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Majel Barrett-Roddenberry ( ; born Majel Leigh Hudec; February 23, 1932 – December 18, 2008) was an American actress. She was best known for her roles as various characters in the Star Trek franchise: Nurse Christine Chapel (in the , , and two films of the franchise), Number One (also in the original series), Lwaxana Troi (on and ), and the voice of most onboard computer interfaces throughout the series from 1966 to 2023.
She married Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry in 1969. As his wife and given her relationship with Star Trekparticipating in some way in every series during her lifetimeshe is sometimes referred to as "the First Lady of Star Trek.
She first appeared in 's initial pilot, "" (1964), as the USS Enterprise's unnamed first officer, "Number One". Barrett was romantically involved with Roddenberry, whose marriage was on the verge of failing at the time, and the idea of having an otherwise unknown woman in a leading role just because she was the producer's girlfriend is said to have infuriated NBC network executives who insisted that Roddenberry give the role to a man. William Shatner corroborated this in Star Trek Memories, and added that female viewers at test screenings hated the character as well. (1993). 9780060177348, HarperCollins. ISBN 9780060177348 Claim made in the chapter on "The Cage". Shatner said that female viewers felt she was "pushy" and "annoying" and also thought that "Number One shouldn't be trying so hard to fit in with the men." Barrett often joked that Roddenberry, given the choice between keeping Spock (whom the network also hated) or the woman character, "kept the Vulcan and married the woman, 'cause he didn't think Leonard Nimoy would have it the other way around".
When Roddenberry was casting for the second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before", she changed her last name from Hudec to Barrett and wore a blond wig for the role of nurse Christine Chapel, a frequently recurring character, who was introduced in "The Naked Time", the sixth new episode recorded, and was known for her unrequited affection for the dispassionate Spock. Her first appearance as Chapel in film dailies prompted NBC executive Jerry Stanley to yodel "Well, well—look who's back!"
In an early scene in , viewers are informed that she has now become Doctor Chapel, a role which she reprised briefly in , as Commander Chapel. Barrett provided several voices for , including those of Nurse Chapel and a communications officer named M'Ress, an Felidae officer who served alongside Uhura.
Barrett returned years later in , cast as the outrageously self-assertive, iconoclastic Betazoid ambassador, Lwaxana Troi, who appeared as a recurring character in the series, often visiting her daughter Deanna Troi, the ship's counselor. Her character often vexed the captain of the Enterprise, Jean-Luc Picard, who spurned her amorous advances. She later appeared as Ambassador Troi in several episodes of , where her character developed a strong relationship with Constable Odo.
She was the regular voice of the onboard computers of Federation starships for , , , , and most of the Star Trek movies. She reprised her role as a shipboard computer's voice in two episodes of the prequel series , thus making her the only actor to have a role in all six televised Star Trek series produced up to that time. She also lent her voice to various computer games and software related to the franchise. The association of her voice with interactions with computers led to Google's Assistant project being initially codenamed Google Majel. She made a point of attending a major Star Trek convention each year in an effort to inspire fans and keep the franchise alive.
On December 9, 2008, shortly before her death, Roddenberry Productions announced that she would be providing the voice of the ship's computer again, this time for the 2009 motion picture reboot of Star Trek.
After Gene Roddenberry's death, Barrett took material from his archives to bring two of his ideas into production. She was executive producer of (in which she also played the character Dr. Julianne Belman), and Andromeda. She also served as creative director for Gene Roddenberry's Lost Universe, a comic book series based on another archival Roddenberry concept.
In a gesture of goodwill between the creators of the Star Trek franchise and of Babylon 5, she appeared in the Babylon 5 episode "Point of No Return", as Lady Morella, the psychic widow of the Centauri emperor, a role which foreshadowed major plot elements in the series. Parodying her voice work as the computer for the Star Trek series, Barrett performed as a guest voice on Family Guy as the voice of Stewie Griffin's ship's computer in the episode "Emission Impossible".
Barrett's widely recognized voice performance as the Star Trek computer inspired the Amazon Alexa interactive virtual assistant, according to its developer Toni Reid, although Barrett had no direct role in it.
The new marriage was not legally binding, as his divorce from Eileen had not yet been finalized. This was resolved two days after his divorce was complete, and on December 29, a small ceremony was held at their home, followed by a reception for family and friends. Despite that, the couple continued to celebrate August 6 as their wedding anniversary. Roddenberry's young daughter, Dawn, decided to live with him and Barrett. and the family moved to a new house in Beverly Hills in October 1970.. In February 1974, Barrett and Roddenberry had a son, Eugene Jr., known as Rod Roddenberry. They remained married until Gene's death at Barrett's side on October 24, 1991, in Santa Monica, California..
