65 Facts About George Takei

1.

George Takei began pursuing acting in college, which led in 1965 to the role of Sulu, to which he returned periodically into the 1990s.

2.

George Takei has been a vocal advocate of the rights of immigrants, in part through his work on the 2012 Broadway show Allegiance, about the internment experience.

3.

George Takei's father named him George after King George VI of the United Kingdom, whose coronation took place in 1937, shortly after Takei's birth.

4.

In 1942, following the signing of Executive Order 9066, the George Takei family was forced to live in the converted horse stables of Santa Anita Park before being sent to the Rohwer War Relocation Center for internment in Rohwer, Arkansas.

5.

George Takei had several relatives living in Japan during World War II.

6.

George Takei attended Mount Vernon Junior High School and served as Boys Senior Board President at Los Angeles High School.

7.

George Takei was a member of Boy Scout Troop 379 of the Koyasan Buddhist Temple.

8.

George Takei attended the Shakespeare Institute at Stratford-upon-Avon in England and Sophia University in Tokyo.

9.

George Takei began his career in Hollywood in the late 1950s, providing voiceover for characters in the English dubbing of the Japanese monster films Rodan and Godzilla Raids Again.

10.

George Takei subsequently appeared alongside such actors as Frank Sinatra in Never So Few, Richard Burton in Ice Palace, Jeffrey Hunter in Hell to Eternity, Alec Guinness in A Majority of One, James Caan in Red Line 7000, and Cary Grant in Walk, Don't Run.

11.

George Takei starred as a landscaper of Japanese descent in "The Encounter", a 1964 episode of the Twilight Zone.

12.

George Takei guest-starred in an episode of Mission: Impossible during that show's first season in 1966.

13.

George Takei narrated the documentary The Japanese Sword as the Soul of the Samurai.

14.

When George Takei returned, the two men had to share a dressing room and a single episode script.

15.

George Takei admitted in an interview that he initially felt threatened by Koenig's presence, but later grew to be friends with him as the image of the officers sharing the ship's helm panel side-by-side became iconic.

16.

George Takei has since appeared in numerous television and film productions, reprising his role as Sulu in Star Trek: The Animated Series from 1973 to 1974, and in the first six Star Trek films, the last of which promoted his character to captain of his own starship.

17.

George Takei has acted and provided voice acting for several science fiction computer games, including Freelancer and numerous Star Trek games.

18.

George Takei is one of six actors to lend his voice to the 1997 video game Star Trek: Captain's Chair, reprising his role of Captain Hikaru Sulu when the player visits the bridge of the original Enterprise.

19.

In 1979, George Takei co-wrote the science fiction novel Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe with Robert Asprin.

20.

George Takei appeared in all four seasons of the show.

21.

George Takei appeared on the first episode of Secret Talents of the Stars, singing country music, but was not selected to proceed to the next stage.

22.

George Takei lived in the Australian bush for 21 days and nights, doing tasks along with fellow campers in order to gain better meals and survive eviction from the show.

23.

In 2009, George Takei appeared in an episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars as the Neimoidian general, Lok Durd, the first time a leading actor from Star Trek worked in a Star Wars production.

24.

In 2010, George Takei recorded a series of public service announcements for the Social Security Administration to help promote applying online for benefits.

25.

George Takei was one of the celebrities in the 12th season of The Apprentice.

26.

George Takei was fired in the third episode, which aired on March 4,2012.

27.

In 2012, George Takei starred in the musical Allegiance, which George Takei described as his legacy project.

28.

In 2013, George Takei was a guest judge in the TBS reality show King of the Nerds, in which he is one of three judges of the Cosplay Competition.

29.

George Takei wrote the foreword for the second volume of the Kevin Keller comics.

30.

George Takei appeared in the viral video for Bonnie McKee's song "American Girl" lip syncing the lyrics to her song.

31.

In January 2014, Jennifer Kroot's documentary film about George Takei, To Be George Takei, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

32.

In early 2017 George Takei was featured in television commercials promoting the restaurant Pizza Hut.

33.

In 2019, George Takei published They Called Us Enemy, a 208-page memoir in the form of a graphic novel, with a particular focus on his family's time in internment, co-written with Justin Eisinger and Steven Scott and illustrated by Harmony Becker.

34.

