-Damn it.

-[ Sighs ] -How are you going to be in the George Takei documentary like this?

-Oh.

Oh.

I forgot about that.

Oh, that's right, the George Takei documentary.

Alright, let's get that over with.

♪♪ ♪♪ [ Car horn honks ] ♪♪ [ Cat yowls ] -Oh.

Oh.

Sorry.

[ Laughs ] Sweet Pea got scared.

[ Cat meowing ] ♪♪ -Walk as fast as possible, so our camera man has to run to catch up with us.

-Well, no.

I'm doing the natural, normal thing.

-Normal, normalcy.

♪♪ That should be the title of the film -- "George Takei: Normalcy."

♪♪ You don't normally walk this fast.

-I always do this.

♪♪ -You know, this is our house.

-No.

It's alright.

-This is our -- This is our house.

We're not filming in front of our house.

-He gets so nervous.

-At 11:00 a.m., you have a voice over... You need to polish your speech that you're giving on Sunday.

-Julius Caesar.

-Yeah, we can rehearse Julius Caesar.

-You can see with your TV's three-color technology.

-As if we planned this.

-But you can see this.

Whoa!

Oh, my.

Quattron from Sharp.

-[ Laughs ] You have to see it to see it.

-Wow, another residual check coming in.

-We're a good fit because Brad is detail-orientated, but he sometimes gets a little overwhelmed and -- [laughs] and pessimistic.

-That footage that you got this morning of me having a temper tantrum, I'm more willing... -[ Laughs ] To have a take two.

-He worries more when I'm on stage than I do.

He's a nervous wreck, and he knows it.

-The best that you will get involving Brad Altman is when I'm actually talking about the process of making the film.

-See, he talks in the third person.

-If you only think the film is about removing the process, actually, the process is the most interesting part to me.

-I told him, why did you get involved with me when I make you so nervous?

He says he loves me.

[ Laughs ] Oh, what do you know?

There's a billboard with Bill Shatner, and he's got this tape over his mouth, as well there should be.

[ Laughs ] -Speaking of fat alcoholics, good evening, Bill.

[ Laughter and applause ] My name is George Takei, not "Takai," as you've insisted on pronouncing it for the last 40 years.

Remember, Takei, like in toupee.

[ Laughter and applause ] -I don't have a relationship with George Takei.

I haven't seen him in many years.

I knew him briefly and very casually about 50 years ago.

[ Laughs ] -[ Vocalizing ] [ "Star Trek" theme plays ] -The original group of people that we had were trained, professional people who had a good chemistry and knew how to do their work.

And they came to work ready, prepared, and looking to make a contribution to every episode.

And that describes George.

-When I walked into Gene Roddenberry's office, he described the series that I was being interviewed for, a starship out in space with a multiethnic crew, and I desperately wanted that role.

-Trouble aboard the Klingon ship.

Evidence of explosions.

Massive destruction.

-This is when we were watching a zenith, you know, with the clicker.

And there weren't many Asians on television, so when George would come on, it would be a special thing.

We'd yell.

And he wasn't Korean, but he was Asian, you know.

-It's also sort of groundbreaking to see, for something of that era, an Asian guy who's "A," hot, "B," has agency, shoots a gun every now and then.

And he was kind of a sex symbol.

-Hey, why don't you come down to the gym with me?

Can you, my lad?

-Now?

-Why not?

-Now, I don't know if there was gay subplots, or what it was, or you know.

I had a crush on Mr. Sulu.

And you know, we were always trying to read things.

And you know, the deal was that Captain Kirk was not a man's man.

I mean, he had his macho, but he was always in torment.

-Mr. Sulu, there's nothing there.

-I don't think there was any relationship between Kirk and Sulu.

I mean it was go left, go right, and on to the next adventure.

-Hard to port, Mr. Sulu.

♪♪ All power, Mr. Sulu.

♪♪ -Maximum now, Sir.

She's spiking.

♪♪ -So, I hate to make this joke, but you're kind of the helmsman.

-I'm a terrestrial helmsman, as well as the galactic one.

And put to rest all that stereotype about Asian drivers.

I was the best helmsman in the galaxy.

♪♪ -Hello, Jerry.

-Your turn, George.

Nice to see you.

-Thank you.

How are you doing?

-Welcome back.

-Good.

Good.

Always good to be back.

-Nice to have you back.

-George was the class of 1956 at L.A. High.

You were class of 1957?

