Who would you have cast as Joanna McCoy?

[JonnyQuest037]

As I'm sure most of you know, McCoy's daughter Joanna was originally going to be in the episode that became "The Way To Eden," but her appearance was nixed because Fred Freiberger perceived Kirk and McCoy to be contemporaries. Therefore, McCoy wasn't old enough to have a 20-ish daughter.

According to this link, D.C. Fontana suggested either Nancy Sinatra or Bobbie Gentry as Joanna McCoy. If they had ended up using the character in some capacity, what actresses from the mid to late 60s might you have cast?

 

[Greg Cox]

Ooh, there's a fun question. I'm going to have to think about this.

Susan Oliver comes to mind. Sure, she already played Vina in "The Cage," but that never stopped TOS before. And I've seen her in other 60s shows where she comes off as very different than poor doomed, haunted Vina . . ...

Or Tuesday Weld maybe? Or Dawn Wells?

 

[Michael]

Good question! Didn't the Joanna character basically morph into Irina Galliulin from “The Way to Eden”? I think Mary-Linda Rapelye did a fine job, so I'm sure casting her as Joanna would have been a good choice.

Would also have liked someone like Elizabeth Montgomery or Lesley Ann Warren as McCoy's daughter. I think both have the necessary feistiness to believably portray his offspring.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Dawn Wells?

Wells was someone I thought of! And since Gilligan's Island ended in 1967, she would have been available.

Would also have liked someone like Elizabeth Montgomery or Lesley Ann Warren as McCoy's daughter. I think both have the necessary feistiness to believably portray his offspring.

Wouldn't Montgomery have been a bit old for the part? She was born in 1933, so she was more or less contemporary with Shatner. And I'm sure Bewitched was keeping her pretty busy at the time. Lesley Ann Warren seems like a great choice!

 

[lordsofelsewhen]

susan oliver

 

[Green Shirt]

Michelle Carey

 

[johnnybear]

Dawn Wells might have been a good idea! Just how old was Joanna meant to be though?
JB

 

[Maurice]

Patty Duke. She would only have been 21 or 22.

 

[ChristopherPike]

Given the rest of the thinking that went into "The Way to Eden", and a show after a young audience lighting up, tuning in and dropping out... probably Goldie Hawn, inbetween episodes of NBC's Laugh-In.

 

[CrazyMatt]

Peggy Lipton.

 

[2takesfrakes]

I would've cast the cute blonde that Nancy, The Salt Creature, disguised herself as, to kill that lonely crewman. She seemed like she would've had it in her to play a Southern Belle ...

 

[J.T.B.]

Good question! Didn't the Joanna character basically morph into Irina Galliulin from “The Way to Eden”? I think Mary-Linda Rapelye did a fine job, so I'm sure casting her as Joanna would have been a good choice.

Yeah, I wouldn't have a problem with that. And she had that dark hair/blue eyes combination. The age range for Susan Oliver and Elizabeth Montgomery seems off to me.

On the younger side of actresses that were working in that period, maybe Karen Valentine.

 

[OtherGene]

Diana Rigg. Because Diana Rigg.

 

[johnnybear]

Sherry Jackson but she had already made such an iconic appearance two years earlier!
JB

 

[Green Shirt]

^Iconic to us 50 years later, but back then she probably may not have been remembered by many viewers. Besides, Morgan Woodward and Mark Lenard made successful multiple appearances.

 

[Nerys Myk]

If we want a "veteran", why not Barbara Anderson?
Any actresses from South come to mind? Donna Douglas is the one I can think of.

 

[J.T.B.]

Any actresses from South come to mind? Donna Douglas is the one I can think of.

Kate Jackson, but apparently she didn't start working till the year after the series had wrapped.

 

[Greg Cox]

Kate Jackson, but apparently she didn't start working till the year after the series had wrapped.

You know, I thought of Jackson, but figured the timing wasn't quite right. I'm inclined to fudge the point since we're only a year off.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Phyllis Douglas would have been perfect. She was cute and talented, and her looks were plausible as a McCoy.

 

[scotpens]

Yvette Mimieux. She was 26 or 27 at the time and could easily have played a few years younger.

Why her? Because she was so goddamn gorgeous!

Diana Rigg. Because Diana Rigg.

How would you have explained the English accent?