The Swagger and Stamp of the First Lady of ‘Star Trek’

Statuesque, regal and poised, Majel Barrett Roddenberry was, in all possible respects, the First Lady of Star Trek , part of the historic franchise from its earliest incarnation, the only actress to have not one, not two, not three, but four recurring roles throughout its films and series, a vital ambassador to the ever-massive fan community and, perhaps first and foremost, the wife of the boss, Gene Roddenberry , whose imagination launched the entire phenomenon.

And she was also, in the words of Jonathan Frakes, the Star Trek : The Next Generation actor and director still active in the now 60-year-old franchise, “a broad , and she took great pride in that.” Related Stories TV 'Star Trek' at 60: 'Strange New Worlds' Co-Creator Akiva Goldsman on Why It Keeps Boldly Going Reporter's Notebook The First Episode of 'Star Trek' Was Not the Best Episode of 'Star Trek'

After making her way to Hollywood in the late 1950s, native Ohioan Majel Leigh Hodak launched a promising acting career that eventually included early roles in films like Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? and television series including Bonanza, The Untouchables and Leave It to Beaver ; as a regular face in the Desilu stable, she even received comedy tutoring from no less than Lucille Ball.

And while working on a 1964 episode of the military drama The Lieutenant, she met Gene, the show’s creator and executive producer, a war veteran, former Pan Am pilot and ex-cop (like her late father), who was about to embark on his next, more visionary venture for Ball’s Desilu, the then-revolutionarily brainy and deeply metaphorical sci-fi series Star Trek. In the series pilot, Majel was cast as Number One, serious, efficient and second-in-command of the starship Enterprise — a role that in mid-’60s TV would have been a landmark example of a woman in a position of authority. “I assume my father gave her that role because he saw that in her as a human being … a leader among women,” says her son Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry. “She deserved that role. That was her.”

Except the powers-that-be at Desilu found the first pilot — “The Cage,” starring Jeffrey Hunter — intriguing yet too intellectual for TV, and they took exception to another aspect of Gene’s vision. “Apparently the executives — ironically, Lucy may have been among them — didn’t want a strong woman in that part,” says Frakes. “That’s how dated and behind the times we were back in ’66. It’s kind of embarrassing.”