-'56.

-Oh, you guys were same class.

-Same class.

-Same class, right.

-George was in the drama department.

-[ Laughs ] -One of those.

-And I was in the choir.

-We were the theatre.

They were musical people.

-That's right.

Exactly.

-[ Laughs ] L.A. High prepares you well for this big, exciting, challenging world.

[ Laughs ] -How long have you and Diane been married, Jerry?

-In July, it will be 46 years.

-46?

-I tell all my friends 46,000.

[ Laughter ] -It feels much longer, I know.

-Well, next year will be Brad and my being together for 25 years.

-That's a long time.

-A quarter century.

-Oh, it feels much longer.

-See, he talks like you do.

-Same thing, you know.

-Yep.

-George, what's your acceptance speech going to be at the dinner that's honoring you?

-I was just thinking, I got to start preparing my speech.

-The 2011 Visionary Award to Mr. George Takei.

-Mr. George Takei.

-George Takei.

[ Cheers and applause ] -Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

This is a glorious day.

[ Cheers and applause ] Thank you very much for that warm welcome.

On December 7 of 1941, the U.S. was bombed by the Japanese, and that plunged into World War II.

[ Explosion ] -When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, our West Coast became a potential combat zone.

Living in that zone are more than 100,000 persons of Japanese ancestry, but no one knew what would happen among this concentrated population if Japanese forces invade our shores.

-My life has been transformed almost as fantastically as science fiction, because as a boy, I looked out on the world imprisoned behind the barbed wire fences of American internment camps.

In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which ordered all Japanese-Americans on the West Coast to be summarily rounded up and put in 10 barbed wire internment camps in some of the most God-forsaken, desolate places in this country with no charges, with no trial.

The pillar of our justice system, due process, just disappeared.

♪♪ Shopkeepers lost their shops, the stock, farmers lost their farms, and all our bank accounts were frozen.

I'll never be able to forget that scary day when two American soldiers with bayonets shining on their rifles came stomping up to the front door of our Los Angeles home to order my family out.

When they came, we picked up what we could carry and walked out of the house.

I remember tears were streaming down my mother's cheek.

We were taken downtown to Union Station and loaded onto trains with armed guards at both ends of each car like prisoners.

And we were transported two-thirds of the way across the country, to the swamps of Arkansas.

♪♪ ♪♪ I still remember those tall sentry towers with machine guns pointed at us.

I remember the searchlights that followed me when I made the night runs to the latrine.

♪♪ It became normal for me to go to school every day in a black tar paper barrack.

There they taught us the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag.

I could see the barbed wire fence and the sentry tower right outside my schoolhouse window as I recited the words "with liberty and justice for all," irony that I didn't understand.

♪♪ A year into internment, they came down with what they called the loyalty questionnaire.

It asked, "Will you swear your loyalty to the United States of America and forswear your loyalty to the emperor of Japan.

If you answered yes, you were "fessing up" that you had been loyal to the emperor, and so that justified the internment.

My parents said, "They took my business, our home, my freedom, but the one thing they're not gonna take from me is my dignity.

And so they answered "no" to that question, and they were deemed disloyal.

♪♪ Because of the answer that they gave, we were sent to the high security camp, Tule Lake, which was in northern California.

Three layers of barbed wire fences and about a half a dozen tanks patrolling the perimeter.

It was a much, much more terrorizing place.

♪♪ -Don't you hear how boring this is?

-Or do you... -Well, you weren't there.

-I mean -- -You know very little about it.

-If you just make the whole movie me, then people will go watch it.

If you start talking about that Japanese internment camp, we're ruined.

-Not Japanese.

Japanese-American.

-Right.

-We were in an American, U.S. internment camp.

-But George, I'm doing a radio show.

I have to abbreviate it.

-Be idiosyncratic.

-Right.

And nobody cares.

-Or idiotic.

[ Laughs ] -That was a great stop at JR's Convenience Store.

George, are you ready to go up the mountain now?

-It's going to be a thrilling ascent to the mid-level.

-Check surroundings far safety.

♪♪ Can you open the Fritos, please?

♪♪ ♪♪ Oh, the rainbow's getting paler now.

-Oh.

-Well, all rainbows eventually disappear.

-Mm-hmm.

As do pots of gold.

♪♪ Our pot of gold's in here.

-Take my hand.

♪♪ Do you want me to hold this?

-Okay.

-I'm going to read something, okay?

