MONDAY MEMORIAL TVXOHOF TREK TRIBUTE - ALYSSA OGAWA

From The New York Daily News:

Actress Patti Yasutake, known for roles in “Beef,” “Star Trek” and a host of other screen and stage roles, has died. She was 70.

Kyle Fritz, her manager and friend of 30 years, said the cause of death was cancer.

“Patti was not only a client but a ‘chosen family member’,” Fritz said in a statement to People. “She was the very first actress I ever signed, and a friendship of over 30 years ensued. It was an honor to know her, work with her, and love her."

From Wikipedia:
Patti Yasutake (September 6, 1953 – August 5, 2024) was an American stage, film and television actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Nurse Alyssa Ogawa in the ‘Star Trek’ franchise.

From the IMDb:
Best known for her portrayal as "Nurse Alyssa Ogawa" on ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ (1987). She first appeared in the season 4 episode, “Future Imperfect” (1990) and was a recurring guest star until the end of the series, getting larger roles in the seventh season, most notably on the episode, “Lower Decks” (1994). She can also be seen in the motion pictures, “Star Trek: Generations” (1994) and “Star Trek: First Contact” (1996).

From Rob's Star Trek Episode Guide:

PLACE OF BIRTH: Earth [2343]
Cheerful and competent, Alyssa Ogawa quickly became an indispensable member of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D Sickbay's medical staff. In 2370 Ogawa married Lt. Andrew Powell and later became pregnant. Unfortunately, Alyssa later lost the unborn baby as a result of the temporal anomaly in the Devron system.

And so, in memory of Patti Yasutake, the Television Crossover Hall of Fame is inducting….

ALYSSA OGAWA

QUOTES:
[about her character, "Nurse Alyssa Ogawa", on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)]
I told George Takei that Ogawa was his great-granddaughter, and he said, 'Not too great, please; I'm not that old!'

[on how often she worked on Star Trek]
I never knew when they'd want me. When I came back the second time I worked with Jonathan again, so I thought he was a good luck charm. After that there would be a month or two in between shows, and you never knew what they were going to write down the road. So there was no expectation on my part, which was probably a healthy thing; it wasn't until I got some thread of a storyline that I really allowed myself to feel a real part of the show; to be honest with you.

[on how she got involved with Star Trek]
I had been reading for the show for a number of other episodes and characters and they actually hired me at one point to be on the bridge, but I was doing a commercial and I couldn't get out of the contract; it was a multiple-day shoot and I had already gone on camera one of the days, so they weren't able to release me. I was heartbroken, because I really wanted to be on the show!

[on how she got the part of "Nurse Alyssa Ogawa" on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)]
There was a role in sickbay, so I read for it and got the part. I thought I would probably never come back because, on the show, everybody had aged and so I'd be a little girl when they went back to real time, but on the set, that day, Jonathan Frakes said, 'Oh, you'll be back!' Then, sure enough, a few episodes, later, they called me. I guess I got a little bit of help from above or something because, had they put me on the bridge, I probably wouldn't have been with the show long!

Here are the credits which make her a worthy member of the TVXOHOF….

STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION

16 Episodes (1990-1994)

These include:

FUTURE IMPERFECT

CLUES
IDENTITY CRISIS
THE HOST
Nurse Alyssa Ogawa was a Starfleet officer aboard the USS Enterprise-D, and later, the USS Enterprise-E. She was one of the head nurses in the ship's sickbay, assigned there in 2367 as an ensign.

GENESIS

Ogawa became a senior sickbay staff member and would make reports to the senior staff in Crusher's absence.

IDENTITY CRISIS
Nurse Ogawa helped Dr. Crusher develop a way to stop the metamorphosis of the Tarchannen III aliens in 2367.

THE HOST

She was also present during several surgeries involving the Trill ambassador Odan, which were the first Federation observations of the Trill symbiont.

THE GAME

Alyssa was one of the many crewmembers to fall victim to the psychotropically addictive effects of the Ktarian game when it was introduced to the Enterprise.

ETHICS

She was the nurse on hand for the first use of the genetronic replicator, during the risky surgery on Lieutenant Worf's spinal column.

THE INNER LIGHT

Ogawa brought several pieces of medical equipment to the Enterprise bridge in order to monitor Captain Jean-Luc Picard's condition while he was knocked unconscious by a Kataan probe in late 2368.

REALM OF FEAR

In 2369, Ogawa assisted Dr. Crusher in performing an autopsy on Joshua Kelly, an engineer from the USS Yosemite.

MAN OF THE PEOPLE

She helped treat Deanna Troi after she became a receptacle for Ambassador Ves Alkar's psychic "waste."

TRUE Q

Ogawa took part in the relief effort to Tagra IV in 2369. She helped Amanda Rogers pack a shipment of tricorders for transport to the planet.

SUSPICIONS

Ogawa helped investigate the mysterious deaths of Doctors Jo'Bril and Reyga in 2369.

LOWER DECKS

Ogawa was one of the few junior officers who knew of the Cardassian defector Joret Dal's presence aboard the Enterprise, as she helped Dr. Crusher treat his serious injuries. She was ordered not to discuss what she knew of Joret with anyone.   Upon recommendation of Dr. Beverly Crusher, she was promoted to lieutenant junior grade in 2370.

[All of that information comes from Memory Alpha.  Not all of the pictures are from the episodes they're shown with]

HALLMARK CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT COMMERCIAL

During the last season on ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ (1987), she was in a Hallmark commercial for an Enterprise Christmas ornament. She did the commercial as "Alyssa Ogawa", her character on ‘Star Trek’. In the commercial, she is in her quarters asking the computer questions about the ornament.

Until Spock flew his ship into the black hole in the 2009 version of “Star Trek”, all of the ‘Star Trek’ movies were absorbed into the universe of Earth Prime-Time.  Spock died, crushed in that black hole and everything from that point forward in the JJ Abrams movies was merely conjecture.

STAR TREK: GENERATIONS (1994)

She also helped evacuate sickbay and care for injured crewmembers following the crash of the Enterprise-D saucer section on Veridian III in 2371.

STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT (1996)

Ogawa was promoted to full lieutenant by 2373 and was posted to the new USS Enterprise-E. During the ship's trip to 2063, she helped evacuate sickbay after the Borg began to overrun the ship.

So she’s covered to be legitimately inducted on her own merits.  But here’s one more possible appearance in the main Toobworld….

PICKET FENCES
MR. DREEB COMES TO TOWN (1992)
Jill and Kimberly are in an uncomfortable position when a gifted teacher in Kimberly's high school loses his job and faces losing his life to a brain tumor.

O’Bservation:
Ms. Yasutake had an uncredited role as a nurse near the end of the episode, part of the team hoping to save that teacher’s life.

So why couldn’t she have been “undercover” as Nurse Alyssa Ogawa?  The fact that she was in 1992 when she should have been in the 24th Century is not a Zonk.  Along with everybody else on board the Enterprise, she had experience with time travel.  Until she could be rescued, Ogawa hid in plain sight.

So that's what I'm proposing.  Maybe somebody out there in Team Toobworld will see this as an opportunity to write some TrekFic.

One final quote from Ms. Yasutake….

“Well, it's going to keep me young forever!

When I'm long gone, people will still be watching old episodes.

There's a part of my vanity that thinks,

‘Hey, that's pretty cool’."

Patti Yasutake

Welcome to the Television Crossover Hall of Fame, Nurse Ogawa.

May your spirit soar, straight on ‘til morning….