Gene Roddenberry

This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Gene Roddenberry is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:

Related Sponsors

BM Pharmacy Generic pharmaceuticals at unbeatable prices. Insomnia, men's health, hair health, pain control. bmpharmacy.com
Online Pharmacy Carisoprodol, tadalafil, sildenafil, vardenafil and more... xlpharmacy.com
MedBasket.com Discreet. Inexpensive. Fast shipping. Great selection. What more can we say? medbasket.com
Frugalmed 2000 reasons to shop with us first. frugalmed.com
Ads by Tiva

 This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please improve this article if you can. (November 2008)
This article or section has been nominated to be checked for its neutrality.
Discussion of this nomination can be found on the talk page. (November 2008)
This article may require copy-editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone or spelling. You can assist by editing it now. A how-to guide is available. (August 2008)
Gene Roddenberry

Roddenberry in 1976
Born Eugene Wesley Roddenberry
August 19, 1921(1921-08-19)
El Paso, Texas
Died October 24, 1991 (aged 70)
Santa Monica, California
Occupation Television producer and writer
Spouse(s) Eileen-Anita Rexroat (1942–1969)
Majel Barrett (1969–1991)

Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry, (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991) was an American screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the creator of Star Trek, an American sci-fi series known for its immense influence on popular culture.

Roddenberry was sometimes referred to as the "Great Bird of the Galaxy" in reference to his founding role in Star Trek.1 He was one of the first to be "buried" in space.

Contents

Personal life

Gene Roddenberry was born in El Paso, Texas, to Eugene Edward Roddenberry and Caroline Glen. He grew up in Los Angeles, California, where his father worked in the Los Angeles Police Department. After graduating from high school, Roddenberry took classes in Police Studies at Los Angeles City College where he also became the head of the Police Club (he acted as a liaison for the FBI). Roddenberry furthered his studies at Columbia University, the University of Miami, and the University of Southern California.

Roddenberry developed an interest in aeronautical engineering and soon obtained a pilot's license. He joined the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1941 and flew many combat B-17 Flying Fortress missions in the Pacific Theatre with the 394th Bomb Squadron (H) 5th Bomb Group who called themselves the "Bomber Barons." He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal 2 for his service.

After leaving military service, Roddenberry became a commercial pilot for Pan American World Airways. He received a Civil Aeronautics commendation for his rescue efforts following a June 1947 crash in the Syrian desert while on a flight to Istanbul from Karachi. He eventually left Pan Am to pursue television writing in Hollywood. In order to provide for his family, he joined the Los Angeles Police Department on February 1, 1949 (he was assigned LAPD badge number 6089).3 During his seven-year service with the LAPD, Roddenberry was promoted to police sergeant. On June 7, 1956, he resigned from the police force to concentrate on his writing career full time.4 In his brief letter of resignation, Roddenberry wrote:

"I find myself unable to support my family at present on anticipated police salary levels in a manner we consider necessary. Having spent slightly more than seven years on this job, during all of which fair treatment and enjoyable working conditions were received, this decision is made with considerable and genuine regret."4

Family

Roddenberry was married twice and had three children. His first marriage was to Eileen Rexroat, which lasted 27 years. They had two daughters, Darlene (1947-1995) and Dawn (1953-). During the 1960's, he was involved in extra-marital affairs with Nichelle Nichols5 and Majel Barrett (1932-2008). He divorced Rexroat and married Barrett in Japan in a traditional Shinto ceremony on August 6, 1969. They had one child together—his only son, Eugene Wesley, Jr.6 Roddenberry's marriage to Barrett lasted until his death in 1991.

Beliefs

Although Roddenberry was raised as a Southern Baptist, he did not embrace the faith; he viewed religion as the cause of many wars and suffering in human history.citation needed Roddenberry considered himself a humanist.7

Death and funeral

Roddenberry died on October 24, 1991, of heart failure at the age of 70. In 1992, the lipstick-sized capsule carrying Roddenberry's ashes was placed on board the Space Shuttle Columbia on a STS-52 mission. In 1997, the capsule was sent into orbit; it eventually disintegrated in the atmosphere8.

Television and film career

 This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2007)

While Roddenberry was a LAPD police officer, he wrote scripts—under the pseudonym Robert Wesley—for television series such as Highway Patrol and Have Gun, Will Travel (the first-season episode, "Helen of Abajinian," won a Writers Guild of America Award).

