make-up department, couldn't get the green girl's make-up. They couldn't find any green make-up that would stick to skin, so they tried many things, many things on me until they finally sent for help from New York where they found what they wanted."

"I think STAR TREK certainly rates very high on my TV roles" she said "Amazingly, people have that episode as their strongest identification for me [...]"

'Vina' remained popular with TREK fans over the years, and re-appeared in Marvel Comics' STAR TREK EARLY VOYAGES series and DC Comics' STAR TREK ANNUAL 2 (1985), in which the crew of the U.S.S Enterprise, now under the command of Captain James T. Kirk, near the end of their historic five-year-mission, were forced again to return to Talos IV, only to find it controlled by Klingons who had learned the power of illusion. With the help of his crew, Kirk defeated the Klingons, and restored the planet to the Talosians. "That comics was okay." said the actress "In fact, I thought it was good storytelling. Each frame had something to tell, visually."



Art Asylum will release a 'Vina' action-figure in early 2005, as part of their 3rd series of STAR TREK THE ORIGINAL SERIES figures. And the character will return in Margaret Wander Bonanno's definitive 'Captain Christopher Pike' novel, to be published in 2006 as part of the fortieth anniversary celebration of THE ORIGINAL SERIES. Plus, an upcoming episode of ENTERPRISE will feature three Orion Slave Girls.

Oliver's other genre forays include two episodes of THE INVADERS, THE TWILIGHT ZONE and NIGHT GALLERY. Her most rewarding job was as an aviator. Her solo voyages on a Lear Jetin 1967 took her around the world on a transoceanic journey, which she chronicled in her 1983 book "Odyssey: A Daring Transatlantic Journey". She set five world records for men and women pilots. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for her portrayal of Amelia Earhart in the TV movie AMELIA. She died of cancer May 10, 1990, at the age of only 53.

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