On December 18, 2005 at 2PM PST [5PM EST] STAR TREK fans will have the opportunity to chat with, not only Rod Roddenberry, the son of the famous creator of the franchise, but also one of the very founding members of TREK, wife to Gene and mother to Rod, Majel Barrett Roddenberry.
Majel is and has been one of the driving creative forces throughout the entire history of the STAR TREK legacy. She started with the original 1964 pilot episode “The Cage” where she starred as the XO (Number One) to Captain Pike’s (Jeffery Hunter) Enterprise. This was a ground-breaking moment in television history to have a woman in such a prominent position of authority (although it took network heads nearly 30 years to follow-up with a female Captain in the person of Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) on STAR TREK: Voyager).
Majel went on to portray several roles on the 40 year history of the series and its spinoffs. From Nurse Chapel (later Dr. Chapel in the TOS movies), to Deanna Troi’s boistrous mother Luxanna Troi on the STAR TREK: The Next Generation series. But, most of her screen time was as the distinctive disembodied voice of the Enterprise’s onboard computer.
Majel and Rod will take questions from fans and discuss Rod’s upcoming documentary film “Trek Nation.”
To join in for this historic moment on December 18th, join them at chat.roddenberry.com.
It seems my source for the information on this story was in error and for that I apologize. Majel was not at this particular chat session, only Rod was.
Thanks Heather for clearing up that discrepency.
Sam