Norway Corporation

Roddenberry's dissatisfaction with his work as a freelance writer for Have Gun, Will Travel and the difficulties he faced in adding anything substantial to his stories led him to produce his own television program. His first attempt, APO 923, was not picked up by the networks. In 1963, he formed a company called Norway Corporation, which produced The Lieutenant, a 1963-1964 NBC and MGM Television series about the United States Marine Corps that starred Gary Lockwood as Lieutenant William Rice. NBC refused to broadcast a series that dealt with racism in the military. Its first episode featured Nichelle Nichols, who later became Lt. Uhura in the original Star Trek series.

Star Trek

Roddenberry developed his idea for Star Trek in 1964 when he thought of combining Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon. Star Trek was picked up by Desilu Studios when Roddenberry sold the premise as a "Wagon Train to the Stars." The original $500,000 pilot received only minor support from NBC and its production went over budget, but the network commissioned an unprecedented second pilot. The series, a Norway Corporation production, premiered on September 8, 1966, and ran for three seasons. Although it was canceled due to low ratings, the series gained wide popularity in syndication. In the third and final season of Star Trek, Roddenberry offered to demote himself to the position of line producer in a final attempt to rescue the show by giving it a desired time slot. He resigned when this was not approved and accepted a staff producer position with MGM.

After Star Trek

His first project with the studio, Pretty Maids All in a Row, was a sexploitation film adapted from the Francis Pollini novel and directed by Roger Vadim. The cast included Rock Hudson, Angie Dickinson, Telly Savalas and Roddy McDowall alongside Star Trek regulars (James Doohan and William Campbell). It also featured Gretchen Burrell, the wife of country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons (a pictorial of her was published in a Playboy Magazine around this time). Despite Roddenberry's expectations, the film was not a success. His relationship with MGM studio was strained by this, although he did continue there until 1972.

Roddenberry pitched, through Norway Corporation, four sci-fi TV series concepts that were all produced as pilots but were not developed as series: The Questor Tapes, Genesis II, Planet Earth, and Strange New World. He also co-wrote and was executive producer on the made-for-television movie, Spectre (1977), which was designed as a backdoor pilot.

Unable to find work in the television and film industry, facing the possible bankruptcy of Norway Corporation, and fearful that he would be unable to support his family, Roddenberry heeded the advice of his good friend Arthur C. Clarke and began to find steady employment on the college lecture circuit, where contemporaries in a similar predicament, William Shatner and Timothy Leary, had both found success. He amused the fandom attendees with anecdotes from the Star Trek set and spoke of his visions for the future. He showed the Star Trek Blooper Reels, a collection of outtakes from the original series. These blooper reels drew criticism and ire from Leonard Nimoy, who felt Roddenberry was exploiting for money. Nimoy eventually sued Roddenberry and Paramount. The matter would not be resolved until production began for Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Roddenberry also exhibited a black and white print of unaired first series pilot "The Cage" at several conventions.

New Star Trek projects

Beginning in 1975, the go-ahead was given by Paramount for Roddenberry to develop a new Star Trek television series, with as many of the original cast to be included. It was originally called Phase II. This series would be the anchor show of a new network (the ancestor of UPN, which is now part of The CW Television Network), but plans by Paramount for this network were scrapped and the project was reworked into a feature film. The resulting Star Trek: The Motion Picture received a lukewarm critical response, but it performed well at the box office and saved Norway Corporation. As a result, several motion pictures and a new television series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, were created in the 1980s.

When it came time to produce the obligatory theatrical sequel, Roddenberry's story submission of a time-traveling Enterprise crew involved in the John F. Kennedy assassination was rejected. He was removed from direct involvement – effectively hobbling the power of Norway Corporation – and replaced by Harve Bennett.9 He continued, however, as executive consultant for the next four films: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. As consultant, Roddenberry was allowed to view and comment on all scripts and dailies emanating from the production, but the creative team was free to disregard Roddenberry's advice.