"Dear Mom, George and I are standing here at the Mogollon Rim to scatter your ashes."

Oh, my god.

Just like your dad.

[ Laughs ] Okay, you do it.

-They want to be part of us.

-"Having your ashes scattered at this location is very appropriate.

You loved mountains."

-Don't hold me.

-Well, I'm going to have to hold you.

It's dangerous.

[ Laughs ] Oh, God.

-"You loved to backpack in the high country.

When I was seven years old, we hiked the 250-mile-long John Muir trail in the High Sierra.

My mother, Vera Eleanor Altman, we love you."

-Well, some of it should go into the canyon.

-Well, it's too late.

It's too dangerous.

Oh, I just got some in my eye.

-She got in my eye, too.

This is exactly where my dad's ashes are.

Now my mom's ashes are here.

So being at this beautiful place, my mom and my dad would be happy that George and I could come here in future years and reflect on my parents.

I told my mom when I was like 16, I'm gay.

And you know what my mom told me?

"I'm gay also."

I had all my aunts growing up, you know.

And later, it turned out that my aunts weren't really officially aunts.

They were my mom's girlfriends.

Coming out was very challenging and full of angst and all that stuff for me personally because I had all the fears that my parents wouldn't accept me.

I never really considered the straight lifestyle, to call it a "lifestyle."

-It's not a lifestyle.

-I know.

-It's an orientation.

And it should not -- I always correct people when they say lifestyle.

-I was doing gay quote marks, and it was the irony.

-No, but you shouldn't use lifestyle.

-Okay.

-How can we correct other people -- -I just went through a very emotional experience.

Do I not -- Do I get 5 minutes without being lectured?

-No.

I'm just -- -This is on camera.

I thought we'd give you some good material.

But we have a long journey ahead of us, so we should get going.

Do you want to go to dinner first?

-No, no, no.

Let's unload and wash up.

-Yeah, especially after having my mom on my hands.

-And all over me.

And I think your mom's going to be at the cleaners too.

[ Laughter ] -In about the fifth or sixth grade, I was already finding other boys much more interesting and exciting, you know?

I knew that that wasn't what boys were supposed to get excited by.

At the drugstore, they had this magazine stand, and you find that on the far reaches, there are these muscle magazines, And some of those posing straps were very brief.

[ Laughs ] You really don't put a name on it yet.

You know, it was just the way I felt, you know, and I was different from everybody else.

Then you go to a summer camp.

And there was a counselor who was, I thought, gorgeous.

He was blond.

And one night, I was in the cabin, and he came in to visit.

And he was, uh, very friendly.

And that was the first time.

And it was both frightening and exciting and delicious and terrifying, a new sensation, a very confusing feeling.

And then, you know, you start remembering the delicious part of it more, and you start thinking, maybe that's what I really like.

♪♪ Was it hard to be a Japanese-American and get into acting?

-I'm sorry.

-Was it hard being a Japanese-American and getting into... raise your hand so we can see you.

-Where are you?

-Right there at the back.

See him back there?

-Oh, you are born an actor.

And my parents knew that from the time I was a little child because they'd have friends over and suddenly this bouncing, singing, dancing show-off child would appear.

And he'd say, "I learned how to say 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.'

Would you like me to do it for you?"

And I'd perform.

So my parents knew from a very early stage of my life that they were saddled with a ham.

-My father knew that I was passionate about acting and theatre.

But he told me, "Look at TV.

Look at the movies.

Look at kind of roles that Asians are playing."

But you know, I was a young, arrogant, idealistic kid.

And I said, "Daddy, I'm going to change it."

[ Rodan roars ] My father was looking through the newspaper.

He said, "Here's an ad where they're casting voices for this Japanese monster film."

I had to match the lip movement of the actor speaking in Japanese.

These Rodan are reptiles, a member of the snake family.

-That was my first paying gig as an actor.

-Look, over there.

It's Rodan.

When I was doing the dubbing, I met this theatrical agent.

And he said, "I've got an audition for you."

And it's for "Playhouse 90."

Eigo hanashimasu ka?

I wish to see my father and my sister.

They say the Americans are the conquerors, and the conquerors are the mighty, and the mighty are the right.

-Well, that will be taken care of.

Tomorrow, you'll be free.

♪♪ -I would like to have you train my men in hand to hand combat.

-I am simple Japanese gardener.

-I am willing to pay you $25,000 in cash.

-I did two Jerry Lewis comedies.

