bio

July, 2000, TORONTO - The theme running through this past month turned out to be interchange; interchange of many kinds - international, cultural, technological and generational. And it had me traveling over half this globe to three nations.

The first country I traveled to was Japan. I am a commissioner on the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission, an independent Federal agency that has as its mission, broadly put, to enrich mutual understanding. One of our projects is to utilize the internet by building a site that chronicles the past fifty-year history of the cultural and educational interchange between our two nations. The U.S. working group, of which I am a member, met with our Japanese counterparts to set the basic architecture of the prototype and to outline the content of the site.

Our two-day agenda was fully packed. June was the rainy season in Tokyo and, true to the time of year, it rained both days of our meeting. The air was dense and steamy but, thankfully, air-conditioning made our working time productive. In concert, we set the structure of the project and arrived at mutual agreements on the subjects to be addressed on the site. The bi-national internet interchange project is off to a good start. Our timetable is to have the prototype ready by next spring.

The next day, changing roles, I put on my hat as the Chairman of the Japanese American National Museum for a series of meetings arranged by the Tokyo office of the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau. Our strategy is to increase tourism by the Japanese to Los Angeles - or people interchange -- by highlighting the Japanese American National Museum. The meetings were with Japanese travel bureaus and agency representatives. Lunch was with about a dozen Japanese travel journalists at a Chinese restaurant. I discovered, however, that my attraction to these people was -- not so much my chairmanship of the Japanese American National Museum -- but as Captain Sulu of Star Trek. One of the journalists even brought his collection of Star Trek books as well as the blueprint of the Starship Enterprise to be autographed. I noted for him that my Captain Sulu uniform from "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" was on display at the Japanese American National Museum. Whatever the occasion, Star Trek is an inevitable part of anything with which I might be associated. As long as my primary mission is served - in this case, increased attendance at the Japanese American National Museum - I am a willing Captain Sulu. Star Trek is a powerful magnet for any good cause.

The next evening, however, was an unadulterated Star Trek event. Russ Haslage of the Excelsior campaign had arranged via the internet for me to meet with a small group of Japanese Star Trek fans that are supporters of the Excelsior campaign for a relaxed evening over sushi. The enthusiasm for a new "Star Trek: Excelsior" television series, it seems, spans this globe.

I discovered that many of the Japanese fans were studying English. So I proposed that we make our evening an opportunity for some linguistic interchange. I promised to speak to them in Japanese if they would try to speak to me in English. It was an engaging evening of lively conversations in broken accents and laughter mixed with mangled syntaxes.

A week in Tokyo seems to fly at warp speed. Before an electrifying performance of Kabuki at the famed Kabuki-za Theater or a day trip to the dazzling new development complexes built on land fill in Yokohama could become fond memories, I found myself on a plane bound for home. I left Tokyo at 3 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon and, after a numbing ten-hour flight, arrived back in Los Angeles at 9 a.m. on that same Saturday morning! I was back before I had even left! Not only was I jet-lagged, I had to live through another Saturday. What unanticipated forms of punishment will warp speed impose?

With only the two Saturdays and a Sunday for recovery back in Los Angeles, I was off to Washington D.C. for a momentous event. Twenty-two Asian American veterans of World War II were to be granted the Medal of Honor, the highest military accolade this country can grant. At the end of the war more than fifty years ago, they had been given the second highest honor, the Silver Star. But because of the prevailing attitudes toward Asian Americans at the time, and especially toward Japanese Americans, the Pentagon was requested to again review the records of the Asian American Silver Star recipients. Twenty-two of them - twenty being Japanese Americans with one Chinese and one Filipino- were found to be worthy of the Medal of Honor. The greatest honor a soldier can receive was to be awarded at a White House ceremony by the President and, on the following day, they were to be inducted into the Hall of Heroes at the Pentagon. I was again to represent the Japanese American National Museum at both events and I had the honor of serving as the master of ceremonies of the celebration reception in the evening. But I also had a personal responsibility to be there as well. I owed an enormous debt to these veterans.

