#captain alexander

Publicity photo from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, featuring Madge Sinclair as the captain of the U.S.S. Saratoga and Nick Ramus as the ship’s helmsman. The fact that the first black woman seen in command of a starship went both unnamed and uncredited in the final film is, sadly, unsurprising.

In the novelization of the movie by Vonda McIntyre, the captain was given the last name of Alexander while the Efrosian helmsman, sadly, went unnamed. Ramus’s makeup, however, lived on as the forehead, nose, and hair of the Federation President in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. 

And just for giggles, here’s the original photo before I cropped and zapped all the dust and speckles:

Photo scanned from my personal collection.