Biography of George Takei

George Takei, better known as Mr. Sulu from three seasons (and six movies) of the hit TV series Star Trek, has casually come out in a new interview with Frontiers magazine. "Brad’s my partner, we’ve been together for 18 years," Takei tells Frontiers. "I’ve been 'open,' but I have not talked to the press."

Now that he has decided to talk about it publicly, Takei joins a short list--which also includes BD Wong (Law and Order) and Alec Mapa (Half & Half)--of openly gay Asian American actors.

68-year-old Takei was born in Los Angeles, but spent his childhood in Japanese internment camps in Arkansas and Northern California. His family moved back to L.A. for his junior high and high school years, and he went to U.C. Berkeley to major in architecture. But a summer job at MGM doing Japanese to English translation for a cartoon series inspired Takei to switch from architecture to acting, and from Berkeley to UCLA.

He landed a few roles in theater, which led to bigger roles, feature films, and eventually, Star Trek.

"I've been enormously lucky [in my career]" Takei told a Montreal radio station in 1994, "and certainly the capper on the string of luck was meeting Gene Roddenberry and to be cast in the role of Sulu, which was a breakthrough role for an Asian American actor....I think Sulu played a very important role in balancing the perception of Asians by the North American public."

Since his career-defining role as Mr. Sulu in the '60s, Takei has continued to perform in theater, film and television, with more than 30 feature films under his belt, a role on and has been a guest-star on numerous TV shows, including General Hospital.

He received a star on Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame in 1986, and published a well-reviewed autobiography in 1994 called To the Stars. He currently stars in an L.A. production of the Tony Award–winning play Equus.

Takei has also been very active in local and international politics throughout his life. He almost won a seat on the Los Angeles City Council in 1973, but lost by a narrow margin. He served on the board of directors of the Southern California Rapid Transit District for over a decade in the '70s and '80s.

He was appointed by President Clinton to the board of the Japan-United States Friendship Commission, where he served two terms, and the Government of Japan recognized George’s contribution to the Japan-United States relationship by giving him the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette.

Takei was attracted to boys from a young age, and quickly discerned that this wasn't "normal".