Madlyn Rhue In TWOK

[Grant]

As many of you know originally Harve Bennett wanted to have both Khan and Lieutenant McGiver's return for Star Trek II but he was unaware that she had contracted multiple sclerosis back in 1977 and could no longer easily walk at that point.
An interesting fact is that in the dialog that Nicholas Meyer wrote for Khan to speak after giving the eels to Chekov and Terrell he States-- "...later as they grow follows Madness paralysis and death."
As We Know the word paralysis was not in the final movie but it was indeed shot that way because on the work print he does indeed use the word paralysis.
This leads to a number of questions. Did they at one time want to use her in spite of her Affliction and did they write the word paralysis in as a explanation of why she could no longer easily walk.? Or was it just a coincidence that Nicholas Meyer had one of the effects of the eel be paralysis? It seems a wild coincidence since Khan clearly states that an eel was what killed his wife. And if it was totally unrelated to her in every way and just a total coincidence why was the one word cut out of the sentence? Did somebody realize that she might see the movie and her character being referred to and one of the effects of the eels be paralysis?
If they did cut out that one word in deference to her feelings I find that rather touching. She did live until 2003 but confined to a wheelchair completely after 1985. I wonder how the movie would have shaped up if she had been healthy and able to fill the role. Would she had been given most of Joachim's dialogue? Trying to restrain Khan from his mistakes in the movie?

 

[Maurice]

That's not actually true. And her name was Madlyn.

1. She appeared on a Diff'rent Strokes episode (3x23, The Model) that originally aired on November 12, 1981—just 3 days from when principal photography started on The Wrath of Khan (November 9, 1981). She's walking around in that episode.

​

2. Her appearances on the TV version of Fame (8 episodes from 1982-85) and the soap opera Days of Our Lives (44 episodes from 1982-84). Seasons 1 and 2 of Fame are on DVD, and I've seen her on her feet in that role.

3. Rhue kept her condition a secret until around the time Star Trek: The Next Generation hit the airwaves in 1987 when she "came out" about it in People magazine in a piece Rhue herself penned titled "After Years of Lying, Actress Madlyn Rhue Reveals the Truth About Her Multiple Sclerosis". The article reveals she finally had to use a wheelchair starting in 1985, almost 4 years after TWOK was filmed.

Despite her eventual need for one cane, then two, she managed to keep her condition to herself. (Only 10 to 20 percent of victims become crippled, and the disease is rarely fatal.) But the charade could not be sustained indefinitely. The disease worsened, and two years ago [1985] Rhue became wheelchair-bound.​

So there's basically no way Meyer and Bennett knew. No one knew. She didn't even tell her friends.

 

[Indysolo]

And her name was Madlyn.

"Not now, Madeline!"

 

[Grant]

Super interesting. It goes against what I read on the Wikipedia article but I guess that's par for the course. And I read for years that they wanted her for the part in Wrath of Khan but they had to drop it when they found out she was ill. So then what was the reason that she didn't appear in Wrath of Khan. Simply that they decided they didn't need her? The article on Wikipedia plainly states but she couldn't appear in Wrath of Khan because of her illness. I guess they didn't bother to look up her IMDb credits.
Also her article in Memory Alpha claims that Harve Bennett says she wasn't cast because she was in a wheelchair.

According to Harve Bennett, McGivers was actually to appear in Star Trek II. After he discovered Rhue was then using a wheelchair due to multiple sclerosis, however, the character was written out as it was felt it would be unfair to recast the role. (Set Phasers to Stun: 50 Years of Star Trek; [3])

 

[Therin of Andor]

So then what was the reason that she didn't appear in Wrath of Khan. Simply that they decided they didn't need her?

I thought (incorrectly) that when the news first came out, her non-appearance had been due to being contracted to "Days of Our Lives", so the McGivers character from the story treatment didn't make it into the finished script.

 

[Grant]

Wow I hope it's not true that a soap opera wouldn't give her a few weeks off to film her scenes besides Ricardo Montalban. I always thought that soap operas were a little bit forgiving if one of their actors had an opportunity for a movie or nighttime television part.

 

[Maurice]

The trouble is people don't do basic fact checking. They just assume what they read is accurate and repeat it. You did it yourself. But that just leads to misinformation being repeated. When @Harvey and I ran across that story about Rhue being dropped from ST2 because of her MS we immediately checked her IMDB and then sought out video of shows she appeared in. It took literally no time to confirm she was walking.

Reviewing the early scripts the McGivers part was fairly picayune, so I assumed Meyer just wrote her out because it gave Khan another reason to want vengeance on Kirk. That might not be the case but it would make sense.

 

[Harvey]

I am sure when the news first came out, her non-appearance had been due to being contracted to "Days of Our Lives", so the McGivers character from the story treatment didn't make it into the finished script.

Not a consumer of soap operas here, but the Days of Our Lives Wiki indicates that Rhue began her run on the soap on October 25, 1982, well after Star Trek II had been filmed and released.

https://daysofourlives.fandom.com/wiki/Daphne_DiMera

 

[Grant]

I have been reading that story from many many sources for over 30 years including a Harve Bennet quote. Maybe he misremembered? Never heard otherwise or a different version. How is someone supposed to know the true version unless they run into fact checkers like we have here?

