Star Trek Sexy Spotlight: Lt. Ilia - Persis Khambatta

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) marked the big screen debut of the TV show, and the return of original adventures of the Gene Roddenberry created universe.  Directed by veteran movie maker Robert Wise (The Day The Earth Stood Still), critics and audiences ultimately had mixed reactions to the project, however, it was an undeniable box office success.  Co-star Persis Khambatta played Lt. Ilia, a beautiful and bald alien called a Deltan.

Was she some kind of free love Hippy?  A flower powered alien?  Was she an extraterrestrial Hare Krishna?

Lt. Ilia hailed from a planet where sexual expression was as natural as breathing or eating.  To express oneself openly in a sexual way was second nature to her people.  Her bald look may be more acceptable today, but back in 1979, the look pretty much stunned moviegoers.  For the first spin-off series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Roddenberry reshaped the character and created Counselor Deanna Troi - the thick haired beauty who boasted similar empathic powers and had a romantic connection to Commander William Riker.  V'ger 'merged' Lt. Ilia and William Decker (Stephen Collins) through a kind of digital absorption and matrix.  Who knows just where they ended up.