Denise Crosby Treks to Stage Center : Bing’s Granddaughter Leaves the Final Frontier for Other Acting Challenges

It’s no surprise to those who know Denise Crosby that she would jump ship after one year on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” because her part wasn’t challenging enough. Or that in March she took on the role of a strong, confident lesbian in the Equity-waiver production of “Last Summer at Bluefish Cove” because “it’s a greeaat part.”

Her “Next Generation” character, Lt. Tasha Yar, was killed off at her request, although Crosby later reappeared several times in time travel or dream sequences--and she returns to the show for its finale Monday.

“It was so great to see a woman take the job traditionally held by a man,” she says, referring to her role as chief of security. “But I couldn’t see doing that for six years.”

But she can see herself continuing on with “Bluefish Cove,” which completed its run at Theatre Geo under the direction of Dorothy Lyman and will begin an extended run at the Tiffany Theater next Wednesday through mid-July.

“This play has inspired me,” Crosby says. “It revived me in a way . . . reminding me why I became an actor.”

And acting is what she’s doing these days. Crosby is in Vancouver this week filming “Dream Man” with Andrew McCarthy. She just completed a segment of Showtime’s “Red Shoe Diaries.”

“Hold on,” Crosby says as she drops the phone to grab a newspaper. “I love this quote.”

She reads a quote from the painter Degas: “It is wonderful to be famous as long as you’re unknown.”

Crosby can relate, she says, because as an actor, she needs to observe other people. But when you’re a recognizable person, “You can’t just watch somebody at the checkout stand.” But on the other hand--as she reads the card attached to a dozen roses sent by a fan she just met on a Vancouver street--she admits fame has its moments.

Though Crosby comes from a family that has known a bit of fame--Bing Crosby was her grandfather--she says she was a generation removed from the “kids of famous people” curse.

Blue-eyed and blond-haired, Crosby grew up in Hollywood and spent time at Paramount Studios (where her mother worked as a production accountant), but didn’t think about being an actress. Her mother married her stepfather when Crosby was 6, and she didn’t get to know her grandfather.

“I think about that often,” she says. “As I a child, I thought it was up to him as the adult (to make a move). As I got older, I realized that he couldn’t do it. But I could.” But by then it was too late, Bing Crosby died while his granddaughter was still in high school.

“He never had a relationship with any of his 20 grandkids--and he has a pretty great group of grandkids.”

Crosby attempts to be analytical rather than sentimental--which is a lot like Lil, her character in “Bluefish Cove.” She describes the play--which had great success in the early ‘80s with Jean Smart in the lead role of Lil--as a play “about commitment, love and about friendship.” Lil is confident and independent, and at one point states: “I know who I am.”

Since going through a period in her 20s when she felt she “had something to prove,” Crosby says she can identify with Lil, and now at least feels closer to knowing who she is.

“It’s an incredible piece of writing,” she says of the play by Jane Chambers.

Executive producer Judy Miller, who produced the hit play in 1983 and has owned the film rights for 11 years, revived it because she believes the time is right for a movie version of the women of Bluefish Cove.

“It’s funny, it’s touching. . . . I wish I’d written it,” Miller says laughing, “but at least I found it.”

Miller says that Crosby came into the role hearing “nobody could do it like Jean.”

“But Denise does a fabulous job.”

And after she departs “Bluefish Cove”? Crosby, who also starred in “Tamara” on stage and “Pet Sematary” on film, says she would like to direct. As an actress, she points to the careers of Vanessa Redgrave and Jane Fonda as role models.

“I want to play fascinating women,” she says.

* “Last Summer at Bluefish Cove” plays at the Tiffany Theatre, 8532 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, through July 10. Tickets are $22-$26; (310) 289-2999. The two-hour finale of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” airs Monday at 8 p.m. on KCOP Channel 13.