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In September 1987, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" continued the legend
that Gene Roddenberry began more than 25 years ago.
As creator and producer of the original "Star Trek" television series,
he launched a phenomenon without precedent in show
business and attained a celebrity status unique among his peers. Although
Gene Roddenberry passed away October 24, 1991, his
legacy remains as "Star Trek: The Next Generation" continues to maintain
his vision of the future.
While making "Star Trek," Roddenberry's reputation as a futurist began
to grow. His papers and lectures earned him high
professional regard in that field. He spoke on the subject at NASA
meetings, the Smithsonian Institution, Library of Congress
gatherings and top universities.
As creator of the beloved Starship Enterprise and its crew, which included
the dauntless Captain Kirk and the pointy-eared, logical
Vulcan Mr. Spock, Roddenberry unwittingly unleashed a phenomenon in
which "Star Trek" enthusiasts became a veritable cult.
numbering physicists, aerospace engineers, housewives, senators, children,
teachers and intellectuals among its devotees
(affectionately known as "Trekkies"). The show went outside television
to win science fiction's coveted Hugo Award and then
ultimately became a succession of feature films (six to date).
Gene Roddenberry led a life as colorful and exciting as almost any high-
adventure fiction. He was born in El Paso, Texas, on
August 19, 1921, spent his boyhood in Los Angeles, studied three years
of college pre-law and then transferred his academic
interest to aeronautical engineering and qualified for a pilot's license.
He volunteered for the U.S. Army Air Corps in the fall of
1941 and was ordered into training as a flying cadet as the war began.
Emerging from Kelly Field, Texas, as a Second Lieutenant, Roddenberry
was sent to the South Pacific where he entered combat
at Guadalcanal, flying B-17 bombers out of the newly-captured Japanese
airstrip, which became Henderson Field. He flew
missions against enemy strongholds at Bougainville and participated
in the Munda invasion. In all, he took part in 89 missions and
sorties. He was decorated with the Distinguished flying Cross and the
Air Medal.
While in the South Pacific, he also began to write. He sold stories
to flying magazines, and later poetry to publications including The
New York Times. Upon his return from combat, he became a trouble-shooter
for the Air Force working out of Washington, D.C.,
investigating the causes of air crashes. At war's end, he joined Pan
American World Airways. During this time, he also studied
literature at Columbia University.
It was on a flight from Calcutta that his plane lost two engines and
caught fire in flight, crashing at night in the Syrian desert. As
the senior surviving officer, Roddenberry sent two Englishmen swimming
across the Euphrates River in quest of the source of a
light he had observed just prior to the crash impact. Meanwhile, he
parleyed with nomads who had come to loot the dead. The
Englishmen reached a Syrian military outpost, which sent a small plane
to investigate. Roddenberry returned with the small plane to
the outpost, where he broadcast a message that was relayed to Pan Am,
which sent a stretcher plane to the rescue. Roddenberry
later received a Civil Aeronautics commendation for his efforts during
and after the crash.
Back in the States, Roddenberry continued flying until he saw television
for the first time. Correctly estimating television's future,
he realized that the new medium would need writers and decided that
Hollywood's film studios would soon dominate the new
industry. He acted immediately, left his flying career behind and went
to Hollywood, only to find the television industry still in its
infancy, with few openings for inexperienced writers. At a friend's
suggestion, he joined the Los Angeles Police Department in
order to see life from perspectives valuable to a writer.
By the time he had become Sergeant, Roddenberry was selling scripts
to such shows as "Goodyear Theatre," "The Kaiser
Aluminum Hour." "Four Star Theater," "Dragnet," "The Jane Wyman Theater"
and "Naked City." Established as a writer, he turned
in his badge and became a freelancer. Later, he served as head writer
for the highly popular series "Have Gun, Will Travel." His
episode "Helen of Abiginian" won the Writers Guild Award and was distributed
to other writers as a model script for the series.
Next, he created and produced "The Lieutenant" TV series, starring
Gary Lockwood and Robert Vaughn, the story of a young
man learning the lessons of life while in the United States Marine
Corps.
"Star Trek" followed (1966-l969). The first of two pilots was pronounced
"too cerebral" by the network and rejected. Once on the
air, however, "Star Trek" developed a loyal following and has since
become the first television series to have an episode preserved
in the Smithsonian, where an 11-foot model of the U.S.S. Enterprise
is also exhibited on the same floor as the Wright brothers'
original airplane and Lindbergh's "Spirit of St. Louis." In addition
to the Smithsonian honors, NASA's first space shuttle was named
"Enterprise," in response to hundreds of thousands of letters from
fans demanding that the shuttle be named after the beloved
Starship.
After the "Star Trek" series ended, Roddenberry produced the motion
picture "Pretty Maids All in a Row," starring Rock Hudson,
Angie Dickinson and Telly Savalas, and has also made a number of pilots
for TV. Among these are "Genesis II" for CBS (1973),
about Earth recovering from World War III. Next came "The Questor Tapes"
for NBC (1974), the story of an android in search of
his creator, then a sequel to "Genesis II" -- "Planet Earth," for ABC.
He also co-wrote and produced "Spectre" (1977), a two- hour
horror movie for NBC.
Roddenberry served as a member of the Writers Guild Executive Council
and as a Governor of the Academy of Television Arts
and Sciences. He held three honorary doctorate degrees: Doctor of Humane
Letters from Emerson College in Boston, Mass.;
Doctor of Literature from Union College in Los Angeles (1977), and
Doctor of Science from Clarkson College in Potsdam, New
York (1981).
On September 4, 1986, Gene Roddenberry's fans presented him with a star
on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the first
writer/producer to be so honored. "Star Trek: The Next Generation,"
in its first year in syndication, was awarded with the 1987
Peabody Award for the "Best of the Best." To date, the series has garnered
a total of eleven prestigious Emmy awards. In
February 1990, the March of Dimes honored Roddenberry with the Jack
Benny Memorial Award for lifetime achievement.
On Thursday, October 24, 1991 Gene Roddenberry passed away and a world
not so far away mourned the loss of one of
television's foremost pioneers. He is survived by his wife Majel Barrett
("Nurse Chapel" from "Star Trek" and "Lwaxana Troi" in
"Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine")
and their 19-year-old son, Gene Roddenberry, Jr. He is also
remembered by his two grown daughters, Darlene and Dawn, from a previous
marriage, as well as two grandchildren.
Star
Trek, Star Fleet, and the Star Fleet Logo are all copyrighted© by
Paramount Pictures. All rights reserved.
