GENE RODDENBERRY
Name: Eugene Wesley Roddenberry
Born: 19 August 1921 El Paso, Texas
Died: 24 October 1991 Santa Monica, California
Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry, (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991) was an
American screenwriter and producer. He became best known as the creator of what
would become the science fiction universe of Star Trek. He would also become one
of the first people to be "buried" in space. Roddenberry was a recipient of the
Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions in the U.S. Army Air Corps in the
Pacific Theatre of World War II. Roddenberry was sometimes referred to as the "Great
Bird of the Galaxy" in reference to his role in Star Trek.
Born in El Paso, Texas, to Eugene Edward Roddenberry and Caroline Glen,
Roddenberry spent his boyhood in Los Angeles, California, where his family had
moved so his father could pursue a career with the Los Angeles Police Department.
Following in his father's footsteps after high school, Roddenberry took classes
in police studies at Los Angeles City College, and headed that school's Police
Club. In that role, he was a liaison with the FBI, thanking them for sending
speakers and securing copies of the FBI Code and publications for club use, and
took fingerprint records of the college community for the FBI's Civil
Identification Division.
Following his graduation from Los Angeles City College, Roddenberry attended
Columbia University, the University of Miami, and the University of Southern
California.
He later transferred his academic interest to aeronautical engineering and
qualified for a pilot's license. Roddenberry joined the U.S. Army Air Corps in
1941 and became an aviator. He flew many combat B-17 Flying Fortress missions in
the Pacific Theatre with the 394th Bomb Squadron (H), 5th Bomb Group, whose
members called themselves the "Bomber Barons." Roddenberry was awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal.
After leaving the service, he was a commercial pilot for Pan American World
Airways. He received a Civil Aeronautics commendation for his efforts following
a June 1947 crash in the Syrian desert, while on a flight to Istanbul from
Karachi.
Roddenberry left Pan Am to pursue writing for television in Los Angeles. In
order to provide for his growing family, he fell back on his early training and
joined the Los Angeles Police Department on February 1, 1949, when he took an
oath of office and was assigned LAPD badge number 6089. During his seven-year
service with the LAPD, Roddenberry would rise to become a police sergeant. He
resigned from the police force to concentrate on his writing career on June 7,
1956.
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."
Roddenberry married twice and had three children, two, both daughters, by his
first wife, the late Eileen Rexroat, to whom he was married 27 years; these were
Dawn Roddenberry and the late Darleen Roddenberry. He began having an affair in
the 1960s with Majel Barrett whom he cast in various roles in Star Trek. He left
his first wife and married Barrett in Japan in a traditional Shinto ceremony on
August 6, 1969. Together they had one child, his only son, Eugene Wesley, Jr.
Although he had been reared as a Southern Baptist, Roddenberry did not embrace
the faith of his parents, coming to blame organized religions for many wars and
much suffering in human history. Instead, he became a secular
humanist, joining the movement established by Paul Kurtz, a noted skeptic
when it came to matters of faith.
Roddenberry died on October 24, 1991, of heart failure. He was 70 years of age
when he died. After his death, a lipstick-sized capsule of his ashes was sent
into space to orbit Earth for just over five years, after which it burned up in
Earth's atmosphere.
Name: Eugene Wesley Roddenberry
Born: 19 August 1921 El Paso, Texas
Died: 24 October 1991 Santa Monica, California
Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry, (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991) was an
American screenwriter and producer. He became best known as the creator of what
would become the science fiction universe of Star Trek. He would also become one
of the first people to be "buried" in space. Roddenberry was a recipient of the
Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions in the U.S. Army Air Corps in the
Pacific Theatre of World War II. Roddenberry was sometimes referred to as the "Great
Bird of the Galaxy" in reference to his role in Star Trek.
Born in El Paso, Texas, to Eugene Edward Roddenberry and Caroline Glen,
Roddenberry spent his boyhood in Los Angeles, California, where his family had
moved so his father could pursue a career with the Los Angeles Police Department.
Following in his father's footsteps after high school, Roddenberry took classes
in police studies at Los Angeles City College, and headed that school's Police
Club. In that role, he was a liaison with the FBI, thanking them for sending
speakers and securing copies of the FBI Code and publications for club use, and
took fingerprint records of the college community for the FBI's Civil
Identification Division.
Following his graduation from Los Angeles City College, Roddenberry attended
Columbia University, the University of Miami, and the University of Southern
California.
He later transferred his academic interest to aeronautical engineering and
qualified for a pilot's license. Roddenberry joined the U.S. Army Air Corps in
1941 and became an aviator. He flew many combat B-17 Flying Fortress missions in
the Pacific Theatre with the 394th Bomb Squadron (H), 5th Bomb Group, whose
members called themselves the "Bomber Barons." Roddenberry was awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal.
After leaving the service, he was a commercial pilot for Pan American World
Airways. He received a Civil Aeronautics commendation for his efforts following
a June 1947 crash in the Syrian desert, while on a flight to Istanbul from
Karachi.
Roddenberry left Pan Am to pursue writing for television in Los Angeles. In
order to provide for his growing family, he fell back on his early training and
joined the Los Angeles Police Department on February 1, 1949, when he took an
oath of office and was assigned LAPD badge number 6089. During his seven-year
service with the LAPD, Roddenberry would rise to become a police sergeant. He
resigned from the police force to concentrate on his writing career on June 7,
1956.
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."
Roddenberry married twice and had three children, two, both daughters, by his
first wife, the late Eileen Rexroat, to whom he was married 27 years; these were
Dawn Roddenberry and the late Darleen Roddenberry. He began having an affair in
the 1960s with Majel Barrett whom he cast in various roles in Star Trek. He left
his first wife and married Barrett in Japan in a traditional Shinto ceremony on
August 6, 1969. Together they had one child, his only son, Eugene Wesley, Jr.
Although he had been reared as a Southern Baptist, Roddenberry did not embrace
the faith of his parents, coming to blame organized religions for many wars and
much suffering in human history. Instead, he became a secular
humanist, joining the movement established by Paul Kurtz, a noted skeptic
when it came to matters of faith.
Roddenberry died on October 24, 1991, of heart failure. He was 70 years of age
when he died. After his death, a lipstick-sized capsule of his ashes was sent
into space to orbit Earth for just over five years, after which it burned up in
Earth's atmosphere.