George Takei
George Hosato Takei (last name is pronounced in (
IPA): ) (born
April 20,
1937) is an
American actor. He is most famous for his role in the TV series
Star Trek, in which he played the helmsman
Hikaru Sulu on the
USS Enterprise. On
January 9,
2006, Takei became the announcer for
The Howard Stern Show, after that show's move to
satellite radio.
George Takei was born in
Los Angeles,
California. In
1942, the Takei family was sent to
Rohwer, an
internment camp in
Arkansas, then were later transferred to
Tule Lake War Relocation Center in California. Despite this experience, the family developed a renewed dedication to remain involved in the American democratic process. He and his family returned to Los Angeles at the end of
World War II.
In
Hollywood during the
1960s, he pursued his ambition to be an actor at a time when Asian faces were rarely seen on television and movie screens; Takei appeared alongside such actors as
Richard Burton in
Ice Palace (1960),
Alec Guinness in
A Majority of One (1962),
Cary Grant in
Walk Don't Run (1966), and
John Wayne in
The Green Berets (1968), which was the only movie to support the
Vietnam War.
|
George Takei at a Sci-Fi Convention with a fan |
In 1966, he met with a young producer named
Gene Roddenberry who cast him as Mr. Sulu on the television series
Star Trek. While working on the show he appeared as Captain Nim in the John Wayne film
The Green Berets (1968).
Takei has since appeared in numerous TV and film productions, including the first six
Star Trek motion pictures, and today is a regular on the
sci-fi convention circuit throughout the world. He has also acted and provided voice acting for several science fiction
computer games, including
Freelancer and numerous
Star Trek games.
Reportedly, Takei is one of a number of
Star Trek cast members who disliked
William Shatner (see the entry for
James Doohan for more comment). However, in an interview in the 2004
DVD set second season of
Star Trek: The Original Series, Takei appears to have settled things with Shatner. He says, "He's just a wonderful actor who created a singular character. No one could have done
Kirk the way Bill did. His energy and his determination, that's Bill. And that's also Captain Kirk."
Takei will reprise his role of Sulu in the fan based internet series
Star Trek: New Voyages sometime in the fall of 2006. [
1]
In April
2006 it was announced that a new motion picture, apparently featuring the early adventures of certain characters of the original
Star Trek series with an entire new cast under the control of
Lost creator
J. J. Abrams, is being planned for a
2008 release. There is no word yet if George Takei or any other remaining members of the original cast have been asked to make
cameo appearances.
In
1972, Takei was an alternate delegate from California to the
Democratic National Convention. The following year, he ran for Mayor of Los Angeles, finishing second in a field of seventeen to Councilman
Tom Bradley. During the campaign, Takei's bid for the mayor's seat caused one local station to stop running the repeats of the original
Star Trek series until after the election and
KNBC-TV to substitute the premier episode of the
Star Trek animated series scheduled by the network with another in which his character did not appear. The other candidates in the race complained that Takei's distinctive and powerful voice alone (besides his image) on television every week created an unfair advantage.
Mayor Bradley later appointed Takei to the board of directors of the
Southern California Rapid Transit District, making him part of the team that initiated and planned the Los Angeles
subway system. Takei was called away from the set of
Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1978 to cast the tie-breaking vote for the creation of the Los Angeles subway system. He served eleven years on the board.
Also during this period Takei began his friendship with the future Mayor of
West Hollywood and current Assemblyman
Paul Koretz.
He co-wrote the science-fiction novel
Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe with
Robert Asprin in
1979.
|
George Takei (right) with his life partner Brad Altman |
In
1986, the
comic strip Bloom County had one set of strips where Takei was rumored to be dating
Marie Osmond. Those rumors were subsequently denied by both Osmond and Takei. In
1990, Takei appeared in the Australian film
Prisoners of the Sun as a Japanese vice-admiral being tried for war crimes.
