I have been informed that Majel Barrett Roddenberry has died. She is best known to many as Nurse Chapel aboard the original Starship Enterprise. Despite being a major celebrity, she was perfectly at ease joining the rest of us in the hospitality suites until all hours of the night.
Somewhere I have a photo of her behind the suite’s ‘bar’ counter chatting with Buzz Aldrin, Lori Garver and another close friend of mine, Beverly Freed at once of our International Space Development Conferences.
She and her husband Gene Roddenberry, who died in the early 1990’s, were strong supporters of the National Space Society’s goal of a solar system wide human civilization.
Here are a few links to photos of Majel I took at the 1993 ISDC in Huntsville, Alabama.
Majel accepting posthumous award on behalf of Gene Roddenberry.
Majel accepting posthumous award on behalf of Gene Roddenberry
Majel with Lori Garver (currently member of the Obama transition team for space policy)
Meanwhile, the band played on… Home on Lagrange anyone?
Note: the dates on the files are the dates on which the rolls were developed, not the dates they were taken. Photos were scanned from prints and thus the quality is not wonderful.
Dale I only hung out with rock stars.
I’m humbled son, humbled.
Now is not the time to insert James T Kirks version of Rocketman from the youtube archive is it?
No thought not 😉
Also known as Lwaxana Troi, Deanna Troi’s overbearing mother, in “Star Trek: The Next Generation”… and also as the omnipresent computer’s voice in all four series and many of the movies, including the upcoming prequel. R.I.P.
I’ve added a few photo links to the article.
She also was in a couple of episodes of Babylon 5 (the Centari Emperor’s wife in one, as I recall).
She also played Number One in the Star Trek pilot, and Nurse Christine Chapel in a couple of episodes of the original series. In that part you can see why Gene went for her; legs up to her armpits 😉
A good time to recall the not so flattering things written about Star Trek on Samizdata? hehe
I prefer to remember things like the time one of the NSS directors walked up behind me and said to the woman with him, here’s someone you should meet… it was Nichelle Nichols.
Or the time a very close woman friend of mine worked with NSS HQ and Gene Roddenberry to set up a $1000 a plate fund raising dinner for the society on the actual Star Trek set. I understand the real astronauts in attendence and the Star Trek actors were equally excited about meeting each other.
And then there was the time Jonathon Frakes attended. I remember him sitting at a table with fawning attention from quite a number of our senior female leadership! I suspect he was careful not be alone in a dark hallway at any time 😉
The people associated with Star Trek have always been good to NSS and whether or not Gene had a bit of a 60’s view of the universe is not something that much interests me. Quite a few of these people not only enjoyed their acting job, but were excited by the real thing as well.
And don’t forget that Scotty, also now deceased, in real life was on Omaha Beach (if I remember correctly). He had his ashes shot into the sky in a rocket.
Being Canadian, he was on Juno Beach, but yes he did hit bit and got shot up quite a lot.
Dont get me wrong now, I loved Star Trek, but it is just a bit of fun.
Ah but for you,
Ze fun is over!
Here’s that clip. When I sent it to Nick M, he said it took 5 years off his life, and he’s a robust lad…
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=NN3MGN899yE
Acting and ideas be different things Perry.
For example, I hold “Star Trek: New Generation” to be socialist crap (as opposed to the original Star Trek which was mostly “schools, hospitals – L.B.J. all the way” in its politics) – but that does not mean I think the actors do a bad job. Actually they do a good job.
And this lady did a good job in both old and new Star Trek.
Even as a child I did not think much of the Federation handing out “schools and hospitals” to every other people it met (and I noticed that this was in direct contradiction to the “Prime Directive” mentioned in other episodes – which meant they were not supposed to get involved in primitive societies at all, not even to trade with them). However, I still enjoyed the show (most of the time).
Keeping the children amused is not a bad way to make a living.
Of course it would have been nice if there had actually been a proper story – as with Babylon Five, but one can not have everything all the time (and B5 was messed about in ways that Star Trek could not be – after all with S.T. it does not matter if the episodes are shown out of order, or some are missed out or never made).
Making a show as entertainment means it is robust.
Yes I would always rather watch B5, or Firefly, or even Farscape.
But the cash says most people do not agree with me.
So the makers of the Star Trek shows must have been doing something right.
Last point:
“Deep Space Nine” (although a B5 ripoff) was often in danger of making sense.
For example, the Federation actually had a real intelligence service in B5 – and they kept their use of things like “cloaking techology” secret from Picard types.
The standard Federation – do not use technology that your foes use (i.e. die), always let the enemy have the first shot (i.e. die) and so on, did not operate in Deep Space Nine.
Although, of course, private business was still treated as lower than dirt – and the state was expected to solve all material problems.
Still at least private business did not get endless bailouts on Star Trek.
“Real life” undermines faith in private enterprise vastly more than any fictional show can.
Acting and ideas be different things Perry.
For example, I hold “Star Trek: New Generation” to be socialist crap (as opposed to the original Star Trek which was mostly “schools, hospitals – L.B.J. all the way” in its politics) – but that does not mean I think the actors do a bad job. Actually they do a good job.
And this lady did a good job in both old and new Star Trek.
Even as a child I did not think much of the Federation handing out “schools and hospitals” to every other people it met (and I noticed that this was in direct contradiction to the “Prime Directive” mentioned in other episodes – which meant they were not supposed to get involved in primitive societies at all, not even to trade with them). However, I still enjoyed the show (most of the time).
Keeping the children amused is not a bad way to make a living.
Of course it would have been nice if there had actually been a proper story – as with Babylon Five, but one can not have everything all the time (and B5 was messed about in ways that Star Trek could not be – after all with S.T. it does not matter if the episodes are shown out of order, or some are missed out or never made).
Making a show as entertainment means it is robust.
Yes I would always rather watch B5, or Firefly, or even Farscape.
But the cash says most people do not agree with me.
So the makers of the Star Trek shows must have been doing something right.
Last point:
“Deep Space Nine” (although a B5 ripoff) was often in danger of making sense.
For example, the Federation actually had a real intelligence service in B5 – and they kept their use of things like “cloaking techology” secret from Picard types.
The standard Federation – do not use technology that your foes use (i.e. die), always let the enemy have the first shot (i.e. die) and so on, did not operate in Deep Space Nine.
Although, of course, private business was still treated as lower than dirt – and the state was expected to solve all material problems.
Still at least private business did not get endless bailouts on Star Trek.
“Real life” undermines faith in private enterprise vastly more than any fictional show can.