The America that I enjoy today is a vastly different world from that before World War II. The opportunities I enjoy today, where Asian Americans can choose to live wherever we want, receive the education for which we qualify, have the freedom to pursue the careers that we want, are possible in large measure because of the gallantry of these extraordinary men. They fought for a nation that had incarcerated their families behind the barbed wires of internment camps. Their country had failed the ideals to which these young men had pledged their allegiance every day in school -- but they had not. Their incredible faith in those ideals and their extraordinary valor changed, not only the course of the war, but the hearts and minds of a nation. I owe so much to them. The legacy of their generation to mine is enormous. I owe my America to them. My pride as an American is solidly based on the awesome price they paid. To witness the seven surviving veterans, some of who are now frail and unsteady in their steps, receiving the Medal of Honor from the President in the White House was a profoundly moving experience. One of them was my friend, U.S. Senator from Hawaii, Daniel Inouye. I will never forget that moment.

A quick shuttle flight for a meeting in New York and I was again back in Los Angeles to perch briefly at home. But two days later, I was back in what is now becoming my second home -- an airline seat - bound for Toronto, Canada. I am working on the narration of a documentary on Canada's effort to develop a new, low-cost and clean source of energy - nuclear fusion.

A sobering fact is that world energy consumption will at least double by the year 2010 - only ten years off. Canada's campaign to develop fusion energy, or energy produced by the combining of atoms -- as opposed to fission, or the splitting of atoms -- is in concert with a consortium of nations. As a citizen of the U.S., but also as a futurist and an environmentalist, I am excited to be participating, if only as an actor-narrator, on this visionary project. I certainly feel I have a duty to make up for the part I have played in my heavy consumption of energy jetting all over our much-beleaguered planet.

April 9, 2008 Last night was the big night - SHOW TIME! This was the culmination of the weeks of preparation, rehearsals, and anxiety. Throughout, it was a lot of fun working with super wonderful people under the usual pressure of a large and complex production. I had a strange combination of confidence shaded by a slight touch of nervousness.

I arrived at the studio a little past noon and walked down the corridor toward my dressing room. The door next to mine had the name Clint Black on it. This country-singing star was going to be doing stand-up comedy. I was invading his turf as a country singer. This was the wonderful craziness of Hollywood. I walked into my room. My western outfit -- fancy black embroidered shirt, black jeans, boots and all -- were hanging in the closet. I'm an actor used to seeing Starfleet uniforms hanging in my dressing room closet. But this western outfit somehow seemed to me surreal. And my gig tonight was to be singing country wearing it. How bizarre can life get! As it turned out, VERY bizarre.

The network execs had decided the musical interlude in my song was a bit long. So at the last minute, as we were about to go into dress rehearsals, the change came. There was no time for nervousness now. I had to adjust to the new shortened version. We rehearsed it a couple of times and that was it. The in-studio audience was arriving. Show time was fast approaching.

I had just gotten into my western outfit when my relatives came to my dressing room with their friends to cheer for me. Then, my partner-manager Brad Altman arrived with more friends. He told me that there were hordes of friends and supporters gathering outside with signs to cheer for me. Making the final grand and glamorous entrance into my dressing room, Nichelle Nichols, my Star Trek colleague, swept in to wish me well. A production assistant came to usher me to an interview with Entertainment Tonight so I thanked them all and off they went to their seats.

After the interview, I was ushered back to my dressing room to wait for my call to the stage. I was now alone in my room with only the leftover picking of fruits and crudités. I put on my CD for a final round with the instrumental version of my song. And that was it. Any more rehearsals would just be pointless edginess. I waited alone and calmly until Studio Producer Greg Harvey came to usher me to the stage.

There was the bustle of stagehands during a commercial break as I approached the stage. When I stepped onstage, a thunderous cheer from the audience greeted me and a magical thing happened. There is a weird and wonderful power that a generous audience casts. I felt at home, relaxed, and comfortable. The stagehands cleared the stage; I heard the countdown and host John O'Hurley started my intro. I could see every word of John's introduction on the prompter in back. The music started and I got with the beat. The rousing rhythm of Willie Nelson's great hit, "On the Road Again," felt so right. The song joyfully flowed out of my body. I sang my heart out. The cheering, stomping and hollerin' when I finished was tremendous. Signs that read "Beam Me Up" and "This is Takei Country" bobbed up and down. It was truly an exhilarating feeling.

