Persis Khambatta
| Beauty pageant titleholder | |
Persis Khambatta, 1978
|
|
| Born |
2 October 1948 Bombay, Bombay State, India |
|---|---|
| Died | 18 August 1998 (aged 49) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
| Years active | 1968–1998 |
| Title(s) | Femina Miss India 1965 |
| Major competition(s) |
Femina Miss India 1965 (Winner) (Miss Photogenic) Miss Universe 1965 (Unplaced) |
| Spouse | Cliff Taylor (1981–1981) Naren Parekh (1986-?) |
Persis Khambatta (2 October 1948 – 18 August 1998) was an Indian model, actress and author. She was best known for her role as Lieutenant Ilia in the 1979 feature film Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
Persis Khambatta was born into a middle-class Parsi home in Mumbai, then known as Bombay. Her father left the family when she was two years old. She first gained fame when a set of her pictures casually taken by a well-known Bombay photographer was used for a successful campaign for a popular soap brand. This led eventually to her becoming a model. She entered and won the Femina Miss India contest in 1965. She was the second winner of Femina Miss India and third Indian woman to participate in the Miss Universe pageant. At the Femina Miss India contest, she also won the Miss Photogenic award.
Khambatta's first appearance at age 13 in advertisements for the popular soap brand Rexona set her on her way to becoming a popular model. At age 17, as Femina Miss India, Khambatta entered Miss Universe 1965, dressed in off-the-rack clothes she bought at the last minute. She became a model for companies such as Air India, Revlon, and Garden Vareli.
Khambatta made her Bollywood début in director K. A. Abbas's Bambai Raat Ki Bahon Mein (1967), playing cabaret singer Lily who croons the film's title track. She had small roles in 1975's Conduct Unbecoming and The Wilby Conspiracy. She went on to have a brief movie career that included the role for which she is most recognized, the bald Deltan navigator Lieutenant Ilia, in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). She was originally signed to play the role for five years, as the intention was to create a new Star Trek TV series. Khambatta said that she was thrilled when the project became a movie instead, because it would have greater impact on her career, but she also recognised that she had lost five years' work. Khambatta became the first Indian citizen to present an Academy Award in 1980. She was nominated for Saturn Award for Best Actress for her role in Star Trek. This led to roles in Nighthawks (1981), Megaforce (1982), Warrior of the Lost World (1983), and Phoenix the Warrior (1988). She was considered for the title role in the James Bond film Octopussy (1983), but was passed over in favor of Maud Adams.
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