Actor and activist George Takei is known on multiple fronts for playing Lieutenant Sulu on the original Star Trek and the film series, an actor with 228 credits to his name, a prominent figure for LGBTQ and Japanese-American groups, and a popular personality on social media. As Takei’s 84th birthday is this week, we thought it was the perfect time to take a closer look at his life and career.

Takei was born in Los Angeles on April 20, 1937. When he was 5 years old, his family was pulled from their homes and forced to live in Japanese internment camps in northern California and Arkansas. After World War II, his family returned to LA and later he studied architecture at the University of California at Berkeley.

His acting career began while he was in college, working on English dubbing of the Japanese kaiju movies Godzilla Raids Again (1955) and Rodan (1956). After doing a guest spot on Perry Mason and starring in the movie Ice Palace, Takei decided to make acting his full time focus. He transferred to UCLA and earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in theater. In the early ‘60s, he had guest spots on shows like The Islanders, Hawaiian Eye, The Twilight Zone, My Three Sons, I Spy, and Mission: Impossible.

When Takei joined Star Trek, he became one of the few Asian actors in a starring role on a TV show. Sulu was designed as the chief of the Astro Science Department who would assess unexplored planets to determine if they were safe to explore. The character would develop into the Enterprise’s third officer whose hobbies include gymnastics, fencing, and botany. 

His mission as Sulu continued by providing his voice for the Star Trek: The Animated Series in 1973. He returned in ’79 for Star Trek: The Motion Picture where he was promoted to lieutenant commander, then he became a full commander for 1982’s Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Takei was back for Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989). Sulu was promoted to captain and given command of the USS Excelsior before Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

While filming Star Trek, Takei was also in The Green Berets with John Wayne. After the original series finished, he continued TV work with guest roles in The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, The Six Million Dollar Man, Hawaii Five-O, Chico and the Man, and multiple others throughout the ‘70s. Outside of acting, he was on the board of directors for the Southern California Transit District from ’73 to ’84. In addition to the Star Trek movies, his ‘80s credits included Beyond Westworld, General Hospital, MacGyver, Murder, She Wrote, Miami Vice, and voice work for The Smurfs.

He started voicing Sulu for Star Trek video games in the ‘90s, first with Star Trek: 25th Anniversary, and he reprised the live-action role for an appearance on Star Trek: Voyager. More voice work followed throughout the ‘90s, including in The Simpsons, Spider-Man: The Animated Series as Wong, Mulan as the First Ancestor, and Batman Beyond as Mr. Fixx.

Takei has stayed very busy over the last 20 years in both live-action and voice TV work. Highlights from the 2000s included a recurring voice role on Kim Possible, voicing Lok Durd on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and a recurring role on Heroes. In the 2010s, he played himself on The Big Bang Theory, voiced Grandfather for Supah Ninjas, voiced his head in Futurama, was in Lost Girl, starred in The Terror, and voiced Elder Panda on Love Monster. Off screen, he starred in Allegiance, a play about the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II in 2012.

Takei has utilized his celebrity status to be an activist for the Japanese-American and LGBTQ communities. He was on the board of the Japan-United States Friendship Commission for President Clinton and in 2004 his Majesty the Emperor of Japan granted Takei the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette. For the Japanese American National Museum’s board of trustees, he is a chairman emeritus, and he chairs the council of governors for the Asian-American theater organization, East West Players. In 2019 he wrote his memoir in the graphic novel, They Called Us Enemy, published by Top Shelf Productions and IDW Publishing.

In 2005, Takei came out as being gay to Frontiers magazine, and then in 2008, he married his longtime partner, Brad Altman. Since coming out, he openly discussed homosexuality with shock jock Howard Stern, is a spokesperson for the Coming Out Project, has participated in pride parades, raised money for an eagle scout’s web series, Camp Abercorn, after the man was forced to leave the Boy Scouts of America, and was a vocal critic of the US Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage decision in 2015.

His modern popularity has been further cemented due to his clever, funny, poignant, and passionate presence on social media platforms.

Takei’s voyage is definitely worthy of exclaiming, “oh my!”