Star Trek's Nurse Chapel dies of leukemia

ENTERTAINMENT - Majel Barrett Roddenberry has been in more Star Trek episodes and Star Trek movies than any other Star Trek actor, for over four decades. She played the dark-haired Number One in the original Star Trek pilot but metamorphosed into the blond, miniskirted Nurse Christine Chapel in the original 1966-69 show.

She played the role of the ship's computer voice during all 5 sequel TV shows and many of the Star Trek movie incarnations, and Betazoid Ambassador Lwaxana Troi in 6 episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and 3 episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Roddenberry died of leukemia Thursday morning (December 18th) at her home in Bel-Air. She was 76.

Just two weeks ago she completed the voice of the ship's computer for the upcoming J.J. Abrams movie "Star Trek", which focuses on Kirk and Spock's first adventures together.

As Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry's widow she nurtured the legacy of the seminal science fiction TV series after his death. Roddenberry helped keep the franchise alive by inspiring fans and attended a major Star Trek convention each year. She was also the executive producer for two other Gene Roddenberry series, Andromeda and Earth: Final Conflict.

She also appeared in a Babylon 5 episode "Point of No Return", as Lady Morella, the psychic widow of the Centauri emperor, and parodied her voice work as a guest voice on Family Guy as the voice of Stewie Griffin's ship's computer in the episode "Emission Impossible".

Star Trek and its successors often focused on political and philosophical issues of the day. Roddenberry and her husband Gene, who died in 1991, believed in creating "thoughtful entertainment" and were proud of the show and the passionate devotion of its fans.

Born Majel Lee Hudec on February 23rd 1932, in Cleveland, she began taking acting classes as a child. She had some stage roles, then in the late 1950s and 1960s had bit parts in a few movies and small roles in TV series, including "Leave It to Beaver" and "Bonanza".

She met her husband in 1964 during a guest role for a Marine Corps drama he produced called "The Lieutenant". That same year, she was cast in the pilot for the Star Trek series as the no-nonsense second-in-command. The pilot did not appeal to NBC executives and a second pilot was made, although parts of the original later showed up in a two-part episode called "The Menagerie".

The couple married in Japan in 1969 after Star Trek (TOS) was cancelled.