George Hosato Takei was born April 20th, 1937 in Los Angeles, California.George is a Democrat and very devoted to equality issues. This is not surprising; he was among the many Japanese and Japanese-Americans who were sent to internment camps during World War II, although he was four years old and a United States citizen. He is also gay, although he remained semi-closeted until autumn of 2005.

Except for his time in the internment camps, George was raised in Los Angeles. In 1956, he entered the University of California, Berkeley to study architecture. His love for acting, however, soon made him change his plans, and he transferred to UCLA to study acting there. By that point, he had already had his first film role, dubbing the Japanese film Rodan into English.

George’s roles since that time have been varied: he has acted on stage, on television, in movies, and even in a few computer games. You can view the impressive list of film and voice roles here.George is a skilled storyteller, and his autobiography To The Stars is both educational and well-written. He also teamed up with Robert Asprin in 1979 to write Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe, a splendid science fiction novel about a ninja in space.

George worked on public transit for a time — in Los Angeles! He served on the board of directors of the Southern California Rapid Transit District for eleven years, which must have taken considerable courage.In 2004, George was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun by the government of Japan in recognition of his “contribution to the Japan-United States relationship” (GeorgeTakei.com bio, direct quote.)

For more detailed information about George’s work as an actor and activist, visit his official website or read To the Stars. It’s well worthwhile.