George Takei

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Birthday:

20 April 1937, Los Angeles, California, USA

Birth Name:

George Hosato Takei

Height:

168 cm

Although primarily known for playing Hikaru Sulu in the television series Star Trek (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.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.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 Sora no daikaijû Radon (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 Playhouse 90 (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. Wanting a multi-racial crew, Gene Roddenberry cast him in "Where No Man Has Gone Before", the second Star Trek (1966) pilot. Mr. Sulu remained as a regular character when the series went into production. 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.After Star Trek (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. 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. 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". 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".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. His 1994 autobiography, "To the Stars", was well-received by more than just Star Trek fans. He remains active as a stage, television and film actor and as an advocate for the interests of Japanese-Americans. Show less «

[on William Shatner]: He's just a wonderful actor who created a singular character. No one could have done Kirk the way Bill did. His energy...Show more »

[on William Shatner]: 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. Show less «

(2005) The world has changed from when I was a young teen feeling ashamed for being gay. The issue of gay marriage is now a political issue....Show more »

(2005) The world has changed from when I was a young teen feeling ashamed for being gay. The issue of gay marriage is now a political issue. That would have been unthinkable when I was young. Show less «

[during a 2006 interview with Scott Simon on National Public Radio] I went to school in a black tar-paper barrack [as a child in internment ...Show more »

[during a 2006 interview with Scott Simon on National Public Radio] I went to school in a black tar-paper barrack [as a child in internment camps] and began the day seeing the barbed-wire fence, and thank god those barbed-wire fences are now long gone for Japanese Americans. But I still see an invisible, legalistic barbed-wire that keeps me, my partner of 19 years, Brad Altman, and another group of Americans separated from a normal life. That's what I've been advocating on the Human Rights Campaign Equality Tour--I call it the "Equality Trek". Show less «

[on the Occupy Wall Street movement] The struggle is not only social, economic and political - it is *structural*. No matter what side you a...Show more »

[on the Occupy Wall Street movement] The struggle is not only social, economic and political - it is *structural*. No matter what side you are on, it is worth listening to what they have to say. Show less «

John D.F. Black who wrote Star Trek: The Naked Time (1966) came to me and said he was thinking of having Sulu use a Samurai sword. I told hi...Show more »

John D.F. Black who wrote Star Trek: The Naked Time (1966) came to me and said he was thinking of having Sulu use a Samurai sword. I told him, "It certainly is ethnically appropriate because I am of Japanese ancestry but what about a rapier? I was born in this country and when I was a kid I didn't play Samurai. I played Robin Hood." He asked me if I know how to fence to which I replied, "Of course." That night I grabbed the phonebook and was furiously trying to find fencing schools so I could learn at least the basics. Show less «

I've run the marathon several times, so I definitely don't look like the Great Ancestor!

My memories of camp - I was four years old to eight years old - they're fond memories.

Star Trek (1966) is a show that had a vision about a future that was positive.

Plays close, movies wrap and television series eventually get cancelled, and we were cancelled in three seasons.

Yes, I remember the barbed wire and the guard towers and the machine guns, but they became part of my normal landscape. What would be abnorm...Show more »

Yes, I remember the barbed wire and the guard towers and the machine guns, but they became part of my normal landscape. What would be abnormal in normal times became my normality in camp. Show less «

To do theater, you need to block off a hunk of time.

And it seems to me important for a country, for a nation to certainly know about its glorious achievements but also to know where its ideals...Show more »

And it seems to me important for a country, for a nation to certainly know about its glorious achievements but also to know where its ideals failed, in order to keep that from happening again. Show less «

As you know, when Star Trek (1966) was canceled after the second season, it was the activism of the fans that revived it for a third season.

But when we came out of camp, that's when I first realized that being in camp, that being Japanese-American, was something shameful.

Every time we had a hot war going on in Asia, it was difficult for Asian Americans here.

I marched back then - I was in a civil-rights musical, "Fly Blackbird", and we met Martin Luther King.

I spent my boyhood behind the barbed wire fences of American internment camps and that part of my life is something that I wanted to share w...Show more »

I spent my boyhood behind the barbed wire fences of American internment camps and that part of my life is something that I wanted to share with more people. Show less «

I thought this convention phenomenon [Star Trek] was very flattering, but that's about the extent of it.

I'm a civic busybody and I've been blessed with an active career.

Then that did very well at the box office, so before you knew it, we were in a string of feature motion pictures. Then they announced that t...Show more »

Then that did very well at the box office, so before you knew it, we were in a string of feature motion pictures. Then they announced that they were going to do some spin-offs of us. Show less «

This is supposed to be a participatory democracy and if we're not in there participating then the people that will manipulate and exploit th...Show more »

This is supposed to be a participatory democracy and if we're not in there participating then the people that will manipulate and exploit the system will step in there. Show less «

Well, it gives, certainly to my father, who is the one that suffered the most in our family, an understanding of how the ideals of a country...Show more »

Well, it gives, certainly to my father, who is the one that suffered the most in our family, an understanding of how the ideals of a country are only as good as the people who give it flesh and blood. Show less «

Well, the whole history of Star Trek (1966) is the market demand.

You know, I grew up in two American internment camps, and at that time, I was very young.

I'm an Anglophile. I visit England regularly, sometimes three or four times a year, at least once a year.

[on the dark elements inhabiting the Internet] They're meddlesome, bothersome and irritating. But that's part of the society - the human ani...Show more »

[on the dark elements inhabiting the Internet] They're meddlesome, bothersome and irritating. But that's part of the society - the human animal. Yes, there are people who want to criticize just for the purpose of being mean, and they have problems. But if you start responding to them, it becomes raw meat to them. I find ignoring them is the best tactic. But sometimes, I learn something from the thoughtful, legitimate critiques and negative comments. You have to keep an open mind and a discriminating mind: to know what to read and be impressed by, and what to ignore. Show less «

[on Leonard Nimoy] The word extraordinary is often overused, but I think it's really appropriate for Leonard. He was an extraordinarily tale...Show more »

[on Leonard Nimoy] The word extraordinary is often overused, but I think it's really appropriate for Leonard. He was an extraordinarily talented man, but he was also a very decent human being. His talent embraced directing as well as acting and photography. He was a very sensitive man. And we feel his passing very much. He had been ill for a long, long time, and we miss him very much. Show less «

[on Galaxy Quest (1999)] I think it's a chillingly realistic documentary. [laughs] The details in it, I recognized every one of them. It is ...Show more »

[on Galaxy Quest (1999)] I think it's a chillingly realistic documentary. [laughs] The details in it, I recognized every one of them. It is a powerful piece of documentary filmmaking. And I do believe that when we get kidnapped by aliens, it's going to be genuine, true Star Trek fans who will save the day. I was rolling in the aisles. And Tim Allen had that Shatner-esque swagger down pat. And I roared when the shirt came off, and Sigourney [Weaver] roll her eyes and says, "There goes that shirt again." How often did we hear that on the set? [laughs] Show less «