George Takei born 20 April 1937.George Takei is a Japanese-American actor best known for his role as Mr Sulu in Star Trek.
Despite the Takei family being interned in Arkansas during WW2, the family returned to their Los Angeles home and George Takei has been involved in local and national politics ever since.
In the 1960s he pursued a dream of acting, although Asian faces were rarely seen in the media at the time. In 1966, he met Gene Roddenberry who cast him as Sulu in Star Trek. He has made numerous appearances in TV and film, many of them as a voice artist, including six Star Trek films, and is a regular on the Sci-Fi convention circuit, whilst remaining active in politics. He has been an ambassador and spokesman for US-Japanese relations, as well as a prominent Japanese American.In October 2005, Takei revealed in an issue of Frontiers magazine that he is gay, and has been in a committed relationship with his partner, Brad Altman, for the last twenty-one years. He said 'It's not really coming out, which suggests opening a door and stepping through. It's more like a long, long walk through what began as a narrow corridor that starts to widen.'
Nevertheless, Takei's sexuality had long been an open secret among Trekkies, and Takei did not conceal his active membership in gay organisations including Frontrunners where Takei met Altman.
In January 2007, Takei began appearing on Heroes, playing the father of Hiro Nakamura, a time-bending otaku who also happens to be an obsessive fan of, among other things, Star Trek.
In May 2008, Takei announced that he and Brad Altman planned to wed, following the lifting of the same-sex marriage ban by the Californian Supreme Court.
Takei appeared on the 2008 series of the UK reality TV series I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here! He 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. His politeness and calmness made him popular with the other campers. Out of 15 participants the British public voted him into 3rd place behind 2nd placed Martina Navratilova and winner Joe Swash.
In 2004, the government of Japan conferred the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, which represents the fourth highest of eight classes associated with the award. This decoration was presented in acknowledgement of his contributions to US-Japanese relations.
Asteroid 7307 Takei is named in his honour.
George Takei - Official Website