Laurel Goodwin, Elvis’ ‘Girls! Girls! Girls!’ Co-Star, Dead at 79

Laurel Goodwin, the last surviving star of the original Star Trek pilot episode and Elvis Presley’s co-star in Girls! Girls! Girls!, has died. She was 79. Goodwin died on Feb. 25 in Catherdral City, California, her sister Maureen Scott said.

Goodwin was born in Wichita, Kansas, and grew up in San Francisco with her older brother Gary and Maureen, according to her obituary. She graduated from Lowell High School and studied drama at San Francisco State University. In her late teens, Goodwin was a babysitter for photographer Kurt Gunther, who took her photos to Paramount Pictures, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Even as the studio system was crumbling at the time, Paramount signed the 19-year-old Goodwin to a seven-year contract. While in Hollywood, she continued studying acting with Jeff Corey and Leonard Nimoy. In 1962, Paramount cast her in her first movie, Girls! Girls! Girls!, in which she played Laurel Dodge, who battles Stella Stevens’ character for Presley’s affections. One of the film’s memorable moments is a dance scene with Presley and Goodwin set to “The Walls Have Ears.”

Although Girls! Girls! Girls! was a big hit, Goodwin struggled to breakout. She only made a few other movies, including Papa’s Delicate Condition with Jackie Gleason, the Western Stage to Thunder Rock, and the Sam Peckinpah-written The Glory Days. She also appeared in episodes of The Virginian, The Beverly Hillbillies, Premiere, and The Dain Curse.

Goodwin’s most famous role was in something audiences didn’t see for almost two decades. In 1965, she was cast as Yeoman J.M. Colt in the original Star Trek pilot episode “The Cage” with Nimoy and Jeffrey Hunter. The pilot didn’t sell, but the producers wanted Goodwin back if they tried again. Unfortunately for Goodwin, after Hunter declined to make the second pilot, Goodwin was dropped. Goodwin also lost a chance to star in the two comedies she turned down to make Stat Trek, she told StarTrek.com in 2016.

Goodwin said she was “devastated” to see Star Trek succeed without her, but she was also pleased for Nimoy. “The thing that took the thorn out of my paw really was Leonard because I was so pleased for him, and I knew this was going to give him some liquidation, that he could then do what he really wanted to do. And I was very pleased with all of that,” she told StarTrek.com. “And I had come up with the pointed sideburns. And a few other things. But that, very specifically.”

Some of Goodwin’s Star Trek work was not seen for decades. Footage from the pilot was used in the 1966 episode “The Menagerie,” but fans didn’t get to see “The Cage” in full until it was released on VHS in 1986.

Goodwin left acting in 1971 to pursue a career in nursing. Her last contribution to the film industry was as a co-producer on Burt Reynolds’ 1983 hit Stroker Ace. She produced the film with her husband Walter Wood, whom she was married to until his death in 2010. Goodwin is survived by her sister Maureen.