On February 23,2022, George Takei was the NCLS Kickoff speaker at USAFA, elaborating on his book and how his past influences his future.

35.

In October 2005, George Takei revealed in an issue of Frontiers magazine that he is gay and had been in a committed relationship with his partner, Brad Altman, for 18 years; the move was prompted by then California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's veto of same-sex marriage legislation.

36.

George Takei currently serves as a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign "Coming Out Project".

37.

In 2014, George Takei raised $100,000 for an adult Eagle Scout to start a web series, titled Camp Abercorn, documenting his experiences in the Boy Scouts of America after he was forced to leave, due to their anti-gay adult policy.

38.

In 2015, after the announcement of the US Supreme Court same-sex marriage decision, Obergefell v Hodges, Takei was critical of Clarence Thomas's dissent and called Thomas "a clown in blackface".

39.

George Takei was criticized for his response on Twitter to the shooting of Steve Scalise in June 2017.

40.

George Takei's response was widely criticized, with Jake Tapper calling it "unfathomable".

41.

On May 16,2008, George Takei announced that he and Altman would be getting married.

42.

George Takei was an alternate delegate from California to the 1972 Democratic National Convention.

43.

George Takei was called away from the set of Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1978 to cast the tie-breaking vote for the creation of the Los Angeles subway system.

44.

George Takei served on the board from 1973 to 1984.

45.

In 1980, George Takei began a campaign for California State Assemblyman from the greater Los Angeles area.

46.

In November 2010, George Takei released a PSA blasting Clint McCance, who was at the time the vice president of the school board for the Midland School District in southern Independence County, Arkansas.

47.

George Takei's video was made as a response to McCance making blatantly homophobic remarks, stating that he "enjoys the fact that [gay people] give each other AIDS and die".

48.

George Takei was praised for his response to McCance and garnered much media attention with the PSA.

49.

In May 2011, in response to a Tennessee State Legislature bill that prohibited school teachers or students from using any language that alludes to the existence of homosexuality, George Takei released another PSA in which he offered up his name, suggesting that people could just substitute that for 'gay'.

50.

On March 31,2017, George Takei announced his intent to challenge Devin Nunes, Republican incumbent House Representative for the 22nd District of California.

51.

George Takei formerly served as chair of the Council of Governors of East West Players, one of the pioneering Asian Pacific American theaters in the United States, until 2018.

52.

George Takei's father practiced Zen Buddhism and his mother practiced Shin Buddhism.

53.

George Takei kept a small shrine when the family was incarcerated at an internment camp during World War II.

54.

George Takei has gained attention for his Facebook page where his daily posts of humorous pictures have attracted over 9 million followers, some of whom are unfamiliar with George Takei or Star Trek.

55.

George Takei has been lauded as "the funniest guy on Facebook".

56.

In September 2013, George Takei used his Facebook page to defend Nina Davuluri, who was targeted by a backlash of racist and xenophobic comments after being named Miss America 2014.

57.

George Takei later appeared in a joint ABC interview with Davuluri, in which she revealed that she is a Trekkie.

58.

However, George Takei attracted criticism from some people with disabilities in 2014 for his posting of a meme on Facebook and Twitter which shows a wheelchair-using woman standing up to reach something from the top shelf in a store and is captioned "there has been a miracle in the alcohol isle" [sic].

59.

Disabled people responded that people need not be paralyzed to need wheelchairs; George Takei then removed the post and apologized on Facebook for his comments.

60.

In November 2017, former actor and model Scott R Brunton told The Hollywood Reporter that Takei drugged and groped him in Takei's condo in 1981, when Brunton was 23 years old.

61.

Snow consulted toxicologists, who suggested Brunton likely had postural hypotension rather than a drugged drink, and a former Senior Deputy District Attorney, who contended "there's nothing to prosecute" if it was the case that George Takei stopped physical contact with Brunton after being denied consent.

62.

In 1986, George Takei was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with a star at 6681 Hollywood Boulevard for his work in television.

63.

George Takei has a lengthy record of public service through his involvement with organizations such as the Japanese American Citizens League and the Human Rights Campaign.

64.

In November 2007, George Takei was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the San Diego Asian Film Festival.

65.

On September 28,2022, George Takei was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of South Australia in recognition of his distinguished service to the community.