Summary
Indian actress and model Persis Khambatta portrayed Lieutenant Ilia,Star Trek’s first-ever Deltan, inStar Trek: The Motion Picture. Born in Bombay, Khambatta won the beauty pageant title of Femina Miss India in 1965.Persis' big break in Hollywood was when she was cast as Lt. Ilia inStar Trek: Phase II, the sequel toStar Trek: The Original Seriesmeant as the flagship show of Paramount’s planned TV network. Instead,Star Trek: Phase IIwas repurposed into 1979’sStar Trek: The Motion Picture, with Persis Khambatta joining the reunitedStar Trekoriginal cast.
InStar Trek: The Motion Picture, Lt. Ilia was the navigator of the USS Enterprise. Persis Khambatta’s Deltan wasthe first major new female character introduced inStar TreksinceThe Original Seriesended. Deltans were a sexually liberated species, and Ilia took an oath of celibacy to join Starfleet. IIia also had a previous relationship with Captain Will Decker (Stephen Collins), who was replaced byAdmiral James T. Kirk(William Shatner) as Captain of the Enterprise on their fateful mission to intercept the massive starship called V’Ger.
Star Trek: The Original Series Cast & Character Guide
Star Trek: The Original Series features some of the most iconic characters in all of science fiction with the crew of the original USS Enterprise.
What Happened to Persis Khambatta’s Lt. Ilia, Star Trek’s First Deltan?
Ilia was a casualty of Star Trek: The Motion Picture
When the Starship Enterprise made First Contact with V’Ger, the alien vessel scan of the bridge disintegrated Lt. Ilia. However, V’Ger built an artificial probe with the exact physical characteristics of Ilia, but lacking the Deltan’s memories or personality. Still, Captain Decker treated the synthetic Ilia as the real thing as she attempted to learn about humans at the behest of V’Ger. When Admiral Kirk, Spock (Leonard Nimoy),Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy(DeForest Kelley), Decker, and Ilia boarded V’Ger, Will and Ilia chose to merge with V’Ger to ascend into a higher life form.Decker and Ilia vanished and were never seen againafterStar Trek: The Motion Picture.
Persis Khambatta passed away in 1998 at the age of 49.
Persis Khambatta starred in films in India beforeStar Trek: The Motion Picture, and she appeared inNighthawksandMegaforceafter her memorableStar Trekrole. Khambatta also made television appearances onMacGyver, Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer,andLois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.Sadly, Persis Khambatta passed away in 1998 at the age of 49. A lifelong chain smoker, Khambatta was rushed to the hospital after complaining of chest pains, andshe died of a massive heart attack on July 19, 2025.
Persis Khambatta’s Deltan Has A Unique Star Trek Legacy
Lt. Ilia inspired TNG’s Counselor Troi
It would be decades until another Deltan was seen afterStar Trek: The Motion Picture, but Persis Khambatta’s Lt. Ilia spawned a unique legacy. When creatingStar Trek: The Next Generation, Gene Roddenberry returned to the concept of past lovers, withLt. Ilia and Captain Decker inspiring Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) and Commander Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes). Aspects of the Deltans as a sexually liberated species were also transferred toTroi’s empathic Betazoid race.
The popular Riker and Troi eventually married, finding more success as a couple than Decker and Ilia did.
The strikingly baldDeltans have finally begun to make theirStar Trekcomebackover 40 years afterStar Trek: The Motion Picture. Deltans were seen inStar Trek: Picardseason 2’s premiere, with Soji (Isa Briones) and Dr. Agnes Jurati (Allison Pill) meeting 25th century members of Ilia’s race on the planet Raritan IV.Star Trek: Section 31, the firstStar Trekmovie made for streaming on Paramount+, also features a24th-century Deltan played by Humberly Gonzalez. Persis Khambatta proved unforgettable as Lt. Ilia andStar Trekis finally breathing new life into the Deltans.
