Thursday, December 18, 2008

R.I.P. Majel Barrett Roddenberry

Majel Roddenberry, 'First Lady of Star Trek,' dies
NEW YORK (AP) -- Majel Barrett Roddenberry, the widow of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry, has died. She was 76. Roddenberry, an actress who appeared in numerous "Star Trek" TV shows and movies, died Thursday of leukemia at her home in Bel-Air, Calif., her representative said.

At Roddenberry's side were family friends and her only son, Eugene Roddenberry Jr. Gene Roddenberry died in 1991.

Her romance with Roddenberry earned her the title "The First Lady of Star Trek." A fixture in the "Star Trek" franchise, her roles included Nurse Christine Chapel in the original "Star Trek," Lwaxana Troi in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and the voice of the USS Enterprise computer in almost every spin-off of the 1966 cult series. She recently reprised the voice role in the upcoming "Star Trek" film directed by J.J. Abrams.

Of course, being the boss's wife, we never saw her true acting skills because our eyes were clouded by the nepotism factor. Decades later, when she became the outrageous Auntie Mame-like mother of Counselor Deanna Troi in Star Trek: The Next Generation, she wowed all of us and heartily dispelled that original prejudice.

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