Actress Majel Barrett Roddenberry, the wife of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, died yesterday, according to an announcement by the Associated Press.
Mrs. Roddenberry was not simply known as “The First Lady of Star Trek.” She also played Nurse Christine Chapel in the original William Shatner Star Trek, Deanna Troi’s mother Lwaxani in Star Trek: The Next Generation, as well as the voice of the USS Enterprise.
Her son, Rod, had this to say about his mother’s passing:
“My mother truly acknowledged and appreciated the fact that Star Trek fans played a vital role in keeping the Roddenberry dream alive for the past 42 years. It was her love for the fans, and their love in return, that kept her going for so long after my father passed away.”
Mrs. Roddenberry died of leukemia in her home in Bel-Air on Thursday, representatives said, after being diagnosed with the disease six months prior. She was 76.
December 19th, 2008 at 6:07 am
Very sad, her contributions to the genre both in front of and behind the scenes will be missed. God bless her and keep her.
December 19th, 2008 at 6:09 am
I really liked her, this is sad news.
December 19th, 2008 at 6:23 am
RIP Majel
The First Lady of Star trek
You will be missed.
December 19th, 2008 at 6:30 am
Sad! She was just cast in the new Trek movie as the computer’s voice again.
Very sad. RIP. She was very funny in TNG
December 19th, 2008 at 6:31 am
She will always be remembered and beloved
December 19th, 2008 at 8:00 am
OMG! Every trek fan will be feeling her loss. My deepest sympathy goes out to her family now. She’s been involved with every incarnation of Trek on TV, and also played in the movies, games and animated series…she will truly be missed.
December 19th, 2008 at 9:26 am
This is so sad. Only 76??? I feel like she went before her time. I loved her as Lwaxana Troi. I also enjoyed her appearance as Emperor Turhan’s wife in Babylon 5. She was an amazing person.
December 19th, 2008 at 9:57 am
RIP, Mrs. Roddenberry!
December 19th, 2008 at 10:19 am
I am truly saddened to hear this news. I never had the pleasure of meeting Majel, but she seemed like a true lady. She always showed such appreciation for Star Trek and its fans.
Her appearances as Lwaxana Troi were absolutely classic. Rest in Peace, Mrs. Barret-Rodennberry.
December 19th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Lwaxana was truly an original character and one she played so very well.
What this notice doesn’t mention is that she was able to finish recording her voice overs for the new movie.
December 19th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Incoming subspace transmission indeed.
December 19th, 2008 at 11:00 am
She was awesome on all things TREK and will be greatly missed…
December 19th, 2008 at 11:16 am
…As I posted over on Boing Boing, I met Majel a little less than 20 years ago when she came to a con here in Centex – thankfully not a Creation Con-Job! – and she was a 120% class act all the way. Very friendly and open to the fans, and actually took a little time to speak about the actual processes she went through during the “Orion Slave Girl” test shots. Apparently they tried out over a dozen different tones and grease paint formulations to get the right look, but ended up using a completely different one for Susan Oliver because her skin complexion was lighter than Majel’s!
My condolences go out to Rod on his loss, because it’s felt over here as well. She will be missed!
December 19th, 2008 at 11:37 am
RIP Majel, thanks for making Lwaxana such a fun character.
Wow, three genre icons lost this month (Forry Ackerman, Bettie Page, now Majel). Sad.
December 19th, 2008 at 11:53 am
She also executive-produced her late husband’s post ST shows, “Earth: Final Conflict” and “Andromeda”. RIP, Majel. We’ll miss you.
December 19th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
IT IS SAD TO READ ABOUT A DEAD OF A LEGEND. I TRULY LOVE HER LWAXANA’S CHARACTER FROM STAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION. IT IS RARE TO SEE A STRONG WILL MOTHER IN A OUTER SPACE SHOW. I WANTED TO WISH HER FAMILY ALL THE LUCK IN THE WORLD. YOUR TRULY CHARLES DAVID HASKELL
December 19th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Majel Barrett Roddenberry was the only person to have played a part in every Star Trek series/film.
