Star Trek (also called Star Trek: The Original Series) is a television series created by Gene Roddenberry. The first episode, The Man Trap was written by George Clayton Johnson and first aired in the United States on September 8, 1966. Although the series only ran for three seasons (1966-1969), it became a cult classic with a large fanbase and eventually spawned a number of additional TV series, films, books, and more.

Gene Roddenberry was born Eugene Wesley Roddenberry, Sr., in El Paso, Texas, in 1921. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1941 and flew B-17 planes in the South Pacific and later served as a plane crash investigator in the United States, ultimately earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal. After World War II, he worked as an airline pilot and worked for the Los Angeles Police Department.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Roddenberry wrote scripts for television programs. In 1964, he began pitching Star Trek. He initially had difficulty gaining support for the show, but the pilot premiered on September 8, 1966. While the original Star Trek series was cancelled in 1969, Roddenberry continued to write other TV shows and films. He returned as a producer of the series Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987. He was the first writer/producer to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame upon reception in 1986. Roddenberry died on October 24, 1991.

External Sources:

CBS Studios, Inc. "Roddenberry." Official Star Trek website. https://www.startrek.com/database_article/roddenberry. Accessed October 12, 2022.

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Gene Roddenberry." Encyclopaedia Britannica, June 19, 2020, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gene-Roddenberry. Accessed October 12, 2022.

James Doohan was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, on March 3, 1920. He joined the Royal Canadian Artillery in 1939 and became an officer. He served in World War II and was wounded in combat at D-Day. After his service, Doohan performed in radio shows and trained as an actor at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. He performed in over 4,000 radio shows and over 400 television programs, but is best known for his role as "Scotty" in the original Star Trek series, which aired from 1966 to 1969, as well as various Star Trek films. He maintained an active public presence until his death in 2005.

External Sources:

"Doohan." https://www.startrek.com/database_article/doohan. Accessed October 12, 2022.