George Takei, whose real name is Hosato Takei, was born in the United States on April 20, 1937. He is an actor, author, and activist. The character of Hikaru Sulu, captain of the USS Enterprise in the Star Trek television series and films, made him a household name.
Takei was raised in an American internment camp by his Japanese-American parents during World War II.
After taking an interest in acting in college, he was cast as Sulu in 1965, a part to which he would return on and off until the early 1990s. After publicly announcing his sexual orientation in 2005, he became involved in state and local politics as a vocal advocate for LGBT rights.
Through his participation in the 2012 Broadway play Allegiance, which focuses on the internment experience, he has become an outspoken advocate for the rights of immigrants.
Among Takei’s many accomplishments is his work with the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, California, and his advocacy for human rights and improved relations between Japan and the United States.
Early Life
On April 20, 1937, in Los Angeles, California, Hosato Takei became known as George Takei. His Japanese American parents, Fumiko and Takekuma, had a series of businesses, beginning with a dry cleaner and progressing to a grocery store and finally a real estate business.
After Pearl Harbor was bombed, armed soldiers arrived at the family’s door and forcibly removed them from their homes. They were eventually relocated to the Rohwer War Relocation Center in Arkansas.
The Takeis eventually ended up at the Tule Lake War Relocation Center in California. George had many relatives in Japan who perished in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima: an aunt and a cousin who was only a baby at the time.
The Takei family was released from an internment camp after the war ended in 1945, but they returned to Skid Row in 1950 since they had lost their home, business, and bank accounts.
George attended Mount Vernon Junior High and then Los Angeles High School, where he served as Boys Division President.
Beginning his education in architecture at UC Berkeley, he then went to UC Los Angeles, where he earned a BA in theater in 1960 and an MA in drama from the same institution four years later.
Takei attended the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, the Sophia University in Tokyo, and the Desilu Workshop in Hollywood.
Early Career
In the late ’50s, George began his career in Hollywood performing voiceover work for the English dubs of Japanese monster films like ‘Rodan!
The Flying Monster and ‘Godzilla Raids Again. Ice Palace (1958) was his first film, followed by “Hell to Eternity” (1960), “A Majority of One” (1961), and “Red Line 7000” (1962). (1965).
George Takei Controversy
A former model named Scott Brunton told The Hollywood Reporter in November that he had been drugged and groped by George Takei, the Star Trek actor and social media personality at the center of multiple recent allegations and accusations that have rocked Hollywood since the publication of two explosive reports about Harvey Weinstein. Six months later, Brunton has recanted his account, claiming he has no recollection of some events.
Brunton admitted a few discrepancies in his tale in a new Observer article published on Thursday.
According to him, he had no recollection of Takei touching his genitalia, which would have constituted criminal sexual assault, nor of a coffee meeting the two men had years later, which Takei also claimed he did not recall.
Toxicologists who have looked into the case have concluded that Brunton could not have been drugged and gotten up and fled so quickly because the only medicines available in the 1980s would have rendered someone unconscious for hours. Brunton added that the incident had become “a wonderful party story” and that he had moved on from it.
According to Brunton, Takei owes him an apology for what transpired, and he was “disappointed” by the whole incident.
Because he was famous and such a kind guy, he said, “I felt so blessed to know him.” When I first met him, I remember thinking, “Well, he could be friends with lots of others, but he chose to be my friend.
What I really need from him is an apology for how he used our friendship.
Takei tweeted on Friday that he forgives Brunton in response to the news of the incident.
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Personal Life
After coming out as gay in 2005, George wed Brad Altman in a Buddhist ceremony on September 14, 2008, at the Democracy Forum of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles.
Takei and his husband Brad won $10,000 for the museum in 2009 on an episode of “The Newlywed Game,” and Takei serves on the museum’s board of trustees.
In 2013, George took on the role of Human Rights Campaign spokesperson, promoting the organization’s “Coming Out Project” and traveling the country as part of their “Equality Trek” speaking tour.
Takei ran for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council in 1973, finishing a close second behind David Cunningham Jr. He was then named to the board of directors of the Southern California Rapid Transit District by then-Mayor of Los Angeles Tom Bradley.
Ex-model and actor Scott R. Brunton said George drugged and groped him in 1981 in an interview published in 2017.
Takei responded to Brunton’s accusation by saying, “The whole thought that someone would accuse me of this is pretty profoundly upsetting. Non-consensual activities are so contrary to my principles and my practices.”
Toxicologists said that based on Bruton’s account of events, he most likely suffered from postural hypotension rather than a tainted drink, and Brunton eventually revised his tale to reflect this. In the month of May 2018, Takei openly apologized and forgave Brunton.