Trivia

During World War II, Takei lived with his family in several government internment camps for people of Japanese ancestry. President Franklin Roosevelt signed the applicable Executive Order No. 9066, on February 19th 1942. In December 1944, President Roosevelt suspended Executive Order 9066. Incarcerees were released, often to resettlement facilities and temporary housing, and the camps were shut down by 1946. Ironically, George shares a birthday with Adolf Hitler; he was born on Hitler's 48th birthday so he was still alive.

When he met with Gene Roddenberry about a role on Star Trek (1966), Roddenberry called him Takei (pronouncing it "Ta-KAI"), which translates from the Japanese as "expensive" or "tall" (his name is actually pronounced "Ta-KAY", which rhymes with "okay"). This is how Roddenberry remembered his name.

His family was incarcerated at an internment camp in Arkansas when he was 4 to 8 years old. He learned to recite the Pledge of Allegiance while surrounded by guard towers and barbed-wire fences.

Has initially objected to the scene in Star Trek 3: Truy Tìm Spock (1984) where the tall Starfleet guard calls him "tiny". When the scene was screened for audiences, the audiences cheered Sulu (Takei) when he defeated the tall guard, and Takei later apologized to writer Harve Bennett for it.

At the University of California, Los Angeles, he and classmate Francis Ford Coppola made a student film together called "Christopher".

Attended and graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles. His major was Theater Arts and his minor was Latin American Studies. His father said that both of those areas of study meant that he would be supporting George for the rest of his life.

Has made guest appearances on both Hawaii Five-O (1968) and Biệt Đội Hawaii (2010).

For the television special "The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation to the Next" (1988), George Takei explains how he once rode a Los Angeles plane with Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) star Patrick Stewart. They talked immediately after recognizing one another, but there were complications during final approach, unknown to either actor until landing. He joked to the pilots that the helmsman of the original Enterprise and captain of the Enterprise-D could have offered assistance.

Has played the same character (Hikaru Sulu) on three different series: Star Trek (1966), Star Trek (1973) and Star Trek: Voyager (1995).

Speaks Japanese and Spanish fluently.

Is named after King George VI of the United Kingdom.

Among his first acting jobs was as a voice artist. Although he was only a teenager, he dubbed English dialog for adult characters in Japanese films being released in the United States.

An asteroid between Mars and Jupiter (discovered on April 13, 1994) has been renamed 7307 Takei in his honor.

His best man at his wedding was Walter Koenig.

Has initially declined to appear in Star Trek 2: Cơn thịnh nộ của Khan (1982), but William Shatner personally called him and persuaded him to star in the film.

The youngest cast member of the original Star Trek (1966) series.

Along with Robert Duncan McNeill and Robert Picardo, he is one of only three "Star Trek" regulars to wear all three uniform colours. He wore a blue (medical/science) uniform in the second Star Trek (1966) pilot, Where No Man Has Gone Before (1966), the gold (command) uniform in every subsequent episode of the series in which he appeared and the red (security) uniform in Mirror, Mirror (1967).

His father was an Anglophile, and named him George Takei after King George VI of the United Kingdom, whose coronation took place on May 12, 1937.

His character Kaito Nakamura's last name is his mother's maiden name.

Reprised his role as Hikaru Sulu for the 2006 Internet-only series Star Trek: New Voyages (2004), after the suggestion of co-star Walter Koenig.

He and his partner, Brad Takei, had been together more than 21 years before they were married on September 14, 2008. After the California Supreme Court struck down a ban on same-sex marriage in May, Takei and Altman were among the first gay couples to get a marriage license.

Has been a jogger for many years, and runs marathons. In the Los Angeles Marathon, his best time, as of 1989, was 3 hours and 40 minutes.

Has stated that his favourite Star Trek (1966) episode is The Naked Time (1966).

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television at 6681 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on October 30, 1986.

Has appeared in episodes of three different series with William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and Nichelle Nichols: Star Trek (1966), Star Trek (1973) and Futurama (1999).

He was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette by Emperor Akihito in 2004.

Son of Takekuma Norman Takei, who worked in real estate, and his wife Fumiko Emily Nakamura.

Sometimes mangled, his surname is pronounced "Takay".

Is an avid Anglophile and loves traveling to Britain.

Whilst being known for his long running role in Star Trek (1966), he has appeared in other television series such as Mission: Impossible (1966), The Six Million Dollar Man (1974) and Hawaii Five-O (1968) while films include such as Walk Don't Run (1966) and The Green Berets (1968).

He was producer/host of "Life Can be Frozen", a PBS special about cryogenics and was producer/host of a public affairs talk show in Los Angeles and has been active in community and civic affairs.

Has appeared in episodes of three different series with Walter Koenig: Star Trek (1966), Diagnosis Murder (1993) and Futurama (1999).

Appeared at Nippon2007, the first World Science Fiction Convention to be held in Japan (Yokohama). Along with promoting his own recent projects, he co-hosted the 2007 Hugo Awards. (August 2007)

In 1996, he became the first original Star Trek (1966) series actor to go to a South American convention, in São Paulo, Brazil.

Best known by the public (and by many sci-fi fans) for his role as Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu on the original Star Trek (1966) series.

Is a huge fan of Anime.

He was the first Asian/American to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Has been an Associate Fellow of Pierson College at Yale University since 1979.

Along with Jason Wingreen, Clive Revill, Felix Silla and Deep Roy, he is one of only five actors to appear in both the "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" series. In 2008, he appeared in Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) as General Lok Durd.

Has appeared in episodes of three different series with Grace Lee Whitney: Star Trek (1966), Star Trek: New Voyages (2004) and Diagnosis Murder (1993).

He made his professional debut in a Playhouse 90 production.

At first his distinctive voice was used to dub Japanese films into English.

He runs daily and did the Los Aneles Mrathon in a personal, record time of 3 hours 40 minutes in the late 80's.

He appeared on stage in a two-hander called "Undertow" at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (1988).

He co-wrote the novel "Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe" with Robert Asprin.

Is a favorite of the Howard Stern audience.

One day younger than Elinor Donahue who starred with him in Metamorphosis (1967).

Has appeared as a contestant on ITV's I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! (2002). (November 2008)

Was close friends with actress Beulah Quo.

He originally planned to be an architect but caught the acting bug in college at UCLA.