Roddenberry was deeply involved with creating and producing Star Trek: The Next Generation, although he only had full control over the show's first season. The WGA strike of 1988 prevented him from taking an active role in production of the second season, and forced him to hand control of the series to producer Maurice Hurley. While Roddenberry was free to resume work on the third season, his health was in serious decline, and over the course of the season, he gradually ceded control to Rick Berman and Michael Piller. Star Trek also spawned the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, the last film with the cast from the original Star Trek series, was dedicated to Roddenberry; he reportedly viewed an early version of the film a few days before his death.910

In addition to his film and TV work, Roddenberry also wrote the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. It was published in 1979 and was the first of hundreds of Star Trek-based novels to be published by the Pocket Books unit of Simon & Schuster, whose parent company also owned Paramount Pictures Corporation. Because Alan Dean Foster wrote the original treatment of the Star Trek: The Motion Picture film, there was a rumor that Foster was the ghostwriter of the novel. This has been debunked by Foster on his personal website (Foster, however, ghostwrote the novelization of George Lucas' Star Wars). Roddenberry talked of writing a second Trek novel based on his rejected 1975 script of the JFK assassination plot, but he died before he was able to do so.

Controversy concerning Roddenberry

Writers who worked for Star Trek have charged that ideas they developed were later passed off by Roddenberry as his own, or that he lied about their contributions and involvement to the show. Roddenberry was confronted by these writers, and he apologized to them; but according to his critics, he would continue the behavior.11

Roddenberry is occasionally criticised for his treatment of movie and script royalties related to Star Trek: He alienated composer Alexander Courage by demanding 50 percent of the royalties which Courage received for the show's theme song whenever an episode of Star Trek was aired.12 Later, while cooperating with Stephen Whitfield for the latter's book The Making of Star Trek, Roddenberry demanded – and received – Whitfield's acquiescence for 50 percent of the book's royalties. As Roddenberry explained to Whitfield in 1968: "I had to get some money somewhere. I'm sure not going to get it from the profits of Star Trek."13

Herbert Solow and Bob Justman observe that Whitfield never regretted his fifty-fifty deal with Roddenberry since it gave him "the opportunity to become the first chronicler of television's most successful series."14

In her autobiography, actress Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura in the first Star Trek series, reported having had a love affair with Roddenberry. She felt that his strong and controversial effort to get her on the show had a lot to do with their relationship.

Roddenberry's life and work has been chronicled in several works. Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry, written by friend David Alexander, is a flattering portrayal of Roddenberry's life that was received favorably by most readers, obscuring many of the troubles Roddenberry encountered in his later years. Much more controversial was Inside Trek: My Secret Life with Star Trek Creator Gene Roddenberry, written by Susan Sackett, his close associate for 17 years. While she displays unwavering affection, respect and admiration for her employer, Sackett's account hardly makes him out to be a saint. Recounted in brutal detail are his elongated dry spells throughout the 1970s, his addiction to cocaine, impotence, inability to finish creative projects and mental and physical decline from roughly 1989 onward.9

Despite his reduced management of Star Trek and the hobbled power of Norway Corporation near the end of his life, Roddenberry was respected enough that Paramount Pictures, owners of the various Star Trek series, agreed to his request that Star Trek: The Animated Series be stripped of its official recognition as canon by the studio (In 2007, Star Trek's official site included the animated series to its library section.15) According to the reference book, The Star Trek Chronology, Roddenberry also considered elements of the fifth and sixth Trek films to be apocryphal, though there was no indication that he wanted them removed from Trek canon.

Legacy

Roddenberry's star at 6683 Hollywood Blvd on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, presented in 1986.

After his death in 1991 in Santa Monica, California, Roddenberry's estate allowed for the creation of two long-running television series based on his previously unfilmed story ideas and concepts. Earth: Final Conflict and Andromeda were produced under the guidance of Majel Barrett-Roddenberry. A third Roddenberry storyline was adapted in 1995 as the short-lived comic book Gene Roddenberry's Lost Universe (later titled Gene Roddenberry's Xander in Lost Universe). Other projects were developed under the Roddenberry name but never made it to production stage, such as Gene Roddenberry's Starship, a computer-animated series proposed by Majel Barrett and John Semper for Mainframe Entertainment.16

The asteroid 4659 Roddenberry and an impact crater on Mars are named in his honor.

On October 4, 2002, the El Paso Independent School District Planetarium was renamed the Gene Roddenberry Planetarium. Eugene W. Roddenberry Jr. cut the ribbon at the dedication ceremony.

