Millicent Wise
Millicent Wise
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Millicent Wise has gained somewhat of a standing inStar Trek fandom, as she and her father, ardentTrekkies, were credited by them with bringing backSpock performerLeonard Nimoy to reprise his role in theStar Trek live-action franchise. Nimoy had up to that point in time refused to reprise his role as Spock, officially for the reason that he did not wanted to commit to the rigors of a weekly show, as theMotion Picture's immediate predecessor,Star Trek: Phase II, was originally intended to be. However, there was an unofficial reason as well; Nimoy had since the end of theOriginal Series been involved in a conflict with the studio over residual amenities of the use of his likeness on merchandise, for which neither he, nor his co-stars, ever did receive any financial compensation. As her husband had explained when he was brought aboard theMotion Picture, in no small measure enticed to do so by his wife and father-in-law,
"At the same time, while I didn't know much aboutStar Trek, my wife, Millicent, and her father were absolutely devoted to the show, so when I brought the script, and they saw that Spock wasn't in it at all, they both practically yelled, "Hey, what's this? You can't POSSIBLY doStar Trek without Spock! It just won't work, because he andCaptain Kirk have such a thing going." The next time I went into the studio, I said toMichael andJeffrey, "I'm ready to commit to this picture, BUT you just can't do it without Spock. He's so identified with the series that I think there would be a real hole in the film without him." They agreed with me almost immediately, and they told me they'd been thinking the same way. So, we sort of all decided to take a shot at bringing Leonard on board."[1] (Star Trek Movie Memories, 1995, pp. 87-88)
Up to that point the studio had steadfastly refused to give in, but now, on Wise's insistence, the studio caved and the conflict which had dragged for a decade was resolved within a week. (Star Trek Phase II: The Lost Series, p. 77) Millicent was rewarded for her input with her cameo as one of theEnterprise crewmembers, gathered for the briefing scene on therecreation deck of therefit-USSEnterprise, where she appeared alongside a multitude of otherStar Trek fans. Her only stepchild, sonRobert Allen Wise, also served on her husband's movie as assistant cameramen.[1](X)
Born in New York City as Millicent Cohen, she went through life under the surname of her first husband. Millicent Franklin, mother of a married daughter (Return to Tomorrow - The Filming of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, p. 55), was married to Robert Wise on 29 January 1977 and remained together until Robert Wise's death in2005.[2](X) Millicent Wisedied on 31 August 2010 at Cedar Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.[3]
Footnote[]
- ↑Robert Wise again related this story seven years later toStar Trek: The Magazine Volume 2, Issue 8, but the editors in transcribing the interview turned his father-in-law into a daughter. Wise did not have a (natural) daughter but only a single son,Robert Allen Wise. On the other hand, Wise related the same story in a contemporary account, published in the reference bookReturn to Tomorrow - The Filming of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (p. 55), in which he stated that it were his wife,her daughter and son-in-law who were the Trekkies. Nevertheless, wife Millicent has remained the one constant in every version.