In the
1990s and early part of the twenty-first century he had guest star appearances on some science fiction television series. He played himself in a
3rd Rock from the Sun episode about a science fiction convention, and an episode of
Malcolm in the Middle. He appeared as
Warlord Shank on the show
Space Cases. He also provided the voice of his own head in a jar in the
Futurama episode "
Where No Fan Has Gone Before". He has also provided voices for several characters on
The Simpsons including "Akira," a Japanese waiter who appears sporadically on the series. More recently he guest starred on an episode of
Will & Grace playing an openly gay character named "George Takei" for the first time on television.
In November 2004, Takei was awarded the
Order of the Rising Sun from Emperor
Akihito for his contributions to U.S.-Japanese relations.
Today, visitors to the Memphis International Airport can hear Takei's unmistakable voice over the intercom system.
In October 2005, Takei revealed in an issue of
Frontiers magazine that he is
gay, and has been in a committed relationship with his partner, Brad Altman, for the last eighteen years. He said "It's not really
coming out, which suggests opening a door and stepping through. It's more like a long, long walk through what began as a narrow corridor that starts to widen." [
2][
3] Nevertheless, Takei's sexuality had long been an open secret among Trek fans, and Takei did not conceal his active membership in gay organizations including
Frontrunners, where Takei met Mr. Altman and fellow runners and soon to be friends
Kevin Norte and
Don Norte.
"We are masculine, we are feminine, we are caring, we are abusive. We are just like straight people, in terms of our outward appearance and our behavior. The only difference is that we are oriented to people of our own gender." {During a December 2005 telephone interview with Howard Stern, and revealed during the same interview that Altman was "a saint" for helping to take care of Takei's terminally-ill mother.)
Alex Cho, editor of
Frontiers, has stated that the Takei article was initiated from someone in the Takei camp when a close personal friend called the papers to ask them if they would be interested in the story. The friend remains unidentified but according to Cho, Takei's story was voluntary and not given under any pressure from the media. Kevin Norte and Don Norte, when asked if they were involved in initiating the article, declined to comment.
|
Frontiers editor Alex Cho, George Takei, & Kevin Norte |
Takei serves as chair of the council of governors of
East West Players, the nation's foremost Asian Pacific American theater. He is chairman emeritus of the board of trustees of the
Japanese American National Museum and on the advisory committee of the
California Civil Liberties Public Education Program.
In 2006, the
Human Rights Campaign announced that George Takei would embark on a nationwide speaking tour entitled
"Equality Trek" throughout various cities, speaking about his life as a gay Japanese American; his 18 year relationship with Altman; Frontrunners;
Star Trek; and encouraging others to share their own personal stories. It was also announced that Takei will serve as a spokesman for HRC's Coming Out Project.
Finally, it has been reported that when Takei was asked if his character Sulu was gay, Takei responded that he would like to believe that sexual orientation would not even be an issue in the 23rd century. It is perhaps worth noting that, despite the appearance of Sulu's daughter as a crewmember of the Enterprise-B in the film
Star Trek: Generations, of all the show's principal characters, Sulu was the only male never depicted with a romantic interest.
Due to Takei's very distinctive voice and enunciation, his voice had been frequently used in
soundbites on the
Howard Stern radio show (primarily in excerpts from his audio book, which would be cut together and repurposed for humorous effect). As such, he had become something of a cult figure on the show. On
January 9,
2006 it was announced that Takei would be the official announcer for the
Howard Stern Show on
Sirius Radio. He would be live in the studio for the first week and thereafter he would have pre-recordings done for the show.
Takei returned to the
Howard Stern Show once again starting on
June 12,
2006, for another week of broadcasts. In June 2006, he accepted a Freedom of Speech award for Stern; the award was presented by
Talkers magazine.
Takei has developed an interesting relationship with Stern cast member
Artie Lange, and the two have become the Howard Stern version of
The Odd Couple. On
June 13,
2006, Takei and Lange spent an afternoon at the
Guggenheim Museum which seems to go against Lange's
blue collar exterior.
*
To the Stars: The Autobiography of George Takei: Star Trek's Mr Sulu. New York:
Pocket Books,
1994, ISBN 0671890085.
*
Official website**
His weblog*
Biography at startrek.com*
BBC interview with George Takei - May 2006*
