Majel Barrett
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| Majel Barrett-Roddenberry | |
|---|---|
 Majel Barrett sits as she signs autographs at Gen Con in Indianapolis, Indiana on March 2, 2007. | |
| Born | Majel Leigh Hudec[1] February 23, 1932[1] Cleveland, Ohio, United States[1] |
| Died | December 18, 2008 (aged 76)[1] Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, United States[1] |
| Other name(s) | M. Leigh Hudec |
| Occupation | TV, film, voice actress |
| Spouse(s) | Gene Roddenberry (1969–1991)[1] |
| Official website | |
Majel Barrett-Roddenberry (born Majel Leigh Hudec, February 23, 1932 – December 18, 2008)[1] was an American actress and producer. She was also the widow of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry.[1]
As a result of her marriage to Gene Roddenberry and her ongoing relationship with Star Trek – participating in some way in every series to date – she was sometimes referred to as "the First Lady of Star Trek". She and Gene Roddenberry were married in Japan on August 6, 1969, after the cancellation of the original Star Trek series.[1]
Contents[hide] |
[edit] Biography
Born Majel Leigh Hudec on February 23, 1932, in Cleveland, Ohio,[1] Roddenberry began taking acting classes as a child. She attended the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, then had some stage roles and came to Hollywood. In the late 1950s and 1960s, she had bit parts in a few movies and small roles in TV series.[1] She worked at the Desilu Studios on several TV shows, including Bonanza, The Untouchables, The Lucy Show, and The Lieutenant. She received training in comedy from Lucille Ball. In 1960, she played Gwen Rutherford on Leave it to Beaver. She was also briefly seen in the film Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? in an ad parody at the beginning of the film. Barrett was the mother of Eugene Wesley "Rod" Roddenberry, Jr.[1]
[edit] Star Trek
In various roles, Barrett had been in every dramatic incarnation of the popular science fiction Star Trek franchise, including live-action and animated versions, television and cinema, and all of the time periods in which the various series have been set.
She first appeared in Star Trek's initial pilot, "The Cage," as the USS Enterprise's unnamed first officer, "Number One." Barrett was romantically involved with Roddenberry, whose marriage was then on the verge of failing, at the time, and the idea of having an otherwise unknown woman in a leading role with a position of authority, because she was the producer's girlfriend, it is said to have infuriated NBC network executives who insisted that Roddenberry give the role to a man.[2] In Star Trek Memories, which he dictated to Chris Kreski, William Shatner corroborated this, but he added that female viewers at test screenings hated the character as well.[3] Shatner noted that women viewers felt she was "pushy" and "annoying" and also thought that "Number One shouldn't be trying so hard to fit in with the men."[4] Barrett often joked that Roddenberry, given the choice between keeping Mr. Spock (whom the network also hated) or the woman character, "kept the Vulcan and married the woman, 'cause he didn't think Leonard [Nimoy] would have it the other way around."[5]
Her role in subsequent episodes of Star Trek was altered to that of Nurse Christine Chapel, a frequently recurring character, known for her unrequited affection for the emotionless Spock. In an early scene in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, viewers are informed that she has now become Doctor Chapel, a role which she reprised briefly in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Barrett provided several voices for Star Trek: The Animated Series, including those of Nurse Chapel and a communications officer named M'Ress, an ailuroid officer who served alongside Uhura. She would return years later in Star Trek: The Next Generation, cast as the outrageously self-deterministic, iconoclastic Betazoid Ambassador Lwaxana Troi, who appeared as a recurring character in the series. Her character often vexed the captain of the Enterprise, Jean Luc Picard, who spurned her amorous advances. Barrett later appeared as Ambassador Troi in several episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, where in stark contrast, she developed a strong relationship with Constable Odo.
She provided the regular voice of the onboard computers of Federation starships for Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and most of the Star Trek movies. She reprised her role as a shipboard computer's voice in two episodes of the prequel series Star Trek: Enterprise. She also lent her voice to various computer games and software related to the franchise. Roddenberry had also made a point of attending a major Star Trek convention each year in an effort to inspire fans and keep the franchise alive.[1]
Less than 10 days before her death, on December 9, 2008, Roddenberry Productions announced that she would be providing the voice of the ship's computer once again, this time for the 2009 motion picture relaunch of Star Trek.[1][6] Sean Rossall, a Roddenberry family spokesman, stated that she had already completed the voiceover work, approximately December 4, 2008.[1]
[edit] After 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. It was her love for the fans, and their love in return, that kept her going for so long after my father passed away." | ” |
She appeared as Primus Dominic in Roddenberry's 1973 post-apocalyptic TV drama pilot, Genesis II. After Roddenberry's death, Barrett took material from his archives to bring two of his ideas into production. She was executive producer of Earth: Final Conflict (in which she also played the character Dr. Julianne Belman), and Andromeda.
In a gesture of goodwill between the creators of the Star Trek franchise and of Babylon 5 (whose fans often engaged in a rivalry),[7] she appeared in the latter series' episode "Point of No Return", as Lady Morella, the psychic widow of the Centauri emperor, a role which foreshadowed major plot elements in the series.
Parodying her voice work as the computer for the Star Trek series, Barrett performed as a guest voice on Family Guy as the voice of Stewie Griffin's ship's computer in the episode "Emission Impossible".
The Union Pacific Railroad used her voice talent for their track-side defect detector devices, used in various locations west of the Mississippi River. When a defect is identified, the system responds with her recorded voice announcing information to the train crew over the radio.[8]
Barrett-Roddenberry died on December 18, 2008, at her home in Bel-Air, Los Angeles, California as a result of complications from leukemia. She was 76.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Jablon, Robert (2008-12-18). "Majel Roddenberry, widow of 'Trek' creator, dies", Associated Press, San Jose Mercury-News (San Jose, California), MediaNews Group. Retrieved on 18 December 2008.
- ^ Solow, Herbert F.; Justman, Robert H. (1996). Inside Star Trek: The Real Story. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0671896288.
- ^ Star Trek Memories, dictated by William Shatner and transcribed by Chris Kreski, which HarperCollins published, with the ISBN 0-06-017734-9, in 1993, made this claim in the chapter on "The Cage."
- ^ William Shatner, Star Trek Memories, Harper Collins, 1993. p.65
- ^ Bio and interview of Majel Barrett, "Creation presents Majel Barrett"
- ^ Roddenberry Productions press release, December 11, 2008; accessed December 18, 2008
- ^ http://www.ntua.gr/lurk/countries/co/guide/053.html
- ^ "Live Railroad Radio Communications". RailroadRadio.net. Retrieved on 2007-02-12. Select UP San Francisco Bay Area for real-time communications feed.
[edit] External links
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Majel Barrett |
- Majel Barrett article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki
- Majel Barrett at the Internet Movie Database
- Majel Barrett at Allmovie
- AP Obituary in the Los Angeles Times
- Obituary on User Friendly
 | Wikinews has related news: Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, wife of 'Star Trek' creator dies of cancer at 76 |
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