Rod Roddenberry | |
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Roddenberry at WonderCon 2017
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Born |
Eugene Wesley Roddenberry Jr. February 5, 1974 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Alma mater | Hampshire College |
Occupation | Television producer |
Spouse(s) | Heidi Roddenberry |
Children | 1 |
Parent(s) |
Gene Roddenberry Majel Barrett |
Eugene Wesley "Rod" Roddenberry Jr. (born February 5, 1974) is an American television producer and the chief executive officer of Roddenberry Entertainment. Eugene, the son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett, is an executive producer on the upcoming Star Trek: Discovery, set for release in 2017.
Roddenberry was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of actress Majel Barrett and writer and producer Gene Roddenberry, who is best known for creating the American science fiction series Star Trek. Eugene went to the John Thomas Dye School in Bel Air and Harvard-Westlake School in North Hollywood. and then attended Hampshire College in the early 1990s.
As a young man, Roddenberry was not closely familiar with Star Trek, having never even watched it. In 1991, when Roddenberry was 17 years old, his father died, after which he began to more closely examine Star Trek and discover "what made the series special" to its fans. Roddenberry struggled initially with his father's near legendary stature among Star Trek fans, commenting, "A son cannot identify with a mythical figure; my father was put up on this pedestal throughout my life." However, as Roddenberry heard many moving stories about his father's flaws and follies, he observed, "That allowed me, as a son, not just to connect with him, but actually love him."
In 2001, Roddenberry became chief executive officer of Roddenberry Entertainment, which builds upon his father's work, and develops multimedia science fiction properties including comics, television and film projects, including the television documentary Trek Nation, which debuted on Science in November 2011.