She was Number One in the Original Seies Pilot, Nurse Chapel in Star Trek: The Original Series, Lt. M’ress in Star Trek: The Animated Series, Lwaxana Troi in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, and the voice of the USS Enterprise computer throughout the series. Many believe she wasn’t in Enterprise, but she was the computer voice in the two-part “Mirror” episode.
Beyond being a wonderful person, she will be missed for her talent.
Rest in peace Majel Barrett Roddenberry.
December 19th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
That’s awful news, I’m so sad to hear about her passing. My condolences to the family.
December 19th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Best wishes to all who loved her. I was a fan.
December 19th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
What sad news… I met her years ago at a con and she was as warm and gracious as you’d hoped her to be. It was great to chat with her. I will definitely miss her.
I’m still not interested in the new Trek movie, but I’m glad they got her involved (the word I’m hearing is that she did complete the voice work, and that they moved on it because she knew her time may be limited). It does give an added legitimacy to it all.
I wish I had the TNG episode “Half a Life” on DVD to watch today, while I’m home having a “snow day” today. I don’t have it, but I do have her couple of appearances on DS9 (as Lwaxana I mean, she continued to voice Federation ships on the show too). She was great in both of those, so I’ll opt for that.
December 19th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
It is a really sad thing to hear. Her contributions to a superb franchise was unending. She will be missed more than her family will ever know. My condolences to them.
Mick
December 19th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Not to make light of this news, but who names their son name Rod Roddenberry?
December 19th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Oh, how sad–what a terrific woman who really understood how much joy her husband’s legacy gave to fans around the world. Her voice is so soothing and familiar that if I ever purchased a GPS system for my car, it would have to be the voice of Majel Roddenberry, so I wouldn’t feel so lost.
I believe she also reprised her voice role of the starship computer in a few episodes of FUTURAMA, so once again, her talent shines in yet another project.
My deepest condolences to her son and their family–she will be missed.
December 19th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Rest in Peace my good lady.
She did so much for Star Trek. I will miss you.
Computer. Shut Down. /sigh
December 19th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
damn..just…damn…
December 19th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Well, Ringo, we had a former governor here in Wisconsin named Tommy Thompson.
Then again, he’s a blithering idiot and was a total disaster in Bush’s cabinet. I sure as hell didn’t vote for him.
December 19th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
I just know that she and Gene are boldly going where they’ve always wanted to go before.
Peace and Eternal Life. \\//,
December 19th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
My prayers go out to the Roddenberry family. She will be missed.
December 19th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Damn. I’m shocked by how sad this made me. You just couldn’t help but love her whenever she was on TNG or DS9. And in every interview she just seemed like a lovely woman.
I really hope they use of her voice or something in the upcoming movie. Just something small for the fans.
December 19th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Roy said:
“She also executive-produced her late husband’s post ST shows, “Earth: Final Conflict” and “Andromeda”.”
Now, now. When someone has just passed away, you really ought to focus on the positive, not things like that.
December 19th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
very sad…….miss having the continuity keep going in a genre that has been with me my entire life….my condolences to the family!
December 19th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
This is indeed sad. Another of TOS guard passing away. RIP and condolences to family and friends.
December 20th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
This hit me out of the blue. With no series having been on television for the last few years, I kinda lost touch with Star Trek, but something like this brings it all back…I met her at a convention down here in Atlanta back in ’89. She was a professional person and took the time to answer all of my questions about TNG. I will miss her, I agree that she had the perfect voice for the ship’s computer. Glad to hear that she recorded dialogue for the new movie b4 she passed. We’ll get to hear her one last time.
December 20th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
She had the perfect voice for the computer. Very motherly. The greatest honor was that episode of Futurama where they talked about how Star trek used to be worshipped and they showed a church that was actually called “Nurse Chapel”.
December 20th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
Ryan said:
“I really hope they use of her voice or something in the upcoming movie. Just something small for the fans.”
Read the article again… That’s exactly what they’re doing. She voiced the Enterprise’s computer for the movie, only natural since she voiced the E’s computer on both TOS (albeit distorted to sound mechanized) and TNG. She continued to voice the Federation ships on both DS9 and VOY as well. I occasionally drop in on the trekmovie.com website, and the word I read there a couple of days ago is that she finished her work, and they did it quickly because of her illness.