Gene Roddenberry

Writing

Gene Roddenberry

Born 1921-08-19 · El Paso, Texas, USA

Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry, Sr. (August 19, 1921- October 24, 1991) was an American television screenwriter, producer and futurist, best known for creating the American science fiction series Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, California where his father worked as a police officer. Roddenberry flew 89 combat missions in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, and worked as a commercial pilot after the war. He later followed in his father's footsteps, joining the Los Angeles Police Department to provide for his family, but began focusing on writing scripts for television. As a freelance writer, Roddenberry wrote scripts for Highway Patrol, Have Gun, Will Travel and other series, before creating and producing his own television program, The Lieutenant. In 1964, Roddenberry created Star Trek, and it premiered in 1966, running for three seasons before cancellation. Syndication of Star Trek led to increasing popularity, and Roddenberry continued to create, produce, and consult on Star Trek films and the television series, Star Trek: The Next Generation until his death. Roddenberry received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and he was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Hall of Fame. Years after his death, Roddenberry was one of the first humans to have his ashes "buried" in outer space. The fictional Star Trek universe Roddenberry created has spanned over four decades, producing six television series, 715 episodes and eleven films, with a twelfth film currently in development and scheduled for a 2012 release.

Acting credits

50 Years of Star Trek poster
6.2

Over the last fifty years, America has been fascinated by Star Trek since it first aired in September of 1966. This 2-hour documentary celebrates the 50th anniversary through interviews with cast and crew members from every television series and the original films.

50 Years of Star Trek

2016

The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation to the Next poster
2.5

This special is hosted by Patrick Stewart and traced the history of Star Trek from its inception with "The Cage" through to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It also showed brief previews of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and TNG's second season. Also it was principally a container for the premiere of a full color print of "The Cage" which had, according to the special, recently been recovered from Paramount's studio archives.

The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation to the Next

1988

Star Trek: 25th Anniversary Special poster
5.9

This documentary is hosted by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy and they take us through the history of Star Trek. We also get to see bloopers from the original series and the current space program and how progression has been in reality, hosted by LeVar Burton.

Star Trek: 25th Anniversary Special

1991

Trek Nation poster
7.1

Trek Nation is a documentary film directed by Scott Colthorp examining the positive impact that Star Trek and creator Gene Roddenberry may have had on people's lives as seen through the eyes of his son, Eugene Roddenberry, Jr. ("Rod"). It includes interviews with castmembers and crew from all five Star Trek shows, as well as various fans and celebrities who were markedly influenced by the show while growing up. Rod Roddenberry also visits Skywalker Ranch to interview George Lucas on the influence that Star Trek had on him. Lucas shares how he had gone to Star Trek conventions prior to creating Star Wars.

Trek Nation

2011

Birth of a Timeless Legacy poster
4.5

William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy some nice thoughts in The Birth of a Timeless Legacy doc, which tells about the way Star Trek came to be.

Birth of a Timeless Legacy

2004

No artwork available
4.5

Documentary which discusses Star Trek's great science fiction writers

Sci-Fi Visionaries

2004

The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal poster
7.3

Among the legends of Hollywood, George Pal takes his place as a true visionary, an innovator and a showman who profoundly shaped the art of motion pictures. A peer of Walt Disney, Pal pioneered stop motion animation and went on to virtually invent the modern science fiction and fantasy film genres. Pal's extraordinary genius molded a dazzling array of films, which earned an incredible total of eight Academy Awards and left a cinematic legacy that served as formative inspiration for the movies of George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Gene Roddenberry.

The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal

1986

The Star Trek Dream poster
1.5

A documentary about Star Trek: The Original Series and its fanbase narrated by Bob Wilkins, featuring interviews with cast members and important early fans.

The Star Trek Dream

1975

Roddenberry's Trek poster
8.5

The Gene Roddenberry Project is a half hour documentary exploring the genesis of Star Trek through the personal insight of its creator.Directed by Trude Forscher, the film compiles footage shot during a recently uncovered interview with Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and surviving cast members

Roddenberry's Trek

2015

Gene Roddenberry: Up Close and Personal poster
NR

Gene Roddenberry: Up Close And Personal was an 82-minute documentary done by Beshert Productions which featured a 1981 long-form television interview with Gene Roddenberry by Ellen and Gene Adelstein. The 1981 footage was originally shot for KZAZ-TV, a Tucson, Arizona television station which held the very first 24-hour Star Trek television marathon.

Gene Roddenberry: Up Close and Personal

2006

No artwork available
NR

Interview with Gene Roddenberry which was held on August 14, 1988.

Gene Roddenberry Interview

1988

Behind the camera

Star Trek: The Motion Picture poster
6.5

When an unidentified alien destroys three powerful Klingon cruisers, Captain James T. Kirk returns to the newly transformed U.S.S. Enterprise to take command.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

1979

Genesis II poster
5.9

A scientist who has been preserved in suspended animation wakes up to find himself in a primitive society in the future.

Genesis II

1973

Genesis II poster
5.9

A scientist who has been preserved in suspended animation wakes up to find himself in a primitive society in the future.

Genesis II

1973

Pretty Maids All in a Row poster
5.9

At Oceanfront High School, female students are being targeted by an unknown serial killer. Meanwhile, a married teacher hides his flings with nubile students, and an awkward male is frustrated by the plethora of uninhibited freewheeling young girls.

Pretty Maids All in a Row

1971

Pretty Maids All in a Row poster
5.9

At Oceanfront High School, female students are being targeted by an unknown serial killer. Meanwhile, a married teacher hides his flings with nubile students, and an awkward male is frustrated by the plethora of uninhibited freewheeling young girls.

Pretty Maids All in a Row

1971

Star Trek: The Cage poster
6.0

Led by Captain Christopher Pike, the crew of the starship Enterprise investigates of a far-off planet which was the site of a shipwreck eighteen years earlier. They encounter telepathic aliens who seek a human male specimen for their menagerie.

Star Trek: The Cage

1965

Star Trek: The Cage poster
6.0

Led by Captain Christopher Pike, the crew of the starship Enterprise investigates of a far-off planet which was the site of a shipwreck eighteen years earlier. They encounter telepathic aliens who seek a human male specimen for their menagerie.

Star Trek: The Cage

1965

No artwork available
6.0

Pilot episode, directed by Dick Powell.

Woman on the Run

1959

Spectre poster
6.0

An occult criminologist investigates a businessman who dabbles in the black arts while trying to survive against a powerful demon and an evil cult.

Spectre

1977

A.P.O. 923 poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

A.P.O. 923

1962