This is a striking and intensely personal long-form conversation with acting and civil rights icon,
George Takei. We discuss his role on the
Howard Stern show, decision to come out of the closet publicly, social media, and his involvement in the new musical,
Allegiance.
George shares some very personal stories of his upbringing and his Japanese-American family's internment during
WWII, and how that shaped him and eventually led him to his current theater gig. This is a very funny and moving conversation with an icon--one that gives a rare look into his experience.
GUEST
BIO:
George Takei, an actor best known for his portrayal of
Mr. Sulu in the acclaimed television and film series
Star Trek, has more than 40 feature films and hundreds of television guest-starring roles to his credit.
George and
Tony Award winner
Lea Salonga are developing a new musical called "Allegiance" (music and lyrics by Jay Kuo, book by Jay Kuo and
Lorenzo Thione). The musical is an epic story of love, family and heroism during the
Japanese American internment. Allegiance's world premiere at the
Old Globe Theatre in
San Diego in
September 2012 will be followed by a
Broadway run.
George is a regular guest on
The Howard Stern Show on
Sirius XM Radio. George was the announcer and on-air personality during Stern's debut week in
January 2006.
Recognized worldwide as a member of the original Star Trek cast, George received a star on
Hollywood Boulevard's
Walk of Fame in
1986 and he placed his signature and hand print in the forecourt of the landmark
Grauman's Chinese Theater in
Hollywood in
1991.
As told in his autobiography,
To the Stars, published by
Pocket Books in
1994, George was born in
Los Angeles, California. With the outbreak of
World War II, he and his family together with
120,
000 other
Japanese Americans were placed behind the barbed-wire enclosures of
United States internment camps. George spent most of his childhood at
Camp Rohwer in the swamps of
Arkansas and at wind-swept Camp
Tule Lake in northern
California.
George's family eventually returned to his native
Los Angeles, which shaped his acting career.
After graduating from
Los Angeles High School in
1956, George enrolled in the
University of California at Berkeley.
Later, he transferred to the
University of California at Los Angeles, where he received a bachelor of arts in theater in 1960 and a master of arts in theater in 1964. He attended the
Shakespeare Institute at Stratford-Upon-Avon in
England and
Sophia University.
A member of the
Human Rights Campaign, the largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender political organization, George was a spokesman for
HRC's
Coming Out Project. In
April 2006, he embarked on a nationwide speaking tour called "
Equality Trek" in which he talked about his life as a gay
Japanese American. Star Trek's
Leonard Nimoy presented George with HRC's Equality
Award at its
San Francisco gala dinner in July
2007.
George and his husband,
Brad Takei, are residents of
Los Angeles. They met while running with the Los Angeles Frontrunners in the early
1980s.
Life partners for more than two decades, they were married on
September 14, 2008, in the
Democracy Forum of the
Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles.
ADD'L LINKS:
http://www.georgetakei.com/
http://twitter.com/georgetakei
https://www.facebook.com/georgehtakei
http://www.allegiancemusical.com/
http://www.howardstern.com/
EPISODE BREAKDOWN:
00:01
Media Mayhem Opening.
00:31
Introducing George Takei.
02:50 What made you agree to go on the Howard Stern show?
04:32
The decision to come out to the press.
08:02 Being in the closet in Hollywood.
10:50
William Shatner's real motivations.
12:34
Artie Lange and dealing directly with homophobia: "
Boldly going where you haven't been before."
16:39 Serving as an ambassador of the Japanese American community.
18:07
Americans put into concentration camps and how the Takei family was taken away
.
22:36 Being trained off to a camp in Arkansas.
25:06 The conflict of wanting to serve a country that oppressed you.
33:59 Resisters among the Japanese Americans.
36:24
Turning the experience into a musical.
38:42 The chance meeting that turned into "Allegiance
."
44:19 George's teenage resentment at internment and a watershed moment with his father.
47:15 Legislation that infringes on minorities.
49:05 How George's parents dealt with the experience and provided guidance.
53:18 Why George went to
UCLA and not the
Actor's Studio.
56:36
Becoming an icon of social media and having legions of followers.
1:00:11 George's response to Clint McCance
1:02:57
Thanks and
Goodbye!
https://www.facebook.com/MediaMayhem
https://twitter.com/ahopeweiner
http://thelip.tv/
- published: 16 Aug 2012
- views: 28128