George Takei

American Actor
George Takei, best known for playing Sulu on Star Trek, has had an incredible life journey. From being imprisoned in a Japanese-American internment camp during World War II to becoming a prominent LGBTQ+ activist, Takei's story is one of resilience, talent, and making a positive impact on the world.

About George Takei

George Takei (, tə-KAY; born Hosato Takei (Wu Jing Sui Xiang , Takei Hosato); April 20, 1937) is an American actor, author and activist known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the USS Enterprise in the Star Trek franchise.

Takei was born to Japanese American parents, with whom he lived in Tule Lake Segregation Center during World War II. He began pursuing acting in college, which led in 1965 to the role of Sulu, to which he returned periodically into the 1990s. Upon coming out as gay in 2005, he became a prominent proponent of LGBT rights and active in state and local politics. He has been a vocal advocate of the rights of immigrants, in part through his work on the 2012 Broadway show Allegiance, about the internment experience.

Takei spoke both English and Japanese growing up and remains fluent in both languages. He has won several awards and accolades for his work on human rights and Japan-United States relations, including his work with the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, California.

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Frequently asked questions about George Takei

George Takei played the role of Hikaru Sulu, the helmsman of the USS Enterprise, in the Star Trek franchise.

George Takei was born to Japanese-American parents and his family was forced to live in the Tule Lake Segregation Center, an internment camp, during World War II.

In addition to being an actor, George Takei is also an author and activist, known for his advocacy of LGBTQ+ rights and the rights of immigrants.

George Takei grew up speaking both English and Japanese, and he remains fluent in both languages.

George Takei has won several awards and accolades for his work on human rights and Japan-United States relations, including his work with the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles.

George Takei came out as gay in 2005 and has since become a prominent proponent of LGBTQ+ rights.

The 2012 Broadway show Allegiance, which George Takei was involved with, was about the internment experience of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Quotes by George Takei

And it seems to me important for a country, for a nation to certainly know about its glorious achievements but also to know where its ideals failed, in order to keep that from happening again.

George Takei

As you know, when Star Trek was canceled after the second season, it was the activism of the fans that revived it for a third season.

George Takei

But when we came out of camp, that’s when I first realized that being in camp, that being Japanese-American, was something shameful.

George Takei

Every time we had a hot war going on in Asia, it was difficult for Asian Americans here.

George Takei

I marched back then – I was in a civil-rights musical, Fly Blackbird, and we met Martin Luther King.

George Takei

I spent my boyhood behind the barbed wire fences of American internment camps and that part of my life is something that I wanted to share with more people.

George Takei

I thought this convention phenomenon was very flattering, but that’s about the extent of it.

George Takei

I’m a civic busybody and I’ve been blessed with an active career.

George Takei

I’m an anglophile. I visit England regularly, sometimes three or four times a year, at least once a year.

George Takei

I’ve run the marathon several times, so I definitely don’t look like the Great Ancestor!

George Takei

My memories of camp – I was four years old to eight years old – they’re fond memories.

George Takei

Plays close, movies wrap and TV series eventually get cancelled, and we were cancelled in three season.

George Takei

STAR TREK is a show that had a vision about a future that was positive.

George Takei

Then that did very well at the box office, so before you knew it, we were in a string of feature motion pictures. Then they announced that they were going to do some spinoffs of us.

George Takei

This is supposed to be a participatory democracy and if we’re not in there participating then the people that will manipulate and exploit the system will step in there.

George Takei

To do theater you need to block off a hunk of time.

George Takei

Well, it gives, certainly to my father, who is the one that suffered the most in our family, and understanding of how the ideals of a country are only as good as the people who give it flesh and blood.

George Takei

Well, the whole history of Star Trek is the market demand.

George Takei

Yes, I remember the barbed wire and the guard towers and the machine guns, but they became part of my normal landscape. What would be abnormal in normal times became my normality in camp.

George Takei

You know, I grew up in two American internment camps, and at that time I was very young.

George Takei