Historical Figure
Gene Roddenberry
1921–1991
American screenwriter and producer (1921–1991)
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"WPGU-FM Radio Interview" — November 7, 1974
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Biography
Eugene Wesley Roddenberry Sr. was an American television screenwriter and producer who created the science fiction series and fictional universe Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, where his father was a police officer. Roddenberry flew 89 combat missions in the Army Air Forces during World War II and worked as a commercial pilot after the war. Later, he joined the Los Angeles Police Department and began to write for television.
Timeline
The story of Gene Roddenberry, told in moments.
Pitches Star Trek to NBC as "Wagon Train to the Stars." The first pilot, "The Cage," is rejected for being "too cerebral." He rewrites it. The second pilot is accepted. The show will depict a multiracial crew on a starship in the 23rd century.
Star Trek premieres on NBC. A Russian, a Japanese helmsman, a Black woman, and a Vulcan share the bridge. In 1968, Nichelle Nichols and William Shatner perform one of television's first interracial kisses.
NBC cancels Star Trek after three seasons. Ratings are low. But syndication brings it to a new audience. By the mid-1970s, conventions draw thousands. NASA names its first space shuttle Enterprise after a write-in campaign.
Star Trek: The Next Generation premieres in first-run syndication. It runs seven seasons and spawns four films. Roddenberry is involved in the first season but his health declines rapidly.
Dies at Santa Monica at 70. His ashes are among the first to be sent into orbit, aboard a 1997 Pegasus rocket. They re-enter the atmosphere and are lost over the Pacific.
In Their Own Words (12)
I condemn false prophets, I condemn the effort to take away the power of rational decision, to drain people of their free will — and a hell of a lot of money in the bargain. Religions vary in their degree of idiocy, but I reject them all. For most people, religion is nothing more than a substitute for a malfunctioning brain.
As quoted in In His Name (2010) by E. Christopher Reyes, p. 39, 2010
He was a chiseler who wanted a cut of outside money his cast earned, demanded to be called 'master,' and prohibited poor Nimoy from using a company pencil.
William Shatner, "Shatner: Roddenberry Was A Chiseler" TrekMovie.com, June 2, 2008, 2008
He looked at me and said, "The difference between your agent and me is that your agent can't get you out of here at five o’clock on Friday and I can. And all it'll cost you is twenty percent"."Gene, I can't do that to this agent," I said. "He got me the job."And then he said, and I will never forget his exact words, "Well, you're just going to have to learn how to bow down and say master."
As quoted by Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner in Up Till Now "Shatner: Roddenberry Was A Chiseler" TrekMovie.com, June 2, 2008, 2008
We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful God, who creates faulty Humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes.
As quoted in Can A Smart Person Believe in God? (2004) by Michael Guillen, Ch. 7 : Hope Springs Eternal, p. 90, 2004
I think God is as much a basic ingredient in the universe as neutrons and positrons . . . God is, for lack of a better term, clout. This is the prime force, when we look around the universe.
"Teaching Toward the 24th Century: Star Trek as Social Curriculum", Karen Anijar, 2004, p.38; quoted in Sweeney, 1995:8, 2004
Artifacts (15)
It's hardly Paul McCartney leaving the Beatles, is it?
ecorded by just the Gallaghers and drummer Alan White, with Noel playing all guitar parts. He later commented on Bonehead's departure, "It's hardly Paul McCartney leaving the Beatles, is it?". After...
You know, imagine having the psychosis and going to a hospital and having to go ...
doctors did not understand the situation because of their misunderstanding for Gallagher's accent. He told about the experience: "You know, imagine having the psychosis and going to a hospital and...
Because we were always arguing, we'd still be working at nine o'clock every nigh...
red jobs in construction, but the relationship between father and sons continued to be tempestuous; Gallagher said, "Because we were always arguing, we'd still be working at nine o'clock every night."...
I liked drugs, I was good at them. But I'd had panic attacks for about a year an...
00 album Standing on the Shoulder of Giants. He said he stopped using illicit drugs on 5 June 1998. Gallagher stated in 2001, "I liked drugs, I was good at them. But I'd had panic attacks for about a...
if Noel Gallagher, the most successful songwriter of his generation, champions a...
he Prodigy and Weller, amongst others. Gallagher became so influential that a June 1996 NME article argued that "if Noel Gallagher, the most successful songwriter of his generation, champions a group,...
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