One of the buildings on the Paramount studio lot on Melrose Boulevard is the Gene Roddenberry building that houses production and administrative offices.

On June 16, 2007, the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle, Washington inducted Gene Roddenberry into their Science Fiction Hall of Fame, along with director Ridley Scott, artist Ed Emshwiller, and author Gene Wolfe. The presentation was made by actor Wil Wheaton and the dedication was accepted on behalf of the Roddenberry Family by his son, Eugene W. Roddenberry Jr.

Relationships with others

Patrick Stewart once said in an interview on Michael Parkinson's TV program that a reporter talked to Roddenberry about the choice of Stewart for the captain's role; the reporter said, "Look, it doesn't make sense. You got a bald actor playing this part. Surely, by the 24th century, they have found the cure for baldness." Roddenberry replied, "By the 24th century, no one will care." [1]

References

  1. ^ "Gene Roddenberry Biography". startrek.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
  2. ^ Edward B. Kiker (Winter/Spring 2004). "SOLDIERS OF VISION: We Don’t Stop When We Take off the Uniform" (PDF). Army Space Journal. Retrieved on 2008-12-21. "He took part in 89 missions and sorties, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal."
  3. ^ David Alexander.(1994) "Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry," Roc, p.104
  4. ^ a b Alexander, op. cit., p.141
  5. ^ Nichelle Nichols, Beyond Uhura: Star Trek and Other Memories, G.P. Putnam & Sons, New York, 1994.
  6. ^ David Alexander (1994). Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry. Roc. ISBN 0-451-45440-5. 
  7. ^ "Roddenberry Interview". The Humanist 51 (2). March/April 1991. 
  8. ^ "CNN - Space final frontier for Timothy Leary - Apr. 20, 1997". cnn.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-10.
  9. ^ a b c Susan Sackett (2002). Inside Trek: My Secret Life With Star Trek Creator Gene Roddenberry. HAWK Publishing Group. ISBN 1-930709-42-0. 
  10. ^ In Star Trek Movie Memories, which William Shatner dictated and which Chris Kreski transcribed, the chapter in which Shatner told Kreski about the sixth Star Trek motion picture ended with Roddenberry viewing the version in a private screening and promptly drafting a list of changes he wanted made. But by the time his attorney submitted that list, Shatner informed Kreski, Roddenberry himself was dead.
  11. ^ Engel, Joel (1994). Gene Roddenberry: The Myth and the Man Behind Star Trek. Hyperion Books. ISBN 0786860049.  Inside Star Trek: The Real Story (1996) commentary by Star Trek Producer Herb Solow, science-fiction convention talks by Star Trek writer Dorothy C. Fontana, and books and articles by Harlan Ellison.
  12. ^ "Unthemely Behavior". Urban Legends Reference Pages (2007-08-08). Retrieved on 2007-05-20.
  13. ^ Herbert Solow & Robert H. Justman, Inside Star Trek: the Real Story, Pocket Books, 1996, p.402
  14. ^ Solow & Justman, op. cit., p.402
  15. ^ The Animated Series Gets Real
  16. ^ "Mainframe Entertainment Lands Gene Roddenberry's 'Starship' for Computer Animated Television Series". BNet Research Center (1998-10-20). Retrieved on 2007-12-18.

Further reading

  • The Enlightenment and Captain James Cook; The Lono-Cook-Kirk-Regenesis by Janet Susan Holman
  • Alexander, David. Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry.
  • Engel, Joel. Gene Roddenberry: The Myth and the Man Behind Star Trek.
  • Fern, Yvonne. Gene Roddenberry: The Last Conversation.
  • Gross, Edward and Mark A. Altman. Great Birds of the Galaxy: Gene Roddenberry and the Creators of Star Trek.
  • Sackett, Susan. Inside Trek: My Secret Life with Star Trek Creator Gene Roddenberry.
  • Van Hise, James. The Man Who Created Star Trek: Gene Roddenberry.

Cast autobiographies

External links

Sister project Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Gene Roddenberry

Wikipedia content modification information:

  • This page was last modified on 9 January 2009, at 23:44.

Wikipedia Authorship and Review

Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.

Wikipedia Usage Guidelines

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Gene Roddenberry".

The URL for this specific entry is:

All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.