John O'Hurley guided me to the judging panel composed of Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds, Grammy winner Brian McKnight, and television producer Gavin Polone. First up was Brian McKnight. He loved my "passion." Being judged by Debbie Reynolds was so exciting. When I was a kid, I remember going to a movie palace on Broadway in downtown Los Angeles to see her in "Singin' in the Rain." She was a sparkling bundle of talent dancing and singing with Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor. I love her. And here was this iconic sweetheart of America in front of me saying she liked ME and saying she needed a "spacey" singer for her opening act! It was dizzying! The only down note was Gavin Polone. He took a cheap homophobic shot that was totally unrelated to anything. The crowd gave him an eminently deserved boo. I think it's fair to judge the judge, and, in his case, I deem him to be an irresponsible and incompetent poop. Polone is a liability on the panel.

The upshot of the evening was that I was not a semi-finalist. The tap-dancing Mya and I were released to go home. Clint Black and Sasha Cohen, the Olympic ice skater, will be going on to the next round. Congratulations to both. I'm now out of the game. That's fine with me. I was competing as a country singer against a contortionist, a standup comic, and a tap-dancer. It was a fifty-fifty shot. I had a great time, met some wonderful people, and had an unforgettable experience.

I am grateful to some extraordinary people who made the experience so memorable. My studio producer, Greg Harvey, a giant of a man at 6'8", is as big in his enthusiasm, energy, and professionalism as he is physically. Edgar Struble, my musical arranger who worked with me from the very beginning straight through to the final musical cut right before the performance, is as affable and supportive as he is a hugely gifted musician. An unexpected gift was to have the hot country duo, Montgomery Gentry, the team of Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry, coach me on country singing. They now have a fan forever in me. I felt so honored by the terrific musicians of the all-star band behind me and the trio of fantastic backup singers. They have all become my friends. Singing country on "Secret Talents of the Stars" made me feel for one night like I was Willie Nelson "making music with my friends."

Working With The Pros - Saturday, April 5, 2008
Last night's rehearsal for my country singing debut on "Secret Talents of the Stars" was like a fantasy I'd never even dreamed of. All my life, I had been singing only in the warm, steamy resonance of my shower stall, hearing just my voice and the sound of the water spraying on me. But last night, I sang with an all-star band of seven great country musicians and two amazing back up singers. These artists had performed with some of the greats of country music - Kenny Rogers, Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton, and on and on. This was my fantasy come true! However, the most astonishing fantasy come true was, not only meeting, but also being coached by the new country sensation, Montgomery Gentry-the two artists, Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry! I love their new hit song, "Some People Change." They were doing a gig in Ft. Worth, Texas, but when the producers invited them to come coach me for the show, they flew straight away into Los Angeles. Just for me! It was overwhelming!

Once I got over the initial surprise of meeting them, I learned that both Eddie and Troy are Star Trek fans. When Eddie was guiding me on how to hold the microphone, I said, "Believe me, Eddie, I cling on to it like my security blanket." He guffawed, "Klingon!" With that, he sure enough proved his Star Trek credentials. He then told me to "eat the mike." I had no idea what he was talking about. He laughed and told me to hold the mike real close to my mouth. As baffling as sci-fi techno babble can be, I think I understand it better than country music lingo. Troy helped me stay with the beat. He had the guitar soloist and the drummer emphasize some of my cue beats. It helped. I could use all the help they can give me. And, I'm getting it from the best - the shooting stars of 21st century country music and my newfound friends, Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry. I spent the evening jamming and laughing with my country friends. If only all rehearsals could as fun as this. It was a fantastic evening.

I got in the car taking me home exhausted but feeling great. Now for the tough part of preparing for a live television show - camera rehearsals, dress rehearsal and then the BIG night in only three more days, Tuesday, April 8. The excitement mounts.

Into the Studio - Friday, March 28, 2008
What had seemed an exciting opportunity at first with "Secret Talents of the Stars" was now becoming a very real test. The show was providing me with a bounty of backups. I now have had three sessions with a terrific vocal coach, Dave Stroud, a number of promotional interviews, a discussion on wardrobe concepts with the costume designers, and, to top it all off, I met a couple of country musicians who are going to be my backup musicians -- and they've worked with legendary country artist, Kenny Rogers! All this for ME, a mere shower singer!

As the challenges intensified, my anxiety almost became panic. At my first vocal session with Dave Stroud, I was so nervous I was racing past the beat of the song. Dave gave me real insight into singing country. He said that the most important quality of country music is a relaxed enjoyment of the music. Forget everything, loosen up, and give yourself up to the song. Easier said than done. I'm loose and relaxed in my shower stall, but this isn't shower singing anymore. This is going before millions and millions of people all across the country.

