Biography for
Gene Roddenberry

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Date of Birth

19 August 1921, El Paso, Texas, USA

Date of Death

24 October 1991, Santa Monica, California, USA (cardiac arrest)

Birth Name

Eugene Wesley Roddenberry

Nickname

The Great Bird of the Galaxy

Height

6' 1" (1.85 m)

Spouse

Majel Barrett	(29 December 1969 - 24 October 1991) (his death) 1 child
Eileen Anita Rexroat	(20 June 1942 - 27 December 1969) (divorced)

Trivia

During WWII he had a friend named Kim Noonien Singh; after the war Kim disappeared, and Gene used his name for some characters in the Star Trek series (Khan Noonien Singh from Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982) and Noonien Soong from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987)) in hopes that Kim might recognize his name and contact him.

Some of his ashes sent up in a rocket, launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Might have died in a house fire when still a toddler along with Bob, Doris, and their mother, but a milkman came along and woke them in time.

In 1943 while a US Army Air Corps pilot, his plane crashed on takeoff due to a mechanical failure, killing two crew members.

On 19 June 1947 he was deadheading (traveling while not on duty) on a Pan Am plane when it crashed in the Syrian desert, killing 7 of 9 crew and 7 of 26 passengers on board. He rescued the Maharani of Pheleton from the wreck. Rescue came in hours, but too late to save most of the luggage, and the victims' possessions, from local tribesmen and villagers.

During the war he wrote a song lyric "I Wanna Go Home", which became popular.

His first TV script sale, in 1953, was the episode ``Defense Plant Gambling'' for the show "Mr. District Attorney" (1954). It was broadcast 2 March 1954. In the science-fiction field, his first was "The Secret Weapon of 117", broadcast 6 March 1956 on the anthology series "Chevron Hall of Stars".

He had many lovers and was sometimes overt about it. He and Majel Barrett had been lovers for years when he decided it was time to marry her and asked her to join him -- although he happened to be visiting Japan at the time. Gene did not adhere to any particular religion and since they were in Japan they chose to have a Shinto-Buddhist wedding on 6 August 1969. They regarded this as their real wedding, but his divorce was not yet final and they made it legal with a civil ceremony on 29 December 1969.

His old pseudonym Robert Wesley was used in the "Star Trek" (1966) episode "The Ultimate Computer" as the name of a character, played by Barry Russo.

Served on the Los Angeles Police Force from 1949 - 1956, badge number 6089. This information from "Star Trek Creator" by David Alexander.

Died within 48 hours of screening Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), the last Trek that revolved around his original characters.

Shared the same birthday as "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987) star Jonathan Frakes.

He has a building named in his honor on the Paramount Studio lot.

Father of actress Dawn Roddenberry.

Father, with Majel Barrett, of Rod Roddenberry.

While meeting with George Takei about a role on "Star Trek" (1966), Gene accidentally pronounced George's last name 'Ta-kei', which is similar to the word expensive in Japanese "takai" . He remembered the pronouncation by rhyming it with "OK".

Died on 24 October 1991, exactly ten years after Marina Sirtis's father.

During his years in the LAPD, he was the spokesman of LAPD Chief W.H. Parker.

Was a close friend of Jack Webb.

Biography in: "American National Biography". Supplement 1, pp. 521-522. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Personal Quotes

"A man either lives life as it happens to him, meets it head-on and licks it, or he turns his back on it and starts to wither away."

"Gene changed the course of everyday life in the cast, and he's also changed the lives of God-knows-how-many thousands of other people who view what he's done. I think that will continue to happen for some time to come". - DeForest Kelley on Gene's long-lasting influence.

I have felt many times trapped by "Star Trek." It cost me dearly. It won't anymore, because I've come to grips with what it is and where it fits in my life.

Normal TV limits what you can do. With science fiction, you can exercise your imagination more. I fell in love with it.

I wish I had more control, more like Edgar Rice Burroughs had, but I'm a realist, too. I work in television. I don't know that I would want to spend the rest of my life controlling my characters.

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