Just who is this Majel Barrett person anyway?
Majel Barrett, who also goes by Majel Barrett Roddenberry, has come to be known as "The First Lady of Star Trek."
Born Majel Lee Hudec in the great state of Ohio, at somepoint in the 20th century, Majel (or Maje as we fans like to call her) shook the dust off her shoes and headed out to California to become a movie star.
As luck would have it, she didn't become a movie star. But she did become a legend. Majel Barrett has been a part of Star Trek for as long as it's been around. Signed to play the enigmatic first officer, Number One, in the original series pilot, she has been with the show longer than anyone else alive.
When Number One, the ultra-cool female precurser to that Vulcan guy, got the axe due to some mid-60s sexist pig Hollywood attitude, Majel found a way back onto the set. Armed with a head full of newly-blonde hair and a lot of moxie, she managed to land the role of Christine Chapel, head nurse and Spock-junkie. (It didn't hurt that she was dating the producer, either.)
Time passed, and like all good things, Star Trek came to an end. Majel and Gene Roddenberry got hitched in Japan, had a son named Rod, and moved on with their lives. Gene made a few lackluster pilots, but nothing really panned out.
Until the movies. Well, of course, Nurse Chapel became Dr. Chapel, ditched the blonde coif, and took her place among the stars. She was then systematically deleted from the movies from 1980 on. (Okay, technically she did have a cameo in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, but it was too little, too late, IMHO.)
Bad news for Maje? Not our girl. She stuck it out. Eventually, a little thing called "Star Trek: The Next Generation" came down the pike. Bald Brit captain, sexy tight uniforms, kick-ass SFX, and new life was breathed into the Trek franchise.
Majel? Oh, she grabbed a couple of great gowns, raided the wig shop, and repeatedly stopped the show as Lwaxana Troi, mother to Counselor Deanna Troi and the woman who put the fear of God into Picard.
Sadly, Gene Roddenberry became ill and passed away in the early 90s. Majel, ever the resourceful one, reinvented herself as a television producer. In the mid-90s, she co-produced "Gene Roddenberry's Earth: Final Conflict" and (true to form) plays a recurring role as the Resistance's Dr. Julianne Belman.
Majel is currently working on a new project called "Andromeda," which will star Hercules' superhunk, Kevin Sorbo. Any bets on whether or not Majel will play a role on that show?
