George Takei Says the Original ‘Star Trek’ TV Show Cast Became ‘Lifelong Friends’

The Star Trek cast didn’t just play a group of friends exploring the universe together on the USS Enterprise, they were pals away from the show too. In fact, two of them played special roles when George Takei, who played Sulu on the 1966-1969 original series, married longtime love Brad Altman Takei on September 14, 2008.

“One of the gifts that Star Trek gave me was colleagues who became lifelong friends,” the 82-year-old exclusively told Closer Weekly in the magazine’s latest issue, on newsstands now. “When Brad and I got married, our best man was Chekov, Walter Koenig!”

Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura, also was part of the wedding party. “We asked her to be our matron of honor,” George explained about her involvement. “But she said, ‘I am not a matron! If Walter can be the best man, why can’t I be the best lady?’ She was absolutely right!”

In addition to launching a decades-spanning franchise of various TV shows and movies that still continues to this day, Star Trek gave audiences a series that broke ground in terms of bringing diverse and multi-ethnic talent to the forefront.

Not only that, but George jokes that they beat Neil Armstrong and the Apollo astronauts to space by three years, as the moon landing happened the year Star Trek ended. “We kind of led the way and showed them how to do it,” he joked to Closer Weekly at the opening night of Slave Play in New York City.

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