Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry
(August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991)
Gene Roddenberry was a television screenwriter, producer , best known for
creating the science fiction series Star Trek. He was born in El Paso Texas
and grew up in Los Angeles, California. Roddenberry flew 89 combat missions
in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War ll, and flew as a commercial airline
pilot after the war. He later followed in his father’s footsteps by joining the Los
Angeles Police Department and soon began to focus on writing scripts for TV.
As a freelance writer, Roddenberry wrote scripts for the syndicated TV series
Highway Patrol from 1955 to 1959, Have Gun, Will Travel on CBS from 1957 to
1963 and others, before creating and producing his own TV series on NBC, The Lieutenant from 1963 to 1964. It was in 1964 that Roddenberry created Star Trek,
premiering in 1966, it ran for three seasons before cancellation.
Gene Roddenberry was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame and the
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame. His creation of Star Trek
has spanned over four decades, produced six television series, 715 episodes
and eleven films. A twelfth film is currently in development and is scheduled
to be release in 2012.
Pictured is 1st lieutenant Roddenberry (2nd from left) and crew in front
of their Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress in 1943.
Gene Roddenberry (third from right) and original Star Trek cast members are
seen with NASA’s real-live Enterprise in 1976.
