| Lx 121/Amanda Grayson | |
|---|---|
| Portrayed by | Jane Wyatt, Winona Ryder |
Lady Amanda Grayson is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe. She is a human from Earth, the second wife (sequential, non-polygamous) of the Vulcan ambassador Sarek, and the mother of Spock, who is also Sarek's son. Grayson is her maiden name, however it is not clear what usage is made of this surname, in the context of her marriage to Sarek.
Biography
editAccording to the most widely accepted Star Trek chronology, Amanda Grayson was born in 2202 in Seattle, Washington. She became a teacher. She met Ambassador Sarek, a member of a prominent Vulcan family, in 2223. They married in the same year, and she moved to Vulcan with her husband. Although it wasn't mentioned in the series, their marriage is usually considered to be the first marriage between the two species. Spock is the first generally known Vulcan-Human hybrid, although decades before his birth, Terra Prime (an Earth splinter group) had briefly created a Vulcan-Human child from the DNA of Charles "Trip" Tucker and T'Pol in an attempt to win support for its cause. Spock is the first such hybrid to live a normal lifespan; Trip and T'Pol's child, Elizabeth, had died shortly after birth because of genetic defects.
In the original continuity of Star Trek, Amanda dies at some point between 2286 and 2366 (after the events of Star Trek IV and the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Sarek"). Sarek eventually marries another female human, Perrin.
The revised continuity of the 2009 Star Trek film, which creates an alternate timeline, places her death on the planet Vulcan, at the time of its destruction.
Family origins
editAt the very end of Barbara Hambly's Star Trek novel Ishmael — a tie-in to the television series Here Come the Brides — Amanda Grayson was revealed to be a descendant of Brides character Aaron Stempel (played by Mark Lenard in the TV series).
In the film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Spock uses the quotation "When you have eliminated the impossible, everything that is left must be the truth", which he attributes to one of his ancestors. Since this is a quote from the Sherlock Holmes novel, The Sign of Four, it implies that Spock, and therefore his human mother, Amanda, are descendants of Arthur Conan Doyle.
Appearances
editThe character's first appearance was in an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, titled "Journey to Babel". Subsequently, she appeared in Star Trek: The Animated Series, and then three of the Star Trek movies: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, briefly in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, and the 2009 film Star Trek. She also appears in numerous Star Trek novels, comics, and various other official Star Trek media. Her surname is not mentioned in "Journey to Babel" or in the first two movies. Even though the name was included in an early draft of the screenplay for "Journey to Babel", it is never mentioned in the episode as filmed. In it, she states that she has a Vulcan name which she has learned to pronounce after a fashion, but asks to be addressed by her human first name, "Amanda", instead. The surname "Grayson" is first mentioned in the episode "Yesteryear", of the animated series, which is not considered official canon). To date however, her accepted last name has not been contradicted in any other authorized Star Trek media. Despite the character's limited appearances in the TV series and films, Ms. Grayson is a very popular character and appears in many Star Trek fan fiction stories.
Actors who have portrayed the character
editAmanda Grayson was first portrayed by Jane Wyatt, who appeared in both the original series episode "Journey to Babel" and the feature film The Voyage Home. Majel Barrett provided the voice of Amanda in the Star Trek animated series. Another actress, Cynthia Blaise, played her in The Final Frontier, in a flashback scene depicting the birth of Spock. In the 2009 feature film, Star Trek, the role of Amanda Grayson was played by Winona Ryder. In reality, Ryder is just six years older than Zachary Quinto, who plays Spock, Amanda's biological son.[1]
References
edithttp://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Amanda_Grayson
http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/library/character/bio/1112915.html
http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0040549/
http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0040549/bio
http://comingsoon.net/news/startreknews.php?id=39209
http://www.cinematical.com/tag/amanda+grayson/
http://www.cinematical.com/2007/11/09/winona-ryder-joins-star-trek-xi-as-spocks-mom/
http://trekmovie.com/2007/11/08/winona-ryder-is-amanda-grayson/
http://trekmovie.com/2008/02/14/amanda-grayson-still-human/
http://www.marketaz.co.uk/StarTrek/Vulcan/Sarek-bib.html (including references given on this page)
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117975655.html?categoryid=13&cs=1