George Takei

George Takei was born Hosato Takei on April 20, 1937, in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, California. His mother, Fumiko Emily (Nakamura), was born in Sacramento, to Japanese parents, and his father, Takekuma Norman Takei, worked in real estate and was born in Japan's Yamanashi Prefecture. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, George and his family were relocated from Los Angeles to the Rohwer Relocation Center in Arkansas, and later, as the war was ending they were moved to a camp at Tule Lake in Northern California. Takei's first-hand knowledge of the unjust internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans in World War II, poignantly chronicled in his autobiography, created a lifelong interest in politics and community affairs.

During World War II, Takei lived with his family in several government internment camps for people of Japanese ancestry. President Franklin Roosevelt signed the applicable Executive Order No. 9066, on February 19th 1942. In December 1944, President Roosevelt suspended Executive Order 9066. Incarcerees were released, often to resettlement facilities and temporary housing, and the camps were shut down by 1946. Ironically, George shares a birthday with Adolf Hitler; he was born on Hitler's 48th birthday so he was still alive.

After graduating from Los Angeles High School in 1956, George studied architecture at UC Berkeley.

An ad in a Japanese community paper led to a summer job on the MGM lot dubbing eight characters from Japanese into English for Rodan (1956) (aka "Rodan"). With the acting bug kindled in him, he transferred to UCLA as a theater arts major.

Contacting an agent he had met at MGM led to Takei's appearance as an embittered soldier in postwar Japan in the Days Of Wine & Roses - Cliff Robertson & Piper Laurie, "Playhouse 90" Original TV Version (1956) production "Made in Japan" even before starting classes at UCLA. Being spotted in a UCLA theater production by a Warner Bros.

casting director led to George's feature film debut in Ice Palace (1960), various roles in Hawaiian Eye (1959) and other feature work.

In June 1960, he completed his degree at UCLA and studied that summer at the Shakespeare Institute at Stratford-Upon-Avon in England. After starting a Master's degree program at UCLA, George was cast in the socially relevant stage musical production, "Fly Blackbird!" but was replaced when the show moved to New York. He took odd jobs until returning to his role at the end of the run. Getting little work in Manhattan, George returned to Los Angeles to continue his studies at UCLA, once again appearing in television series and feature films.

He earned his Master's degree in 1964.

Although primarily known for playing Hikaru Sulu in the television series Star Trek: The Original Series (1966) and the first six features, George Takei has had a varied career acting in television, feature films, live theater and radio. He also is a successful writer and community activist.

Wanting a multi-racial crew, Gene Roddenberry cast him in "Where No Man Has Gone Before", the second Star Trek: The Original Series (1966) pilot. Mr. Sulu remained as a regular character when the series went into production.

After Star Trek: The Original Series (1966) was cancelled, Takei did guest stints in several television series, voiced Sulu for the animated Star Trek series and regularly appeared at Star Trek conventions.

One day younger than Elinor Donahue who starred with him in Star Trek: The Original Series: Metamorphosis (1967).

In the hiatus after the end of shooting the first season, he worked on The Green Berets (1968), playing a South Vietnamese Special Forces officer.

He also produced and hosted a public affairs show, "Expression East/West" aired in Los Angeles from 1971 to 1973.

In 1973, he ran for the Los Angeles City Council.

Has been an Associate Fellow of Pierson College at Yale University since 1979.

Has initially declined to appear in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), but William Shatner personally called him and persuaded him to star in the film.

Although he lost by a small margin, Mayor Tom Bradley appointed him to the board of directors of the Southern California Rapid Transit District, where he served until 1984 and contributed to plans for the subway. During this period, he co-wrote a sci-fi novel, "Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe".

George has run several marathons and was in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Torch Relay.

He gained a star on Hollywood Boulevard's Walk of Fame in 1986 and left his signature and hand print in cement at the Chinese Theater in 1991.

For the television special "The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation to the Next" (1988), George Takei explains how he once rode a Los Angeles plane with Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) star Patrick Stewart. They talked immediately after recognizing one another, but there were complications during final approach, unknown to either actor until landing. He joked to the pilots that the helmsman of the original Enterprise and captain of the Enterprise-D could have offered assistance.

Has been a jogger for many years, and runs marathons. In the Los Angeles Marathon, his best time, as of 1989, was 3 hours and 40 minutes.

He campaigned to get more respect for his character in the Star Trek features, resulting in Sulu finally obtaining the rank of captain in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), a role reprised in the Star Trek: Voyager (1995) episode "Flashback".

An asteroid between Mars and Jupiter (discovered on April 13, 1994) has been renamed 7307 Takei in his honor.

In 1996, he became the first original Star Trek: The Original Series (1966) series actor to go to a South American convention, in São Paulo, Brazil.

Has appeared as a contestant on ITV's I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! (2002). [November 2008]

He was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette by Emperor Akihito in 2004.

Reprised his role as Hikaru Sulu for the 2006 Internet-only series Star Trek New Voyages: Phase II (2004), after the suggestion of co-star Walter Koenig.

Appeared at Nippon2007, the first World Science Fiction Convention to be held in Japan (Yokohama). Along with promoting his own recent projects, he co-hosted the 2007 Hugo Awards. [August 2007]

He and his partner, Brad Takei, had been together more than 21 years before they were married on September 14, 2008. After the California Supreme Court struck down a ban on same-sex marriage in May, Takei and Altman were among the first gay couples to get a marriage license.