| From: [email protected] (ROGER BENNETT)
Newsgroups: clari.news.movies,clari.news.urgent
Subject: 'Star Trek' creator Gene Roddenberry dies
Date: 25 Oct 91 07:16:08 GMT
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (UPI) -- Producer and writer Gene Roddenberry,
whose visionary ``Star Trek'' is one of the most popular television and
movie series of all time, died shortly after collapsing in his doctor's
office. He was 70.
Roddenberry, who created ``Star Trek'' a quarter-century ago, died
Thursday of cardiac arrest about 20 minutes after being taken to Santa
Monica Hospital-Medical Center -- just across the street from his
doctor's office.
Roddenberry, a decorated WWII bomber pilot and former Los Angeles
police sergeant who was born in El Paso, Texas, was writer and producer
of the ``Star Trek'' series, which ran from 1966 to 1969, but via the
rerun it is seen around the world to this day.
The unflappable Capt. Kirk (William Shatner), the pointy-eared Vulcan
Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and the compassionate Dr. McCoy (DeForest
Kelley) created a cult, whose ``Trekkies'' convene annually to celebrate
their passion.
``He had an extraordinary vision about mankind and the potential of
mankind's future,'' Nimoy said.
Roddenberry also created ``Star Trek: The Next Generation,'' which
has a different cast and runs on syndicated TV. His wife, Majel Barrett,
was Nurse Chapel on ``Star Trek'' and the ``mother'' of Deanna Troi in
``Star Trek: The Next Generation.''
The movies and television shows were both infused with Roddenberry's
hope for the future and a sense of optimism that humans would eventually
develop the ability to get along with one another and with
extraterrestrials.
``Few ideas in the annals of motion picture and television history
have inspired more passion and allegiance on the part of an audience as
has ''StarTrek,`` said Paramount Pictures Chairman Brandon Tartikoff.
''Twenty-five years ago Gene Roddenberry imagined an optimistic future
for us all and his vision will live on well into that future.``
He was also generally viewed as being far ahead of his time by
presenting both female and minority characters on the series.
The most successful of the five movies was 1986's ``Star Trek IV: the
Voyage Home,'' in which the crew of the Starship USS Enterprise went
back in time to modern-day San Francisco in order to rescue whales. The
movie grossed more than $110 million domestically.
Roddenberry's death comes at a time when Paramount has started
gearing up the publicity for the last movie in the series, due to be
released on Dec. 13 and called ``Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
''
Several of the stars, including Shatner, said the movie would be the
last in the series using the original cast. The movie may also serve as
a springboard for the cast members of ``Star Trek: the Next Generation''
because it will include Michael Dorn, who plays a Klingon officer named
Worf in the TV show.
Roddenberry's life was nearly as exciting as those of his characters.
He flew 89 missions in WWII in B-17 bombers in the South Pacific,
winning the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal. He began to
write while in the South Pacific, selling stories to flying magazines
and poetry to publications including the New York Times.
When he returned from combat he became a trouble-shooter for the Air
Force, investigating the causes of air crashes. After the war he joined
Pan American World Airways. His plane crashed at night in the Syrian
desert on a flight from Calcutta and he directed a harrowing rescue that
included fending off nomads who came to loot the dead.
Back in the states, Roddenberry continued flying until he saw
television for the first time and realized its enormous potential.
Leaving his flying career behind, he went to Hollywood, where he found
the infant industry was not hiring a lot of writers.
A friend suggested he join the Los Angeles Police Department to see
life from a different perspective. As he was rising through the ranks to
sergeant, he was selling scripts to such programs as ``Goodyear Theatre,
'' ``the Kaiser Aluminum Hour,'' and ``Dragnet.'' With his writing
credentials established, he turned in his badge and practiced his craft
full time.
He was head writer for ``Have Gun, Will Travel,'' and his episode
``Helen of Abliginian'' won the Writers Guild Award. He next created
``The Lieutenant'' TV series, the story of a young Marine.
Next came ``Star Trek,'' whose first pilot was considered too
cerebral by the network and rejected. But once on the air, it became one
of the biggest hits of all time and is the only TV series to have an
episode preserved in the Smithsonian Institution, where an 11-foot model
of the USS Enterprise is also on display.
Roddenberry also produced the movie ``Pretty Maids All in a Row,''
starring Rock Hudson, Angie Dickinson and Telly Savalas.
Funeral arrangements were pending.
|
| Article: 2212
From: [email protected] (Rudi Schmid)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.info
Subject: New Gene Roddenberry book out in Aug.
Date: 18 Aug 1994 07:08:59 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Book available in August 1994:
Yvonne Fern. _Gene Roddenberry: The Last Conversation: A Dialogue With the
Creator of Star Trek._ University of California Press, 2120 Berkeley Way,
Berkeley, CA 94720-5810, USA, Aug. 1994, 244 pp., 5x8", illus., ISBN 0-520-
08842-5 (cloth), $20.00. [With a foreword by Arthur C. Clarke
--Rudi Schmid, Integrative Biology, UC Berkeley ([email protected])
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