Rod Roddenberry

Early life

Roddenberry was born in Los Angeles the son of actress Majel Barrett and writer and producer Gene Roddenberry, creator of the American science fiction series Star Trek. Rod went to the John Thomas Dye School in Bel Air and Harvard-Westlake School in North Hollywood and attended Hampshire College in the early 1990s.

Rod Roddenberry was not familiar with Star Trek, having never even watched the show. In 1991, when he was 17 years old, his father died, after which he began to examine Star Trek and discover "what made the series special" to its fans. Rod struggled initially with his father's near-legendary stature among Star Trek fans, saying, "A son cannot identify with a mythical figure; my father was put up on this pedestal throughout my life." However, as he 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."

Career

In 2001, Rod 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.

In mid-2009, the Los Angeles Times reported that Roddenberry approved of the 2009 Star Trek film by J.J Abrams. He opined that the producers and writers "made Star Trek cool again" with the film. In 2010 Roddenberry, an avid scuba diver since 1993, founded the Roddenberry Dive Team "to embark on undersea experiences and discover the diversity beneath the ocean." He leads the dive team in its exploration of underwater worlds and hopes to inspire stewardship of the world's oceans. He has a Divemaster certification, has led or participated in more than 1,000 dives from exotic locations around the world.

In October 2011, the Roddenberry Foundation, which was founded by Rod Roddenberry, made its largest gift of $5 million to the J. David Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco to establish the Roddenberry Center for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine.

Roddenberry began being directly involved in the Star Trek franchise in 2016 when he signed on as an executive producer of the TV series Star Trek: Discovery.

Filmography

References

References

1. (October 2025). "Barrett".
2. Truitt, Brian. (November 28, 2011). "Roddenberry put 'Star Trek' light-years ahead". [[USA Today]].
3. "Where SciFi Begins". Roddenberry.com.
4. Vakkalanka, Harshnini. (July 12, 2012). "Trekking to a new world". [[The Hindu]].
5. Eugene "Rod" Roddenberry. (April 23, 2010). "Bios: Eugene "Rod" Roddenberry". Roddenberry.com.
6. Whitmore, Linda. (August 6, 2009). "The Roddenberry stamp of approval". [[The Los Angeles Times]].
7. "Gladstone Institutes Announces Roddenberry Center for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine".
8. McMillan, Graeme. (March 3, 2016). "CBS' New 'Star Trek' Adds Gene Roddenberry's Son as Exec Producer". [[Prometheus Global Media]].
9. Lincoln, Ross A.. (March 3, 2016). "'Star Trek': Rod Roddenberry & Trevor Roth Join CBS Digital Series As EPs". [[Penske Media Corporation]].
10. Sperling, Nicole. (2021-08-01). "Can Paramount+ Succeed? One Producer Hopes to Make It So.". The New York Times.
11. (2022-05-03). "The Roddenberry Archive: The Cage". Roddenberry Entertainment, OTOY, Roddenberry Entertainment.
12. (2022-05-03). "Cast and Crew of Original 'Star Trek' Pilot Reunite for Virtual Set Recreation by Otoy".