Actress Laurel Goodwin, last surviving cast member of original Star Trek pilot, dies aged 79

Actress Laurel Goodwin has died at the age of 79.

The late star's sister, Maureen Scott, announced the news in an obituary posted online this week, revealing that Goodwin passed away on February 25 in Cathedral City, California.

"If she knew you, you quickly became family," the obituary read. Goodwin is survived by her husband of 51 years, Walter Wood. No cause of death was released.

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Goodwin made her movie debut in 1962, when aged just 19 she starred opposite Elvis Presley in the film Girls! Girls! Girls!. The actress portrayed one of two potential love interests for Presley's character. The other love interest was Stella Stevens. 

The star was also well known for playing Yeoman J.M. Colt in The Cage, the original 1965 Star Trek pilot that starred Jeffery Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike.

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This pilot never aired as it was rejected by US network NBC, but some scenes saw the light of day in 1966 in the two-part episode of The Menagerie. Up until her death, Goodwin was the last living cast member from The Cage.

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"I'm the last man standing. Yep. Yep, yep. I have to say, it's really quite wonderful, particularly now, at my age, to know that in some small way the work is still there, still alive, that it's not something everybody has forgotten about," she told StarTrek.com in 2016. 

The Cage was later released in various home entertainment formats, much to the delight of fans. 

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"I was fortunate enough to have experienced the very first seed of all this," Goodwin added. "To have watched it blossom, I get a lot of gratification out of that. Also, knowing my experience and my little touch was in there, no matter whether anybody knows it or not, that makes you feel better about yourself.

"As you get older, there are fewer and fewer things you can actually do to make your mark, unless you're some great thinking genius. And I'm not stupid, but I'm no genius. But I know I did this, did Star Trek."