Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersSundance Film FestivalIndependent Spirit AwardsBlack History MonthSXSWSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Biography
  • Awards
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

George Takei

  • Actor
  • Additional Crew
  • Writer
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
George Takei
The oddball gods and monsters of Japanese mythology.
Play trailer1:24
Oni: Thunder God's Tale (2022)
29 Videos
99+ Photos
George Takei was born Hosato Takei on April 20, 1937 in Los Angeles, California. His mother was born in Sacramento to Japanese parents & his father was born in Japan. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, he & his family were relocated from Los Angeles to the Rohwer Relocation Center in Arkansas. Later, they were moved to a camp at Tule Lake in Northern California. His first-hand knowledge of the unjust internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans in World War II, poignantly chronicled in his autobiography, created a lifelong interest in politics & community affairs.

After graduating from Los Angeles High School in 1956, he studied architecture at UC Berkeley. An ad in a Japanese community paper led to a summer job on the MGM lot where he dubbed 8 characters from Japanese into English for Rodan (1956). Bitten by the acting bug, he transferred to UCLA as a theater arts major. Contacting an agent he had met at MGM led to his appearance as an embittered soldier in postwar Japan in the Playhouse 90 (1956) production. Being spotted in a UCLA theater production by a Warner Bros. casting director led to his feature film debut in Ice Palace (1960), various roles in Hawaiian Eye (1959) &other feature work. In June 1960, he completed his degree at UCLA and studied at the Shakespeare Institute at Stratford-Upon-Avon in England that summer.

After starting a master's degree program at UCLA, he was cast in the socially relevant stage musical production Fly Blackbird! but was replaced when the show moved to New York. He took odd jobs until returning to his role at the end of the run. Getting little work in Manhattan, he returned to Los Angeles to continue his studies, once again appearing in TV & films. He earned his master's in 1964. Wanting a multi-racial crew, Gene Roddenberry cast him in Where No Man Has Gone Before, the second Star Trek (1966) pilot. Mr. Sulu remained a regular character when the series went into production. In the hiatus after the end of shooting the first season, he worked on The Green Berets (1968), playing a South Vietnamese Special Forces officer.

After Star Trek (1966) was canceled, he did guest stints in several TV shows, voiced Sulu for the animated Star Trek series & regularly appeared at Star Trek conventions. He also produced & hosted a public affairs show Expression East/West, which aired in Los Angeles from 1971-1973. That year, he ran for the L.A. City Council. Although he lost by a small margin, Mayor Tom Bradley appointed him to the board of directors of the Southern California Rapid Transit District, where he served until 1984 & contributed to plans for the subway. During this period, he co-wrote a sci-fi novel Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe. He campaigned to get more respect for his character in the Star Trek features, resulting in Sulu finally obtaining the rank of captain in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), a role reprised in the Star Trek: Voyager (1995) episode Flashback.

He has run several marathons and was in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Torch Relay. He received a star on Hollywood Boulevard's Walk of Fame in 1986. He also left his signature & hand print in cement at the Chinese Theater in 1991. His 1994 autobiography, To the Stars, was well-received. He remains active as a stage, TV & film actor as well as as an advocate for the interests of Japanese Americans.
BornApril 20, 1937
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornApril 20, 1937
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
  • Awards

Hollywood Icons, Then and Now

Hollywood Icons, Then and Now

Take a look back at these Hollywood icons in their early days to see how far they've come in their careers.
See the gallery
[object Object]
Photos

Photos213

George Takei, Simon Helberg, Katee Sackhoff, and Melissa Rauch in The Big Bang Theory (2007)
Jeffrey Hunter and George Takei in Hell to Eternity (1960)
James Caan, George Takei, and Norman Alden in Red Line 7000 (1965)
James Caan, George Takei, and Norman Alden in Red Line 7000 (1965)
James Caan, George Takei, Norman Alden, and Forrest Lewis in Red Line 7000 (1965)
George Takei in Star Trek (1966)
George Takei, Andrew Robb, and Iris Graham in Alienated (2003)
George Takei and Shingo Usami in The Terror (2018)
George Takei in The Twilight Zone (1959)
George Takei in The Twilight Zone (1959)
George Takei in The Twilight Zone (1959)
George Takei in The Twilight Zone (1959)