Dave gave me supportive compliments about my vocal quality and we forged on. He taught me exercises to relax and loosen my vocal cords. I made ridiculous sounds going up and down the musical scale. I burred, I rolled my rr's, I made round vowel sounds. My nephew's five-year-old kid would be squealing with laughter if he heard Uncle George making these silly sounds. I did feel ridiculous. But, it worked. The exercises calmed me down and the singing became more comfortable. By the second session, I was doing a tad better. I was more relaxed. But I was still dependent on singing with the vocalist on the CD track. Dave's homework assignment to me for the next session was to get off the vocal track and sing only to the accompaniment.

For the following couple of days, I practiced diligently with only the musical track. I no longer had my training wheels. I was now singing solo and it was breathtaking - I kept getting lost. The music did fancy but confusing curlicues. It was exasperating. Over and over again, I practiced and sang to the fancy part of the music. Eventually, I got the beat and the feel of it. I went to my third session with Dave feeling reasonably confident. But then, when I arrived, there was a whole camera crew from the show to film my lesson with Dave. My vocal lesson with Dave was going to be seen by millions across the nation as part of the show! Again, nerves attacked! My singing without the vocal track was hit and miss. I can only hope that they edit the film kindly.

Yesterday, I went to my first studio session. We're now getting closer and closer to the Big Day. I met a part of my musical backup team for the first time. Edgar, the musical arranger, introduced me to the two guitarists - Chuck and John. They were affable, down-to-earth, and immediately seemed like old friends. They were real country people. John was from Georgia and both Edgar and Chuck were from Michigan but all had spent a good hunk of time in Nashville. Both guitarists, John and Chuck, had handsome guitars with beautiful abalone shell inlays. Then Edgar and Chuck told me that they had toured with the celebrated Kenny Rogers! They are part of country legend! I had no idea I would be performing with the greats. Like the true country people they are, however, they brought the conversation right down to earth. They had toured with Kenny Rogers in Japan, they told me, and loved the food there. I could tell from Chuck's generous girth that he enjoyed good eating. From Edgar's lean figure, I could tell he had very good metabolism. The talk of Japanese food made me feel that I would be making music with friends. And we did. We had a great time singing country and laughing through the session. The two hours we had seemed to go at warp speed.

However, I would now have a whole week before I could get together with my newfound musical friends again. Tomorrow, I fly off to New York for my weeklong gig with the Howard Stern Show on Sirius Satellite Radio. I do, however, plan to continue rehearsing with my trusty CD player every day. A week goes fast and I intend to rise to the challenge of my "Secret Talent." I'm publicly coming out of my shower stall to face a national television audience.

Monday, March 24, 2008
For over four decades, I've trekked the galaxies on the Starship Enterprise "boldly going where no one has gone before." I did the Star Trek television series in the 60s, recorded the voice in the animated series in the 70s, the movie series from the 70s to the 90s, and conventions all over this planet. It was no longer "boldly going" on to new adventures. It had become almost tradition.

However, with one e-mail from my agent with an offer from the "Secret Talents of the Stars," I truly felt the sensation of "boldly going" where I had never gone before. It was an offer to do what I do every morning in my shower stall - singing country songs. But the offer was to sing live on stage before an audience of about four or five hundred people in studio AND millions of television viewers across the nation. I'd never done this. I felt excitement, the thrill of a new challenge, but there was also a tingle of anxiety. What if I fall flat on my face? But then, what a great opportunity this is as well! This is what life is about - to try new things and see what happens. I decided I'll do it!

Immediately after accepting the offer, however, I had a scheduled trip to Coventry, England for - what else - a sci-fi convention. After the gig, I was also giving ourselves, my partner, Brad and me, a week of whoopee in London and a quick dash through Brussels and Bruges, Belgium. When we arrived in London, the "Secret Talents of the Stars" production had sent a c.d. player with the song I was to sing to the hotel. So for the rest of our trip through Europe, I was singing country - vocalizing in hotel showers, humming on trains, and body swaying to the beat of the music on the plane flight back home. I'm trekking and I'm preparing to "boldly go" where I've never gone before.

August, 2010 Brad and I are overjoyed by Judge Walker's ruling declaring Proposition 8 unconstitutional. This is a victory not only for the LGBT community, but for equality, our Constitution and the ideals of America. Those continuing to support the appeal of the ruling should mind their own marriage. Brad and I celebrated by popping a bottle of Champagne on Wednesday night.