George Takei is known around the world for his role in the acclaimed original TV series Star Trek, in which he played Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the starship Enterprise. But Takei’s story, which includes an acting career that spans six decades, goes where few have gone before. From a childhood spent with his family wrongfully imprisoned in Japanese American internment camps during World War II to becoming one of the country’s leading figures in the fight for social justice, LGBTQ+ rights and marriage equality, Takei remains a powerful voice on issues ranging from politics to pop culture.
Takei hosts the AARP-produced YouTube series Takei’s Take, exploring the world of technology, trends, current events and pop culture, and is the subject of the documentary To Be Takei. On his own YouTube channel, Takei and his husband Brad Takei bring viewers into their personal lives in the “heightened reality” web series It Takeis Two. He was a series regular in the second season of Ridley Scott’s anthology drama The Terror: Infamy, which premiered on AMC in August 2019.
His rich baritone has provided narration for the PBS series The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, the Peabody Award-winning radio documentary Crossing East, and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, which garnered Takei a Grammy nomination for Best Spoken Word Album. He has also done voiceover work for hundreds of video games, commercials, films and TV series such as Fox’s The Simpsons and Futurama; Disney’s Kim Possible, Mulan and Mulan 2; Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender; and Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Takei’s acting credits include co-starring in five Star Trek movies and appearances on such TV series as Fresh Off the Boat, Supah Ninjas, Hawaii Five-0, The New Normal, The Big Bang Theory, Heroes, Psych, Will & Grace, Miami Vice, MacGyver, The Six Million Dollar Man, Mission: Impossible and The Twilight Zone, among numerous others.
In 2015, Takei made his Broadway debut in the musical Allegiance, which was inspired by his true-life experiences during World War II. In 2017, he starred in a revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Pacific Overtures in New York City.
Takei is the author of four books, including his autobiography To the Stars. His fifth book, the New York Times bestselling graphic memoir They Called Us Enemy, was released in July 2019.
Takei has served as the spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign’s Coming Out Project and was Cultural Affairs Chairman of the Japanese American Citizens League. He is also chairman emeritus and a trustee of the Japanese American National Museum. He was appointed to the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission by former President Clinton and the government of Japan awarded Takei the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, for his contribution to U.S.-Japanese relations.
Takei received both Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees from UCLA (’60, ’64). In June 2019, Takei received the Distinguished Alumni Award in Theater from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.
Mashable.com named Takei the #1 most-influential person on Facebook. He currently boasts more than 10 million Facebook likes and three million Twitter followers, and he uses these platforms to share humor, news and his take on current events.
Photo Credit: Lorenzo Bevilaqua