Star Trek is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. Since its creation, the franchise has expanded into various films, television series, video games, novels, and comic books, and it has become one of the most recognizable and highest-grossing media franchises of all time.
Star Trek creator, producer and writer Gene Roddenberry
Commander Spock and Captain James T. Kirk, played by Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner, pictured here in the original series
The actors who played the Captains on the first five Star Trek series, together in London at Destination Star Trek
Testbed Space Shuttle Enterprise, named after the fictional starship with Star Trek television cast members and creator Gene Roddenberry in 1976
Eugene Wesley Roddenberry Sr. was an American television screenwriter and producer who created the science fiction franchise Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, where his father was a police officer. Roddenberry flew 89 combat missions in the Army Air Forces during World War II and worked as a commercial pilot after the war. Later, he joined the Los Angeles Police Department and began to write for television.
Roddenberry with Space Shuttle Enterprise in Palmdale, California, 1976
Roddenberry during his senior year of high school (1939)
Leonard Nimoy first worked with Roddenberry on The Lieutenant.
Roddenberry appearing in an advertisement for MONY in 1961