Merrick here...

Majel Barrett-Roddenberry passed away in her home at 12:27am this morning after a battle with leukemia. She was 76 years old.

Majel was with STAR TREK since before most of the world knew what STAR TREK was, since before she married TREK creator Gene Roddenberry. She played "Number One", Captain Christopher Pike's First Officer, in "The Cage" (an unaired TREK pilot later cannibalized as flashback fodder for an Original Series episode called "The Menagerie"). She also appeared as Nurse Christine Chapel in THE ORIGINAL SERIES - Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy's stalwart sidekick whose crush on Spock provided many memorable, and amusing, moments.

After THE ORIGINAL SERIES, she voiced various characters on STAR TREK: THE ANIMATED SERIES, and appeared in Gene Roddenberry produced fare like PLANET EARTH, GENESIS II, SPECTRE, and THE QUESTOR TAPES . She played Lwaxana Troi (Deanna Troi's flamboyant, man-craving mother) in STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - as well as providing the voice for the Enterprise computer in that series. She would reprise both the computer and Troi roles in STAR TREKs DEEP SPACE NINE, VOYAGER, multiple TREK films, and was recently announced to be voicing the Enterprise computer in J.J. Abrams' forthcoming STAR TREK movie. It's not clear if Majel recorded her role before passing (J.J.'s previous statements indicated the film would more-or-less be in the can by now, so it seems likely she did). More on this as we know more...

Barrett's acting career was not limited to STAR TREK; it included BABYLON 5, WESTWORLD, and even GENERAL HOSPITAL. After Gene's passing in 1991, Majel perpetuated his legacy by developing/producing Gene-"concepts" like EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT and ANDROMEDA.

There was something comfortably assuring and familiar when Barrett's association with Abrams' new TREK was announced - I was looking forward to hearing that voice again . Over the decades, TREK has seen many permutations, and undergone many tribulations. But having her there always made TREK feel a little more comfortable. A little more like...home.

She will be missed.

Herc posted an article about Majel's passing at the same time I did. His piece appears here:

I am – Hercules.


The voice of The Federation has been silenced.

Majel Barrett Roddenberry, who played the first first officer of the Enterprise and the computer voice in virtually every spin-off of “Star Trek,” has passed away.

She had a recurring role as the Spock-craving nurse Christine Chapel in the original series and played Deanna Troi's Picard-craving mom in "Star Trek: The Next Generation."

Her last performance was as the computer voice in J.J. Abrams' 2009 "Star Trek" feature.