Majel Barrett-Roddenberry RIP

Majel Barrett, widow of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, has passed away at the age of 76.

Source: Aint It Cool News:

Majel was with STAR TREK since before most of the world knew what STAR TREK was, since before she married Gene. She played “Number One”, Captain Christopher Pike’s First Officer, in “The Cage” (an unaired TREK pilot later cannibalized as flashback fodder for an Original Series episode called “The Menagerie”). She also appeared as Nurse Christine Chapel in THE ORIGINAL SERIES – Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy’s stalwart sidekick whose crush on Spock provided many memorable, and amusing, moments.

[caption id="attachment_4351" align="alignleft" width="290" caption="Majel Barrett with Jeff Hunter (Captain Pike) and Laurel Goodwin"][/caption]

After THE ORIGINAL SERIES, she voiced various characters on STAR TREK: THE ANIMATED SERIES, and appeared in Gene Roddenberry produced fare like PLANET EARTH, GENESIS II, SPECTRE, and THE QUESTOR TAPES . She played Lwaxana Troi (Deanna Troi’s flamboyant, man-craving mother) in STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION – as well as providing the voice for the Enterprise computer in that series. She would reprise bioth the computer and Troi roles in STAR TREKs DEEP SPACE NINE, VOYAGER, multiple TREK films, and was recently announced to be voicing the Enterprise computer in J.J. Abrams’ forthcoming STAR TREK movie. It’s not clear if Majel recorded her role before passing (J.J.’s previous statements indicated the film would more-or-less be in the can by now, so it seems likely she did.)

Barrett’s acting career was not limited to STAR TREK, and included BABYLON 5, WESTWORLD, and even GENERAL HOSPITAL. After Gene’s passing in 1991, Majel perpetuated his legacy by developing/producing Gene-”concepts” like EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT and ANDROMEDA.