Majel Barrett Roddenberry died of leukemia on 18 December 2008. Born Majel Lee Hudec on 23 February 1932 in Columbus, Ohio, she began her acting career in the late 1950s, but is most closely tied to the Star Trek franchise which was created by her husband, Gene Roddenberry. She only took to using “Roddenberry” professionally following his death in 1991.
She played Number One, the unemotional first officer, in The Cage, the first Star Trek pilot. Following retooling for the series eventual broadcast debut, she was recast as Nurse Christine Chapel, whom she played for the entire series and in the spin-off motion pictures. She reappeared as a guest star playing Lwaxana Troi in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Off-screen, she was the voice of the Enterprise‘s computer in the first two series, of the Federation computer system in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, of the Voyager‘s computer in Star Trek: Voyager. She recently reprised that computer voice role for the upcoming J.J. Abrams series reboot Star Trek.
Following Gene Roddenberry’s death, Barrett continued to promote the legacy of Star Trek, and went on to produce two series based on his ideas: Earth: Final Conflict (1997-2002) and Andromeda (2000-2002).
Her non-Star Trek, genre acting appearances include: Hamlet A.D.D. (2009), Mars and Beyond (2000), twelve episodes of Earth: Final Conflict, twelve episodes of Spider-Man (1996-1998), Babylon 5 (1996), Mommy (1995), Spectre (1977), Planet Earth (1974), The Questor Tapes (1974), Westworld (1973), and Genesis II (1973).
Barrett was Roddenberry’s second wife (following his divorce) when they married in late 1969. They had one child, Eugene Roddenberry, Jr., who survives her.