Melanie Shatner

Facts

Melanie is Stepdaughter of Elizabeth Shatner.

She is Ex-stepdaughter of Marcy Lafferty and Nerine Kidd.

She has dark brown hair.

Melanie is Sister-in-law of Andy Clement.

She has light brown eyes.

Melanie is best friend of Kristin Davis.

Her zodiac sign is Leo.

Family

Melanie Shatner is the daughter of famous actor William Shatner and Gloria Rand and was born in Los Angeles County, USA.

William Shatner

William Shatner was an actor, director, and singer who was best known for his characteristic voice and his role as Captain Kirk on Star Trek. According to Melanie, he was a wonderful father. She has great memories of her childhood days when her father would take one sister at a time to his shooting location for a whole week. William Shatner divorced his first wife in 1969, but Melanie states she and her sisters remained close with their father even after the divorce. She remembers she and her sisters spent their weekdays with their mother and weekends with their father. Melanie had an excellent relationship with her father, and it was through William Shatner's movie “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” that Melanie started her acting career.

Gloria Rand

Her mother Gloria Rand was also an actress. She was born in Toronto, Canada and as of 2019 is 86 years old. Some of her notable movies include Goodyear Playhouse (1951), Encounter (1952) and On Camera (1954). William Shatner, her husband, used to drink a lot and had several cases of alcoholic abuse against him. The primary reason for their divorce is believed to be William’s alcohol problems. When Gloria’s mother confronted William’s alcoholic abuse, he fought with her too. They eventually got divorced and William got married thrice after that in the coming years.

Sisters

Melanie Shatner has two elder sisters named Lisabeth Shatner and Leslie Carol Shatner. William Shatner named his production company Lemli Productions Inc. The name of the production company was formed by taking the first letters of his three daughter’s names.

Leslie Carol Shatner

Leslie Shatner is the eldest sister of Melanie Shatner. She was just five-year-old when she acted in the “Star Trek: The Original Series” first season episode "Miri." With her little sister Lisabeth. However, her appearance went uncredited as she spent very little time on the screen. For the shoot, Leslie took her younger sister under her wings. She remembers going to the makeup room with her sister to visit their dad during the shooting.

Lisabeth Shatner

Lisabeth Shatner was the second of the three sisters. She was just two years old when she was portrayed as a Girl in Red-Striped Dress in the “Star Trek: The Original Series” first season episode "Miri." On the sets, the little girl was seen accompanying her elder sister wherever she went. Although her appearance was uncredited, she got an opportunity to act with her father. 

Husband Joel Gretsch

Melanie Shatner got married to her boyfriend Joel Gretsch, on September 5, 1999. Joel Gretsch is an American Actor The couple dated for a very long time before getting married. Gretsch learned acting from the Guthrie Theater located at Minneapolis and then moved to Los Angeles in the year 1989.

His stage work consists of roles in John Shanley's Danny and the Deep Blue Sea and Molière's Tartuffe. He started his television career in the early 1990s. Some of his notable TV appearances were in episodes of Married... with Children, Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Friends and Melrose Place. Some of the films best known for Joel Gretsch’s acting are Push (2009) and Minority Report (2002). Some other notable roles of Joel Gretsch include his portrayal as Tom Baldwin on the USA Network science fiction series The 4400. In this series he starred alongside Jacqueline McKenzie. Another memorable work he did was as Owen Crawford in the science fiction miniseries Taken directed by Steven Spielberg in 2002.

Children Kaya Gretsch & Willow Gretsch

Melanie Shatner and her husband Joel Gretsch has two daughters together. They have named their children as Kaya Gretsch and Willow Gretsch of whom Kaya is the elder one.

Character & Roles

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Melanie Shatner officially began her career by appearing in the American sci-fi film “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” based on the TV series Star Trek. The film was directed by Leonard Nimoy.The film was released in 1986 by Paramount Pictures. In this film, she played a minor role of jogger for a few minutes which went uncredited .

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier 

American science fiction movie “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier” was directed by Melanie's father, William Shatner. He played the role of Captain James. T. Kirk in the film. Melanie was also cast for the film, and she played the role of Captain’s Yeoman. Yeoman was a Starfleet rank assigned to young women typically. They act as personal assistants, and they were entrusted with duties like carrying a Starfleet Tricorder. A Yeoman was also responsible for retrieving information for a starship's captain and broadcasting one's arrival with a boatswain's whistle. Melanie can be seen wandering the Enterprise’s bridge throughout the film. In this movie, she only played a minor role for just a few minutes. Her role was to act as a yeoman, where she took a jacket to her father. She also appeared again, for bringing him a malfunctioning device as he attempts to record his captain's log. Apart from the Star Trek films, Melanie Shatner has also appeared in several Movies and TV series too.

Star Trek (TV Series)

Melanie Shatner also appeared in an uncredited role in the Star Trek TV Series as a Brunette Girl (A woman or girl with dark brown hair.)