 

[Kor]

Super interesting. It goes against what I read on the Wikipedia article but I guess that's par for the course. And I read for years that they wanted her for the part in Wrath of Khan but they had to drop it when they found out she was ill. So then what was the reason that she didn't appear in Wrath of Khan. Simply that they decided they didn't need her? The article on Wikipedia plainly states but she couldn't appear in Wrath of Khan because of her illness. I guess they didn't bother to look up her IMDb credits.
Also her article in Memory Alpha claims that Harve Bennett says she wasn't cast because she was in a wheelchair.

According to Harve Bennett, McGivers was actually to appear in Star Trek II. After he discovered Rhue was then using a wheelchair due to multiple sclerosis, however, the character was written out as it was felt it would be unfair to recast the role. (Set Phasers to Stun: 50 Years of Star Trek; [3])

If you look at the linked footnote in that part of the Wikipedia article for Madlyn Rhue, you see that it cites a Tor.com article and provides a link. And that tor.com article was actually written by a TrekLit author. I would hazard a guess that he was probably just repeating the Harve Bennett story, too.

Kor

 

[Maurice]

If you look at the linked footnote in that part of the Wikipedia article for Madlyn Rhue, you see that it cites a Tor.com article and provides a link. And that tor.com article was actually written by a TrekLit author. I would hazard a guess that he was probably just repeating the Harve Bennett story, too.

Kor

A snake eating its tail.

And how is a person supposed to know? You go “huh I wonder if that’s true?” and do some basic Googling about the person/subject. But this requires people to be at least a teensy bit skeptical about anything they read on the internet, especially as regards long-standing myth making machines such as Trek fandom.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Not a consumer of soap operas here, but the Days of Our Lives Wiki indicates that Rhue began her run on the soap on October 25, 1982, well after Star Trek II had been filmed and released.

Mmmm. IMDb says that in 1981 she was doing three shows, but only as one-off guests. Of course, if there was a stage show, it doesn't show up on IMDb.

Wow I hope it's not true that a soap opera wouldn't give her a few weeks off to film her scenes besides Ricardo Montalban. I always thought that soap operas were a little bit forgiving if one of their actors had an opportunity for a movie or nighttime television part.

Sometimes it can be "Is she free for a small role...?" and the agent says, "No, she is booked for a long stint..." and the actor doesn't find out until it is too late.

 

[Grant]

I had heard that story since at least the late 1980s. And I never read anything to contradict it. So I just assumed whatever source I was reading must be correct since I never read anybody contradicting it or saying it was a false story.
One thing that is interesting is that the article in which she came out with her illness states she was "tired of lying".
That would indicate some people suspected she was ill and she was denying it probably so she could continue to work. So maybe there were rumors going back several years that something seemed to be slightly off with her health. Then later when she admitted it and was confined to a wheelchair it's possible that people remember it wrongly and think she was in a wheelchair way back even before she was -- simply because there had been a rumor she was not well.
As far as Harve Bennett stating that in an interview he could have been confused or misremembering or just embellishing the story.

 

[DonIago]

It would have been interesting (and nice) to see her in TWoK, but I have to admit it's probably more powerful and better justifies Khan's anger toward Kirk for McGivers to have died.

I'm also just not sure what they could have done with her, storywise. Have her betray Khan? Have her be a devout follower? Would she take the role filled by Joachim (presumably Khan wouldn't toss her around)? I hate the idea that they'd bring her back only to have her be dead along with the rest of Khan's followers by the end of the film.

 

[Maurice]

I think it's most likely Bennett after-the-fact found out she had MS after she and was confined to a wheelchair when it became public, and later conflated that with why her character was dropped.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

One thing that is interesting is that the article in which she came out with her illness states she was "tired of lying".
That would indicate some people suspected she was ill and she was denying it probably so she could continue to work.

No, it doesn't indicate that. All that quote indicates is that she wasn't volunteering the information or telling the whole truth about it.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Would she take the role filled by Joachim (presumably Khan wouldn't toss her around)?

Why wouldn't he? He physically abuses her in "Space Seed", and he's gone insane by the time of TWOK.

 

[Mudd]

I had heard that story since at least the late 1980s. And I never read anything to contradict it. So I just assumed whatever source I was reading must be correct since I never read anybody contradicting it or saying it was a false story.
One thing that is interesting is that the article in which she came out with her illness states she was "tired of lying".
That would indicate some people suspected she was ill and she was denying it probably so she could continue to work. So maybe there were rumors going back several years that something seemed to be slightly off with her health. Then later when she admitted it and was confined to a wheelchair it's possible that people remember it wrongly and think she was in a wheelchair way back even before she was -- simply because there had been a rumor she was not well.
As far as Harve Bennett stating that in an interview he could have been confused or misremembering or just embellishing the story.

This is bending over backward, doubled, to rationalize a popular old story that just was never true.

 

[Grant]

LOL. Can you read?

 

[Pauln6]

Woman got to be in refrigerator. Everyone knows that.