Persis Khambatta

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 Parsee home in Mumbai, then known as Bombay. Her father left the family when she was 2 years old. She first gained fame when a set of her pictures casually taken by a well-known Bombay photographer[who?] was used for a successful campaign for a popular soap brand. This led eventually to her becoming a model. She entered and won the Miss India contest in 1965.