Known for

Walter Koenig, Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley, George Takei, and Nichelle Nichols in Star Trek (1966)
Star Trek
8.4
TV Series
  • Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu
Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, and DeForest Kelley in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
7.2
  • Sulu
  • 1991
Kirstie Alley, Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, and Ricardo Montalban in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
7.7
  • Sulu
  • 1982
Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley, Merritt Butrick, and Robin Curtis in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
6.6
  • Sulu
  • 1984

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actor

  • Blue Eye Samurai
    • Pre-production
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender
    • (voice)
    • Post-production
  • Call Me Kat (2021)
    Call Me Kat
  • Oni: Thunder God's Tale (2022)
    Oni: Thunder God's Tale
    • (voice)
  • Noël Wells, Jack Quaid, and Tawny Newsome in Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020)
    Star Trek: Lower Decks
    • (voice)
  • Alan Tudyk, Sara Tomko, and Judah Prehn in Resident Alien (2021)
    Resident Alien
    • (voice)
  • Yuri Lowenthal in He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2021)
    He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
  • Samuel L. Jackson, Michelle Yeoh, Djimon Hounsou, Michael Cera, Ricky Gervais, and Kylie Kuioka in Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank (2022)
    Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank
    • (voice)
  • Jimmy Kimmel in Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2003)
    Jimmy Kimmel Live!
  • Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai (2022)
    Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai
  • George Takei, James Shigeta, Jesse Tebbs, Brian Rivera, John Atkin, and Stan Woo in Yorktown: A Time to Heal (2022)
    Yorktown: A Time to Heal
  • Jellystone (2021)
    Jellystone
    • (voice)
  • Jason Sudeikis, Fred Tatasciore, Ally Maki, Olivia Munn, and Nobi Nakanishi in Hit-Monkey (2021)
    Hit-Monkey
    • (voice)
  • Star Wars: Visions (2021)
    Star Wars: Visions
    • (English version, voice)
  • The Cipher (2020)
    The Cipher
  • Amphibia (2019)
    Amphibia
    • (voice)
  • Love Monster (2020)
    Love Monster
    • (voice)

Additional Crew

  • The Terror (2018)
    The Terror

Writer

  • Space Travelers (2009)
    Space Travelers

Videos29

Episode: George Takei
Full Episode 9:23
Episode: George Takei
Free Birds
Clip 1:15
Free Birds
Free Birds
Clip 1:40
Free Birds
Mulan II: 2-Movie Collection
Clip 2:02
Mulan II: 2-Movie Collection
Robot Astronomy Talk Show: Gravity and the Great Attractor
Clip 1:38
Robot Astronomy Talk Show: Gravity and the Great Attractor
Official Trailer
Trailer 1:24
Official Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 0:31
Official Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 1:44
Trailer
San Diego Comic-Con Trailer
Trailer 1:29
San Diego Comic-Con Trailer
International Trailer
Trailer 1:06
International Trailer
Trailer #2
Trailer 1:58
Trailer #2
Trailer #1
Trailer 2:35
Trailer #1

Personal details

Edit
  • Official sites
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • April 20, 1937
    • Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Brad TakeiSeptember 14, 2008 - present
  • Other works
    TV commercial for E*Trade.
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Print Biography
    • 13 Interviews
    • 12 Articles
    • 2 Pictorials
    • 3 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    During World War II, Takei lived with his family in several government internment camps for people of Japanese ancestry. President Franklin Roosevelt signed the applicable Executive Order No. 9066, on February 19th 1942. In December 1944, President Roosevelt suspended Executive Order 9066. Incarcerees were released, often to resettlement facilities and temporary housing, and the camps were shut down by 1946. Ironically, George shares a birthday with Adolf Hitler; he was born on Hitler's 48th birthday so he was still alive.
  • Quotes
    [on William Shatner]: He's just a wonderful actor who created a singular character. No one could have done Kirk the way Bill did. His energy and his determination, that's Bill. And that's also Captain Kirk.
    • Deep smooth voice

Related news

Contribute to this page

Suggest an edit or add missing content
  • Learn more about contributing
Edit page

More to explore

Recently viewed

Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
Get the IMDb App
  • Get the IMDb App
  • Help
  • Site Index
  • IMDbPro
  • Box Office Mojo
  • IMDb Developer
  • Press Room
  • Advertising
  • Jobs
  • Conditions of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your Ads Privacy Choices
IMDb, an Amazon company

© 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.