Initially, I did not want to do that.

But my agent, Japanese-American agent, Fred Ishimoto, said that Jerry Lewis is big, big box office, and that is going to be good for your career.

I said, "But Fred.

Look at the roles."

I mean, these are the kind of roles that we didn't want to do.

He says, if you really want to make your career ascend, you've got to do some parts like this.

-Speak!

You coward, speak!

-It was the plastic.

It's not hot enough.

-Not hot enough?!

-I regret that.

I'm sorry I did it.

I don't think it really helped my career.

-No, no no, no, no, no!

-The history of television includes a lot of racial stereotyping, and that racial stereotyping played a very conflicted role in my self esteem.

I remember that, as an Asian-American, you always felt a real strong sense of excitement when you saw Asian people on TV.

And what's amazing to me now is how often those Asian people that you saw on TV were embarrassing.

-[ Speaking "Chinese" ] -[ Vocalizing ] [ Glass breaks ] -George is this kind of beacon of dignity, in my eyes, that shines through all of that.

-My home is in Hanoi.

I go home too someday.

You see.

First, kill all stinking Cong.

Then go home.

John Wayne was the great American hero.

And I walked in and he said, "I want the best people I can have.

And I want to have you."

-[ Speaking foreign language ] -Easy, Charlie.

-Nathaniel Blake?

-Yes, sir?

-McGarrett, Hawaii Five-o.

I understand you have top-secret clearance.

-Yeah, I learned early to keep my mouth shut.

-Well, I was doing television series, guest appearances, and I wanted to protect that by not being out.

I was closeted.

I don't think I'm cut out for this kind of work.

♪♪ I faked a lot.

I went to parties with beards, women.

It's putting on a facade, which also means putting on another layer of tension.

And there's always that fear of making a mistake, letting something slip out.

-I don't feel well.

♪♪ What am I doing here?

I gotta get out of here.

♪♪ -Box office, ratings, all equate to survival in the business.

If you're known as who you are, there are consequences, and you might as well forget that.

And so that adds to another layer of tension.

-I recently read an article about a conversation you had with Gene Roddenberry about having an openly gay or lesbian character on Star Trek.

Could you talk a little bit about that?

-I talked around the issue with Gene.

I said, you know we've dealt with many controversial issues using science fiction as the metaphor, but we've not addressed the gay issue.

-I do remember him saying, "I don't think we will get to the point where we'll see two men walking hand in hand down the corridors of the Enterprise.

On the other hand, we may come to learn about a homosexual relationship."

♪♪ Oh, [laughs] those fan zines.

That's when we discovered that people are looking at it with a different eye, particularly the relationship between Spock and Kirk.

-In doing research for this, I came upon the homoerotic imagery that's around.

-Yeah.

Yeah.

-I wondered if you -- -What did you see?

-There were drawings of Kirk and Spock embracing, and very muscular.

-Wearing?

-Most of them were barely clothed.

-Barely clothed.

-Barely clothed, like loincloth.

-Where did you find this material?

-Just all over the internet.

[ Laughter ] -I have seen a little bit of it, yeah.

The relationship between Spock and Kirk was intense.

And I think it was always intended to be platonic, but I can see where some fans would go there.

They called it slash comics, I think.

-Slash.

Yes.

-Yes.

When somebody told me about them, I was astonished.

-One of the magazines had me as a centerfold.

It was realistic enough for me to be quite credible, but it was exaggerated enough for me to feel flattered.

[ Laughs ] ♪♪ You know, at the beginning of each episode, we announced that we were boldly going on a five-year mission.

Well, that five-year mission was aborted by the real Klingons, the programming executives at NBC.

Our ratings were low from the very first season on, so they had the numbers to justify cancellation.

My colleagues all said, "We're stereotyped in the science fiction genre."

And I figured, well, if that's going to be, the thing to do is to commit myself to working in a whole totally different arena.

When our councilman, Tom Bradley, ran for mayor, I became the chair of the Asian-Americans for Tom Bradley, and he became the first African-American mayor of Los Angeles.

But that was a vacancy in the city council seat.

And so I decided, well this is part of what being active in the public arena is, so I threw my hat in the ring.

It was an exciting and exhausting and exhilarating and enervating experience.

♪♪ On election night, it was a sliver.

I think it was like 3,000 votes that I lost by.

♪♪ When Mayor Tom Bradley asked me to serve on the Southern California Rapid Transit District Board, it was an area where I thought I could make a contribution.

