George Takei

format_quote STAR TREK is a show that had a vision about a future that was positive.

stars  When he met with Gene Roddenberry about a role on Star Trek, Roddenberry called him Takei (pronouncing it "Ta-kai"), which translates from Japanese to "expensive" (his name is pronounced "Ta-kay". It rhymes with "OK"). This is how Roddenberry remembered his name.

stars  Has stated that his favourite Star Trek episode is "The Naked Time".

stars  His father was an Anglophile, and named him George after King George VI of the United Kingdom, whose coronation took place in 1937.

stars  For the 1988 television special "The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation to the Next", Takei explains how he once rode an L.A. plane with Patrick Stewart. They talked immediately after recognizing one another, but there was complications during final approach. Unknown to either actor until landing. He joked to the pilots that the helmsman of the original Enterprise and captain of Enterprise-D could have offered assistance.

stars  He initially declined to appear in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982), but William Shatner personally called him and persuaded him to star in the film.