George Takei

Takei is mostly known for his role in the original television series Star Trek (1966), but he has also a very productive acting career in radio, live theater, television and feature films. Besides his acting career, he is a committed community activist and writer. During WW II he and his family lived through the unfair internment that more than 120,000 japanese people had to face in the United States. They were first relocated in Camp Rowar in Arkansas, and then by the end of the war they were sent to a camp at Tule Lake in northern California. He graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1956, and went on to study architecture at UC Berkeley. His first roles came in 1956 when he acted as a soldier in postwar Japan who had suffer a lot in the war in a film named Playhouse 90. Later in 1960, he participated in Ice palace, year in which he graduated from UCLA. He earned his MA degree back in 1964. by this year he had already taken a series of odd jobs. In 1966, "Where No Man Has Gone Before" the Star Trek pilot, looked for a multi racial crew that included, afro Americans, Asian people and white people as well. Takei got the role of Mr. Sulu, and he remained as a regular character in the series. At the end of season 1in 1968, he got a part on a film called The Green Berets where he played a South Vietnamese Special Forces officer. Once Star Trek got cancelled, Takei appeared in several TV shows, and participated in the animated Star Trek series voicing his character Mr. Sulu. In 1971 he began working as the host of "Expression East/West", a public affairs show that stayed in the air until 1973. even though he did not win, he ran for the Los Angeles City Council in 1973. then, in 1984 he was appointed to the board of directors of the Southern California Rapid Transit District. In other areas of his life, we can highlight the fact that he has run quite a few marathons and was even part of Los Angeles Olympic Torch Relay in 1984. He has a star on Hollywood Boulevard's Walk of Fame. Other interesting facts about Takei tell us that he has appeared with Walter Koening in episodes of three series, being the most recent Futurama in 1999, Diagnosis Murder 1993 and Star Trek 1966. he has also been part of three different series with William Shatner, Futurama 1999, Star Trek 1973 and star Trek 1966.