As Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, George Takei piloted the Starship Enterprise for many years. The “Star Trek” star no longer takes on major roles. But at the age of 85 he sets the tone as an activist and author.
George Takei rose to fame over 55 years ago as the helmsman Hikaru Sulu of the Starship Enterprise. At 85, the “Star Trek” star still likes to introduce himself as Lieutenant Sulu – but he also presents himself to his more than three million Twitter followers as “bestselling author, resistance fighter, husband”. The actor, who celebrates his 85th birthday on Wednesday (April 20), is also nicknamed the ‘King of the Internet’.
The openly gay and ultra-liberal star posts daily on social media: he appears as a vocal opponent of Donald Trump, as an advocate of LGBTQI rights, as a mouthpiece for minorities and the socially disadvantaged.
childhood behind bars
His activism is shaped by a traumatic childhood experience. Takei was born in Los Angeles in 1937. His father came to the United States from Japan when he was a boy, and his mother was born in California. But when Takei was five years old, the family of five was detained. She lived in a camp for four years. “I grew up behind barbed wire fences,” Takei told the Washington Post in February. “It was a terrible time. People hated us, spat on us and attacked us,” says the actor about discrimination against Asians in the US during World War II.
After Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in late 1941, over 120,000 people of Japanese descent were interned in the United States.
The tireless activist portrays this dark chapter in US history in the graphic novel They Called Us Enemy: A Childhood in an Internment Camp. His picture story was nominated for the German Youth Literature Prize in 2021.
Sulu was THE breakthrough opportunity
When he made his Broadway debut with the musical “Allegiance” at the age of 78, it was about this traumatic experience, about hatred and prejudice.
The “Star Trek” star likes to look back on the most famous role of his career, as chief physicist and helmsman Hikaru Sulu, as he says. It was an exception to the role stereotypes for Asians in Hollywood at the time. “I was part of a leadership team. It was a breakthrough opportunity, not just for me, but for the image of Asians on screen,” Takei told the Washington Post. The creator of “Starship Enterprise”, Gene Roddenberry, already saw diversity as a strength back then.
The original series about Captain Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and the rest of the Enterprise crew ran on US television from 1966 to 1969. The space saga became a cult, followed by spin-offs and over a dozen feature films.
Only outed at the age of 68
In 1986, Takei became the first actor of Japanese descent to be honored with a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. At the age of 68 he publicly admitted he was gay and at the age of 71 he married his longtime partner Brad Altman. Takei was the first prominent man to take advantage of the new California gay marriage law in 2008.
