About the character:
Hikaru Sulu is born in San Francisco in the year 2237 and comes
aboard the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 in 2265 as helmsman.
Several years later he is promoted to captain on the space ship
USS Excelsior (Star Trek: The Undiscovered
Country).
About the actor:
George Takei is born in the Boyle Heights district of Los Angeles,
where he and his family lives up til 2nd World War. The japanese
attack on the american naval station, Pearl Harbor, makes the USA
of place japanese families in camps to protect them against the
american population. Also George Takei's family is arrested and
placed in a camp in Arkansas. Later on their are moved to another
camp by Tule Lake in the northern California.
He dreams about becomming an architect but later on he choses
to become an actor. In the university he takes an artistic bachelor,
an Arts Degree, which he finishes in 1960. At the same time he has
taken a secondary study in latin americans.
After a bicycle holiday through Europe George Takei returns to
California where he starts getting guest appearances in TV series
like "Perry Mason" and "The Twillight Zone". In the last mentioned
in the episode "The Encounter" he plays a japanese traitor which
is a sensitive subject so close to the 2nd World War. For that reason
the episode is airing this once and never before aired in the USA.
In 1966 he gets a steady role in "Star Trek" as the japanese
helmsman Hikaru Sulu but that does not stop him from making guest
appearances in the TV series "Mission: Impossible" in the episode
"The Carriers" (10). And during the production of season 2 he makes
the movie "The Green Berets" starring John Wayne.
In 1969 the production of "Star Trek" is ended after only 3 seasons
(5 seasons should have been produced) and George Takei continues
to make guest appearances in various prime time shows.
When he in 1973 runs for office as mayor in California a local
network takes a break from broadcasting "Star Trek" and the newly
launched "Star Trek: The Animated Series" (1973-1974), as the opponents
is afraid the TV series will give George Takei an unfair advantage
being a known face and having a familiar voice. George Takei is
not elected and the network continues to broadcast the shows.
In 1979 he appeares in the first Star Trek movie, "Star Trek:
The Motion Picture", and continues to play Hikaru Sulu ending with
"Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" in 1991.
The aging actors is supposed to pass on the gauntlet to the actors
from the TV series "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987-1994)
in a movie where both team of actors appeares. "Star Trek: Generations"
is the movie title, but bruised egos have brought discord amonst
the old actors, where William Shatner
(captain James T. Kirk) is the cause seen through the eyes of George
Takei. And since William Shatner is to appear in the movie he will
not. Furthermore, he is not happy with the small part, his character
Hikaru Sulu is getting. In that context he has written a biography
aiming his anger against William Shatner, who started it all. James
Doohan and Nichelle Nichols
have equally written their own biography also with accusations against
William Shatner.
Besides the Star Trek movies in the 1980s George Takei has also
made guest appearances in TV series as "MacGyver", "Murder, She
Wrote", and "Miami Vice". He has also together with Robert Asprin
written the Star Trek novel "Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe".
In 1996 George Takei makes a guest appearance as Hikaru Sulu
in "Star Trek: Voyager" in the episode "Flashback" (44).
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Star Trek
1959: "Perry
Mason" - tv series