Angelique Pettyjohn, who was born in Los Angeles on March 10, 1943 and began modeling at a very young age. She also took advantage of her living in the Locus of American Dreams by studying acting. After she developed into an adult, she appealed to casting agents due to her stunning physique and perfectly-formed 36C bust line. Pettyjohn made her movie debut at age 21, under the name "Angelique," in the low-budget sexploitation potboiler
The Love Rebellion (1965) before tasting the big-time co-starring opposite "The King," Elvis Presley, in the forgettable
Clambake (1967). It was her first appearance in an A-list movie, and it led to bits in other big-budget films.
However, her fame as a thespian lies with her work on the small screen, appearing in memorable roles on Get Smart and Star Trek. In 1967, she appeared on the former in a recurring role as Charlie Watkins, imaginatively dubbed "Agent 38" to highlight her twin assets to the less-enlightened and obtuse in the audience. Charlie was a man disguised as a woman, and Angelique pulled it off. After testing for the role of Nova in Planet Of The Apes (1967) (the role went to a producer's girlfriend), she won the role that made her an immortal amongst fans of TV sci-fi: Shahna in the Star Trek episode titled "The Gamesters of Triskelion."
The episode, which ran in the second season of the cult series, featured her as an alien who helps Captain Kirk perform as a gladiator for the pleasure of a powerful clique of aliens-captors. Angelique's character had been bred by the aliens specifically to participate in the gladiatorial contests. Assigned to Kirk as an instructor, she prepares him for combat, but naturally falls for William Shatner's uniformed sexpot, who had wooed ladies of all hues, races and incarnations in his gallivants through the universe, boldly going where no man had ever gone before in terms of trail and miscegenation.
The episode is a favorite of Star Trek fans, and although Pettyjohn would later reap the benefits of the role by appearing in countless Star Trek fan conventions in the distant future, at the time, it lead exactly nowhere for her career. She continued in the bimbo rut in such cinematic horrors as Hell's Belles (1970), The Curious Female (1970), and Bordello (1974). Her career was strictly in movies churned out for drive-ins and the exploitation circuit.
In the early 1980's, she appeared as a stripper in Las Vegas but soon abandoned her avocation as an ecdysiast and softcore star for hardcore porn. Titillation (1982), Stalag 69 (1982), and Body Talk (1982) featured Pettyjohn billed as either Angel St. John, Heaven St. John, or under her old moniker "Angelique."
The burgeoning Star Trek cult, bolstered by the series of movies released by Paramount beginning in 1979, allowed Pettyjohn to quickly ditch her hardcore career. She began working Star Trek conventions to earn her keep, selling posters of herself in and out of her sexy outfit from "The Gamesters of Triskelion." Her appearance on the circuit raised her profile in the movie industry. Indie film directors who knew of her earlier work in low-budget exploitation fare began hiring her for bit roles in their films. She appeared in such indie features as Repo Man (1984), Biohazard (1984), and The Wizard Of Speed And Time (1989).
Eventually, Pettyjohn's fame grew and she began headlining sci-fi conventions as the main guest of honor. She overcame alcoholism and drug abuse to put her her life on an even keel, overcoming the low self-esteem that had led her to her porno appearances. She lived in a cabin in the backwoods of Virginia.
Pettyjohn appeared at her last science fiction convention in autumn 1989. Las Vegas had offered her a chance to cash-in on her cult notoriety as an exotic dancer, and she took it; she was 46 years old, but still beautiful and vivacious, doing what made her happy, performing for a live audience.
Angelique Pettyjohn died of cervical cancer at the age 48 on Valentine's Day, February 14, 1992.
IMDb Mini Biography By: Jon C. Hopwood
