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Takei, George (1937– )
This Japanese-American actor, community activist,
and writer was born on April 20, 1937, in Los An-
geles, California. He is known primarily for playing
Mr. Sulu (later Captain Sulu) in the original Star
Tr e k television series and first six films, although
his acting career includes participation in more
than 30 movies and 100 television shows. Takei
studied architecture at the University of California
at Berkeley until a small part in a film convinced
him that acting was the career he was meant for.
He then transferred to UCLA to study theater arts,
acting in various films and theater productions
during those years. His first film was Ice Palace,
starring Richard Burton, in 1959. He was cast by
Gene Roddenberry in “Where No Man Has Gone
Before,” the second Star Trek pilot in 1966, which
led to his becoming a regular when the series went
into production. Because of his distinguished ca-
reer, he received a star on Hollywood Boulevard’s
Walk of Fame in 1986, and he placed his signature
and handprint in the forecourt of the landmark
Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood in 1991.
Apart from his work in film, Takei has been ac-
tive in politics and was a member of the board of
directors of the Southern California Rapid Tran-
sit District from 1973 to 1984. President Clinton
appointed him to the board of the Japan-United
States Friendship Commission, on which he served
two terms, and for which the emperor of Japan
awarded him in 2004 the Order of the Rising Sun.
Takei has played a vital role in Japanese-American
community affairs, such as the East West Players,
the nation’s foremost Asian Pacific American the-
ater, and has worked actively for decades with the
Japanese American National Museum.
Takei’s autobiography, To the Stars (1994),
opens with his family’s evacuation, along with
more than 120,000 Japanese Americans to the
internment camps at the outbreak of World War
II. He spent years of his childhood at Camp Ro-
hwer in Arkansas and at Tule Lake in northern
California. This autobiography is one of a few
that effectively chart the successful trajectory of
a Japanese-American subject in the context of the
changing historical and political circumstances
of the United States in the last 60 years. Written
chronologically and clearly, Takei’s autobiography
describes his growing sense of ethnic identity in
the different contexts he occupied, as well as his
determination to make the history of the Japa-
nese in America part of the country’s awareness
of itself. Much of the text also describes his years
working in Hollywood, which are of particular in-
terest to the legions of Star Trek fans. Takei’s first
memory, as articulated in To the Stars, is the train
journey to Rohwer, which his parents convinced
their three young children was a vacation. The
writer cleverly juxtaposes the child’s perspective
on this adventure with the adult’s awareness of the