This Star Trek actor became an aviation pioneer after a near-death plane experience

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The original “Star Trek” pilot episode, “The Cage,” was pitched to NBC executives in 1965, but was initially rejected. Executives told creator Gene Roddenberry that he was on to something, and he reworked the series at the last minute, replacing every character except one (Spock, played by Leonard Nimoy). The original pilot would eventually be remade as a two-part episode of “Star Trek” called “The Menagerie” that aired on November 17 and 24, 1966. The uncut version of “The Cage” did not reach audiences until the mid-1980s.

“The Cage” featured Captain Christopher Pike (Jeffrey Hunter) and his encounter with a type of terrifying, large-headed psychic aliens called Talosians. The Talosians were fascinated by humans, and imprisoned Pike in an underground dungeon, where they fed him a series of psychologically induced histrionic scenarios. There was only one other human prisoner among the Talosians: Fina, a beautiful blonde human woman for whom Bayek greatly sympathized. Fina is forced to act out Pike’s fantasies, and in one of them she appears as a medieval damsel in distress. Most famously, Fina was turned into a green-skinned Orion slave who was forced to dance provocatively for Bayek and several other lecherous men.

Vina is played by actress Susan Oliver, a woman who has had a long and very interesting career. Oliver began appearing on television in 1955, appearing in television films and televised plays on anthology shows such as “Goodyear Playhouse” and “The Kaiser Aluminum Hour.” She had numerous guest spots on many of the hot TV shows of the day, including “Father’s Knows Best,” “Wagon Train,” and “Bonanza.” She had dozens of credits by the time she appeared on “Star Trek.”

In 1959, Oliver’s career was temporarily halted when she survived a horrific plane accident. To recover from the event, Oliver ended up taking flying lessons in Santa Monica, California, and spent many years as a professional pilot with an impressive flying record.

As stated in the essay History of Aviation (trans HistorynetSusan Oliver was a passenger on Pan Am Flight 115, one of the most famous airline accidents to that point. The accident happened on February 3, 1959, which was coincidental. On the same day as Buddy HollyThe Big Bopper and Richie Valens both died in a famous plane crash of their own. The story goes that the pilot left the cockpit while the autopilot was engaged, but the autopilot did not keep the plane level. The Boeing 707-121 went from a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet to a terrifying 6,000 feet. The plane, which was en route from Paris to New York City, was forced to make an emergency landing in Newfoundland.

Susan Oliver was so terrified by this event that she refused to fly afterward. She described the matter by saying, “Somewhere over the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, we suddenly collided in the night, as if the plane had hit an air pocket, and with a sharp rush we began to fall, and we fell hard.” It was eventually flown to LaGuardia Airport, but when it landed, it witnessed an emergency cleanup of another plane crash that had just occurred in the East River. Her own experience of the plane, her sightings of the wreckage, and the news of the day the music died were enough to keep Oliver away from planes for a long time.

As Oliver explained in her autobiography, “The Odyssey: A Daring Journey Across the Atlantic” She had to undergo hypnotherapy to overcome her fears. In 1964, a local Los Angeles newscaster named Hal Fishman took her on a short flight in his Cessna light plane, taking off from Santa Monica Airport. Oliver loved the experience, and came back the next day for her own lessons. After that, she became obsessed with airplanes, and even began to believe that she could fly overseas flights on her own.

Oliver was already flying solo by the time she auditioned for “Star Trek,” and was preparing for a transatlantic flight. She would fly herself to auditions and film sets. Oliver also had to fight through trauma last Plane crash Shortly after her “Star Trek” gig.. Apparently she was a passenger on a small light plane when some pilot tied her to some telephone wires and flipped her over. Both Oliver and the pilot were unharmed, and the actress was undeterred. She continued flying, intending to make a solo flight across the Atlantic.

In 1967, Oliver boarded an Aero Commander 200, specially equipped with an extra fuel tank, and made the flight. I packed an oxygen tank, an emergency life raft, and learned some Russian (and also planned to land in Moscow). It took off from New York City, and after a few stops along the way, it finally landed in Copenhagen, Denmark. Oliver was the fourth woman to make a transatlantic voyage. She was unable to go to Moscow because the Soviet Union banned her from entering the country. However, she did not find out exactly why, and wrote: “No one in this sad gray country will say why I am not allowed to fly my beautiful Bluebird into their own yard.”

After that, Oliver acted ceaselessly, staying on TV in dozens and dozens of guest spots. In 1970, she also took over as director, helming the episodes “M*A*S*H” and “Trapper John, MD.” Her last acting work was in a 1988 episode of “Freddy’s Nightmares.” All the while, Oliver continued to practice flying, becoming a glider pilot, and traveling around the country doing acting jobs. She died in 1990 at the age of 58, due to colon cancer.

Susan Oliver lived an epic life, and her exploits should be celebrated.