'Star Trek' Ruth aka Maggie Thrett passes away at 76

Actor-singer Maggie Thrett, who is best known for her portrayal as Ruth in the "Mudd's Women" episode of the original Star Trek, has passed away at the age of 76.

Family members of Thrett told The Hollywood Reporter that Thrett passed away on Sunday at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, New York, as a result of complications from an infection.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, a US-based news outlet, Thrett also played a flower child alongside Judy Pace, Yvette Mimieux, Christopher Jones, and others in the 1968 frolic about sex revenge Three in the Attic, which was a financial success for independent distributor AIP. In Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, a TV ad that featured her and the movie made note of her and the project (2019).

As per a report by Deadline, "Mudd's Women" is one of the most memorable episodes of the 1960s Star Trek, in no small part because it featured three stunningly beautiful women (Thrett, Karen Steele and Susan Denberg) who seem to have strange powers over the male members of the Enterprise crew -- except Spock, of course.

The women are en route to a mining colony where they are to become wives for the wealthy but lonely men who mine precious dilithium crystals. One of the most memorable rascals in the series, Harry Mudd, gives them a substance known as "Venus," which gives them the ability to be both attractive and alluring (Roger Carmel).

Ironically, Thrett had to audition for the part even though Carmel was her next-door neighbour. She was clueless as to what the show was about.

Diane Pine aka Maggie Thrett was born on Nov. 18, 1946, in New York City. She attended the High School for the Performing Arts in Manhattan and as a model appeared on the cover of Harper's Bazaar.

She released the single "Your Love Is Mine" in 1964 along with the B-side "Lucky Girl," and a year later, she scored a modest hit with the song "Soupy," which was written and produced by Bob Crewe, who is best known for his work with The Four Seasons.

When she spoke to author Tom Lisanti for his 2017 book, Talking Sixties Drive-In Movies, she revealed that Crewe had encouraged her to change her name to Maggie Thrett because "he thought it sounded British and more with it for the time."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Thrett joined Universal Pictures and made her screen debut in the science fiction movie Dimension 5 as well as the spy comedy Out of Sight as Wipeout, a surfer assassin. She also appeared on television in the same year in Run for Your Life, The Wild Wild West, and Star Trek.

After that, she went on to make appearances in additional movies like The Devil's Brigade (1968) and Cover Me Babe (1970), as well as on TV shows like Cimarron Strip, The Most Deadly Game, I Dream of Jeannie, McCloud, and Run, Joe, Run.

Thrett gave up acting in 1974 and spent many years working as a hospital phone operator.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Survivors include her brothers, Richard, John, Larry and Robert; nieces Trudy, Kelsey, Hayley, Samantha, Courtney, Tracey and Dianne; and nephew Chris. She spent five years of her marriage (from 1975 to their divorce in 1977) with Canadian actor Donnelly Rhodes, whom she met while filming Run, Joe, Run.