Sometimes referred to as"the First Lady of Star Trek,“Majel Barrett-Roddenberry played a role in everyStar Trekseries that aired during her lifetime. Barrett appeared in several films and television shows throughout her career, but she remains most well-known for her considerable contributions totheStar Trekfranchise. When Gene Roddenberry was first working on his plans forStar Trek,he was seeing Majel Barrett romantically at the time and cast her in the initial pilot, “The Cage.” Barrett and Roddenberry married a few years later in 1969 and remained married until Roddenberry’s death in 1991.
Majel Barrett has been vital toStar Treksince the franchise’s beginnings. Not only did she appear inStar Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation,andStar Trek: Deep Space Nine,but she also lent her voice to several characters inStar Trek: The Animated Series.Barrett’s voice, in particular, cannot be separated fromStar Trek,as she voices the computer ofthe Starship Enterprise, as well as the computers on various Starfleet vessels throughout the series.
5Number One
Star Trek: The Original Series Unaired Pilot - “The Cage”
In the original outline forStar Trek: The Original Series,the character ofNumber One was described as"a glacierlike, efficient femalewho serves as ship’s Executive Officer.“Majel Barrett took on the role in “The Cage,“portraying Number One alongside Jeffrey Hunter’s Captain Christopher Pike.
Rebecca Romijn portrays Number One inStar Trek: Strange New Worlds,which has expanded the role of the character and given her more depth.
NBC initially rejected “The Cage,” saying that it was"too cerebral,“and wished to replace several of the performers, including Majel Barrett. Ultimately,Leonard Nimoy’s Spock was the only character who stuck aroundforStar Trek: The Original Series,and he became the stoic,“glacierlike"character among the crew.
4Nurse Christine Chapel
Star Trek: The Original Series
Majel Barrett appeared in 25 episodes ofStar Trek: The Original Seriesand two feature filmsas Nurse Christine Chapel, the head nurse assisting Chief Medical OfficerDr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley).Gene Roddenberry created the role of Nurse Chapel specifically for Barrettafter NBC rejected his originalStar Trekpilot. ThroughoutTOS,Chapel assisted Dr. McCoy in sickbay, eventually becoming a doctor herself by the time ofStar Trek: The Motion Picture.
Nurse Chapel’s Big Star Trek Canon Event Will Still Happen In Strange New Worlds Season 3
A canon event from Nurse Christine Chapel’s Star Trek: The Original Series past still has to happen in prequel series Strange New Worlds' 3rd season.
AlthoughTOSdid not reveal much about Chapel’s character,she was clearly in love with Spock.WhileTOSimplied this love was unrequited,Star Trek: Strange New Worldshas recontextualized the relationship between Chapel (Jess Bush) and Spock (Ethan Peck), revealing that they were involved romantically prior to the events ofTOS.
3M’Ress (& Others)
Star Trek: The Animated Series
Majel Barrett voiced several characters onStar Trek: The Animated Series,the most substantial of those being operations officer Lt. M’Ress. A member of the cat-like species known as the Caitians,M’Ress served as the Enterprise communications officerwhenLt. Uhura (Nichelle Nichols)was off-duty.
“One of Our Planets is Missing” (Season 1, Episode 3)
“Once Upon a Planet” (Season 1, Episode 9)
“Mudd’s Passion” (Season 1, Episode 10)
Rila & 3 other Aquans
“The Eye of the Beholder” (Season 1, Episode 15)
“The Pirates of Orion” (Season 2, Episode 1)
A lieutenant on the USS Huron
M’Ress also sometimes acted as a temporary science officer when Spock was on an away mission or otherwise occupied.M’Ress only appeared in six episodes ofTAS,but Barrett also provided the voice for numerous other characters throughout the show’s run, including Spock’s mother, Amanda Grayson.
2Lwaxana Troi
Star Trek: The Next Generation & Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Majel Barrett returned to live-actionStar Trekas the flamboyant Lwaxana Troi inStar Trek: The Next Generation. The Betazoid mother ofCounselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), Lwaxana served as an ambassador for Betazed and the United Federation of Planets. Despite her larger-than-life personality,Lwaxana’s life had been marred by great tragedy,and she came to be one ofTNG’s bestrecurring characters.
All 9 Lwaxana Troi Star Trek Episodes Ranked, Worst To Best
Majel Barrett’s Lwaxana Troi had a wonderful character arc over the course of 9 appearances in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine.
Lwaxana enjoyed making Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) uncomfortable with her flirting and innuendos, much to the embarrassment of her daughter.Lwaxana appeared in six episodes ofTNGand three episodes ofStar Trek: Deep Space Nine,and Majel Barrett made the character impossible to forget. While Lwaxana could be grating at first, she had grown into a complex, three-dimensional character by the end of her nineStar Trekappearances.
1Starship Computer Voices
Various
With all of these roles, Majel Barrett was already an integral part of theStar Trekfranchise, but she further cemented her place inTrekhistory by providing the iconic voice for the Enterprise computer system. A precursor to digital assistants like Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa,Barrett’s voice became intrinsically linked toStar Trekand its ships,particularly the USS Enterprise.
Majel Barrett also introduced the episode recaps for the two-part episodes ofTNG, DS9,andVoyager,beginning with"Last time on Star Trek…”
Barrett not only voiced the Enterprise’s computer inStar Trek: The Original Series,but alsovoiced the computers of numerous Starfleet vesselsthroughoutStar Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,andStar Trek: Voyager. Barrett voiced ships in two episodes ofStar Trek: Enterprise,all fourTNGfilms, andStar Trek(2009). Archive audio of Barrett’s voice was used inStar Trek: Picardseason 3for the computer of the rebuilt USS Enterprise-D.
It’s difficult to imagine whatStar Trekwould have been without Majel Barrett-Roddenberry’s contributions, and she has more than earned her title of"the First Lady of Star Trek.”
Star Trek
Star Trek is one of pop culture’s biggest multimedia franchises, spanning multiple movies, TV shows, books, comics, video games, and various other media. The franchise was created by Gene Roddenberry and started with the 1960s TV series starring William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. Over the decades, several equally popular series have come out since as Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Discovery.
