George Takei

With a career spanning five decades, George Takei is known around the world for his founding role in the acclaimed television series Star Trek, in which he played Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the Starship Enterprise. Takei starred in three seasons of Star Trek and later reprised his iconic role in six movies. Mashable.com says Takei is the #1 most-influential person on Facebook, with more than 4.2 million followers. Takei has more than 700,000 followers on Twitter. Takei authored “Oh Myyy! There Goes the Internet,” released in e-book and paperback earlier this year, and it ranked #10 on the New York Times E-book nonfiction list. Takei is featured in the comedy film Larry Crowne, starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, released in July 2011 by Universal Pictures. Takei also stars in the action-comedy series Supah Ninjas, which premiered in April 2011 on Nickelodeon. Takei and Tony Award winner Lea Salonga are developing a new musical called "Allegiance.” The musical is an epic story of love, family and heroism during the Japanese American internment. Allegiance's world premiere at the Old Globe theatre in San Diego in 2012 will be followed by a Broadway run. Takei's on-camera television credits also include guest appearances on The Neighbors, Hawaii Five-0, The New Normal, Malcolm in the Middle, Scrubs, Miami Vice, MacGyver, Hawaii Five-0, The Six Million Dollar Man, Mission: Impossible, My Three Sons, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and The Twilight Zone. He has appeared on The Big Bang Theory, Psych, 3rd Rock from the Sun and Will & Grace. Takei has brought his voiceover talent to hundreds of characters in film, television, video games and commercials during his prolific career. In film, Takei can be heard voicing characters in such films as Mulan, Mulan II and Batman Beyond: The Movie. He has voiced characters for numerous animated series including The Simpsons, Scooby-Do and the Samurai Sword, Transformers: Animated, Kim Possible, Futurama, El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Hey Arnold!, Samurai Jack, Hercules, Spider-Man, The Smurfs and George Lucas' Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Adding to his resume, Takei has provided narration on many projects including the 2009 PBS series The National Parks: America's Best Idea, the 2006 Peabody Award-winning radio documentary, Crossing East, centered on the history of Asian American immigration to the United States and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (cassette) which garnered Takei a 1987 Grammy Award nomination for Best Spoken Word Album. In addition to a busy acting career, Takei regularly appears on Howard Stern's Sirius XM satellite radio show. He is also an accomplished author having written Oh Myyy! There Goes the Internet, co-written the science-fiction novel Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe with Robert Asprin and published his autobiography To the Stars in 1994. Takei, a Japanese American who from age 4 to 8 was unjustly interned in two U.S. internment camps during World War II, is an outspoken supporter of human right issues and community activist. Takei is chairman emeritus and a trustee of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. Takei has served as the spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign "Coming Out Project," and was cultural affairs chairman of the Japanese American Citizens League. He was appointed to the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission by former President Clinton and the government of Japan awarded Takei the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, for his contribution to U.S. - Japanese relations. The decoration was conferred by His Majesty, Emperor Akihito, at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. In 2007, Asteroid 7307 Takei, located between Mars and Jupiter, was named in the performer's honor in appreciation for his social work. Takei currently lives in Los Angeles with his husband Brad Takei. They were married at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo on Sept. 14, 2008.