After her husband's death, Barrett-Roddenberry commissioned Celestis to launch her together with Gene on an infinite mission to deepest space. After putting them on the manifest for NASA's "Sunjammer" mission, the agency cancelled the mission in 2014. Celestis rescheduled a launch for 2020, then later rescheduled it for June 2022, the next available commercial mission to deep space. A sample of the couple's cremated remains would be sealed into a specially made capsule designed to withstand space travel. A spacecraft will carry the capsule along with digitized tributes from fans, on Celestis' "Enterprise Flight". The flight also would contain the ashes of Nichelle Nichols and Douglas Trumbull. The Celestis "Enterprise Flight" was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on January 8, 2024.
Barrett-Roddenberry died on the morning of December 18, 2008, at her home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, as a result of leukemia. She was 76 years old. A public funeral was held on January 4, 2009, in Los Angeles. More than 250 people attended, including Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, Walter Koenig, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, and Wil Wheaton.
Amazon code-named the project which eventually became Amazon Alexa as "Majel".
| 1957 | Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? | Shampoo demonstrator | Uncredited |
| 1958 | As Young as We Are | Joyce Goodwin | |
| 1958 | The Black Orchid | Luisa | Uncredited |
| 1958 | The Buccaneer | Townswoman #1 | |
| 1960 | Leave it to Beaver | Gwen Rutherford | |
| 1961 | Love in a Goldfish Bowl | Alice | |
| 1961 | Back Street | Woman at Table | Uncredited |
| 1963 | The Quick and the Dead | Teresa | |
| 1965 | Sylvia | Anne | Uncredited |
| 1966 | Made in Paris | Mrs. David Prentiss | Uncredited |
| 1967 | A Guide for the Married Man | Mrs. Fred V. | |
| 1967 | Track of Thunder | Georgia Clark | |
| 1968 | Here Come the Brides | Tessa | |
| 1973 | Westworld | Miss Carrie | |
| 1977 | The Domino Principle | Yuloff | |
| 1979 | Christine Chapel | ||
| 1986 | Christine Chapel | ||
| 1994 | Teresa's Tattoo | Henrietta | |
| 1994 | Star Trek Generations | Ship Computer | Voice role |
| 1995 | Mommy | Mrs. Withers | |
| 1996 | Ship Computer | Voice role | |
| 1998 | Ship Computer | Voice role | |
| 2002 | Ship Computer | Voice role | |
| 2009 | Star Trek | Ship Computer | Voice role; Posthumous release |
| 2014 | Hamlet A.D.D. | Queen Robot | Voice role; Posthumous release |
| 1959 | Whirlybirds | Nurse | Episode: "The Black Maria" |
| 1960 | Johnny Midnight | Rosemary McCoy | Episode: "The Villain of the Piece" |
| 1960 | Leave It To Beaver | Mrs. Rutherford | Episode: "Beaver and Violet" |
| 1961–1962 | Pete and Gladys | Dental Assistant | 2 episodes |
| 1962 1966 | Bonanza | Belle Ganther Annie Slocum | Episode: Gift of Water Episode: Three Brides for Hoss |
| 1964 | The Lieutenant | Ruth Donaldson | Episode: "In the Highest Tradition" |
| 1965 | "The Cage" | Number One | Original Star Trek-Pilot |
| 1966–1969 | Christine Chapel | 26 episodes | |
| Ship Computer | Voice role; 7 episodes, uncredited | ||
| 1973 | Genesis II | Primus Dominique | Television film |
| 1973–1974 | Christine Chapel (voice) | 9 episodes | |
| Various characters (voice) | 22 episodes | ||
| 1974 | Planet Earth | Yuloff | Television film |
| 1974 | The F.B.I. | Mrs. Derek | Episode: "The Animal" |
| 1974 | The Questor Tapes | Dr. Bradley | Television film |
| 1977 | Spectre | Mrs. Schnaible | Television film |
| 1979 | The Suicide's Wife | Clarissa Harmon | Television film |
| 1979 | The Man in the Santa Claus Suit | Miss Forsyth | Television film |
| 1987–1993 | Lwaxana Troi | 6 episodes | |
| 1987–1994 | Ship Computer | Voice role; 101 episodes, uncredited in early seasons, later credited. | |
| 1993–1999 | Ship/Federation Computer | Voice role; 30 episodes | |
| Lwaxana Troi | 3 episodes | ||
| 1995–2001 | Ship Computer | Voice role; 115 episodes | |
| 1996 | Babylon 5 | Lady Morella | Episode: "Point of No Return" |
| 1996-1998 | Anna Watson (voice) | 17 episodes | |
| 1997–1999 | Dr. Julianne Belman | 11 episodes | |
| 2001 | Family Guy | Ship Computer (voice) | Episode: "Emission Impossible" |
| 2005 | Ship Computer (voice) | Episodes: "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II" & "These Are The Voyages" | |
| 2023 | Enterprise Computer (voice) | Archival audio Episode: "Vox" & "Last Generation"; Posthumous release |
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