STAR TREK's Majel Barrett-Roddenberry Dies at 76
The First Lady of Star Trek has set sail for the Undiscovered Country.
Majel Barrett-Roddenberry -- actor, producer, and widow of Trek creator Gene Roddenberry -- died at home in Los Angeles on Thursday, December 18th, of complications from Leukemia. She was 76 years old.
The only actor to have appeared, in one form or another, in every incarnation of Star Trek, Barrett devoted the years following Gene's death to protecting and furthering his legacy.
Born Majel Lee Hudec on February 23, 1932, the Ohio native spent the late 1950s and early 60s playing small parts in movies and TV shows. At Desilu Studios, where she was mentored in comedy by no less than Lucille Ball, Barrett appeared in several series, including a 1962 episode of Bonanza that co-starred future Trekker James "Scotty" Doohan.
The following year, Gene Roddenberry cast her in an episode of his cop show The Lieutenant, which starred eventual one-time Trekker Gary Lockwood. Barrett played with Leonard "Spock" Nimoy for Marc Daniels, who went on to direct 25 episodes of the first Trek series.
When he got the greenlight for his Star Trek pilot "The Cage," the still-married Roddenberry cast girlfriend Barrett in a major role: the unnamed "Number One," first officer of the starship Enterprise. To NBC execs, Nimoy's satanic-looking Vulcan character Spock was bad enough, but they couldn't stand the powerful female character played by an unknown actor. Worse still, according to future Trek star William Shatner, female test viewers thought "Number One shouldn't be trying so hard to fit in with the men." So, Barrett often joked afterward, Gene "kept the Vulcan and married the woman, 'cause he didn't think Leonard would have it the other way around."
Barrett got the consolation role of Nurse Christine Chapel for 25 episodes of the series, later returning as Doctor Chapel in Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
On August 6, 1969, two months after the original Trek series was cancelled, Majel and Gene held a Shinto-Buddhist wedding ceremony in Japan. They repeated their vows in a December 29th civil service, after the finalization of Gene's divorce.
Barrett returned to Trek for the early-70s animated series and for the feature films beginning in 1979. When the second live-action show, Star Trek: The Next Generation, launched in 1987, she put her comedic training to work as the domineering, mind-reading flirt Lwaxana Troi. The character gained depth and pathos in the succeeding years and even appeared on the spinoff Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the first series created after Gene's death in 1991.
Barrett's greatest legacy to Trek was in her role as the voice of the starship's computer for all six TV series and three of the theatrical features. She reprised the "part" for several video games, DVD-Rom books, and even an episode of the Internet fan-series Star Trek: New Voyages. The Union Pacific Railroad was impressed enough to make her the voice of its track-side defect detector devices. Barrett parodied her legacy on an episode of Family Guy as the computer voice of Stewie Griffin's "sperm" ship. Finally, only days before her death, she completed work as the Enterprise computer for JJ Abrams' Star Trek reboot film, due for release in May.
By attending conventions worldwide, Barrett acted as a Trek ambassador, earning the fan title "First Lady of Star Trek."
"My mother truly acknowledged and appreciated the fact that Star Trek fans played a vital role in keeping the Roddenberry dream alive for the past 42 years, noted her son, Eugene "Rod" Roddenberry Jr., in a statement. "It was her love for the fans, and their love in return, that kept her going for so long after my father passed away."
To honor Majel Barrett-Roddenberry's love for animals and dedication to animal rescue, her family has suggested tribute donations be made in her name to the C.A.R.E. or Precious Paws charities.
[Original article by IAN SPELLING. Thanks also to Memory Alpha, ComicMix and Wikipedia.]