Mayor Bradley's mandate was to get started on building a subway system.

It was challenging, but I also like to think that I was able to bring a great deal of support from the public.

I was appointed in '72, and then I resigned in '83.

By that time, the "Star Trek" movies were becoming a series of movies, and I wanted to be a part of that.

♪♪ -Captain.

-Warp speed, Mr. Sulu.

-Star Fleet was supposed to be a meritocracy.

And sure enough, with each film, we became commanders.

And there was Sulu at the console.

He may have been a commander, but still saying, "Aye-aye, sir, warp three."

But when the script for "Star Trek VI" came, there on the front page is Captain Sulu.

I was blown away.

-Star date 9521.6.

Hikaru Sulu commanding.

-I do remember one moment in which he said to me, "I'm going to be the captain and be on another ship."

I was astonished that a character, an actor, a knowledgeable actor, would want to be removed from where all the action was.

-At that climactic point, when Captain Kirk is about to be blown away to smithereens by that Klingon captain, out of the darkened galaxy sky comes Captain Sulu.

-Target that explosion and fire.

-Thus saving the Enterprise and Captain Kirk.

-Thank you, Captain Sulu.

-Don't mention it, Captain Kirk.

-That's a Captain Sulu movie.

♪♪ [ People cheering and talking ] -Brad or somebody lead the way.

I don't know where we're going.

♪♪ -I wasn't too impressed with that green room, Gary.

[ Indistinct conversations ] [ Cheers and applause ] -Thank you.

[ Indistinct conversation ] -These people are all ready here.

You can start signing.

George, this is Paul.

-Paul.

-Jessie's next, and then Mark.

This is how much we're charging today.

Every time George signs a signature, that's $35.

-That's 60, 80, and 100.

And you have your photo?

-Yeah.

-Okay, great.

Okay, that's $70 even.

This is the tick sheet.

-And every time we sign a signature, we tick it off so that at the end of the day, the promoter knows exactly how many signatures he's given.

This is the contract.

I always keep it on my body.

-[ Laughs ] -And then there's no misunderstandings.

-Move them down faster, over here.

-Normally, you know how friendly and warm I am.

At the conventions, I get a little cold.

You'll see me very focused.

-You want George to sign that for you?

-My job is to make George not worry about the details.

I think about everything in advance.

I become what we call the Klingon in the business, kind of the tough guy.

I'm the one that's going to make sure that George can always be friendly to the fans.

-My pleasure.

Well, you guys came in full regalia.

-Yes.

-We do what we can.

-That's partly a control thing.

I like to show that I can control.

-You can control diplomatically and with a smile on your face.

[ Laughter ] -Should I practice it?

Where's the mirror?

-You're so adorable.

-On behalf of the Rebel Legion, we would like to formally induct you as an honorary member in our -- in our club.

So we'd like to present you with this plaque.

-Oh, it's handsome.

-Very nice.

-Okay, and you guys are all together.

Come on down.

-You should come by and see our booth tomorrow.

-Where are you?

-We are actually just right over there.

-So it's not too far away.

Great.

-So when it closes down, come see us and take a picture with us.

-Alright, we'll do that.

-It's kind of unseemly business, to show him stuffing money into my thing at the end of the day, but it's how we do it.

-Oh, my goodness.

My voice is giving out on me.

[ Clears throat ] -[ Laughs ] ♪♪ -I'll give you a long distance hug.

Hi, Wil.

-Just great.

-It's good to see you.

-You have gained weight.

You need to work on that.

-Well, I work out a little bit.

Really?

-George does that to me all the time too, but... You're like -- you're like an athlete under there?

-Well you've got to maintain.

-George, you know, you really embarrassed Wil.

You're not doing goodwill when you do that sort of thing.

-Oh, I'm sorry.

-No, you're not sorry.

-Well, he is a little... -He has a thing about people's weight.

He loves to attack people for being overweight.

-I can't believe that.

-Yeah, I know.

It's hard to believe.

-And now I'm going to get back to something interesting.

Just ask me a question, George, about Japanese internment.

-All right.

When did I come out of the internment camp?

-You were nine.

-I was eight.

-All right.

Close enough.

I wish they'd lock him back up in that camp.

I don't know where that camp is, but please lock him up.

♪♪ -When it came time for us to leave, it was such a shocking feeling because camp became home.

And to be leaving, it was painful.

♪♪ I got my understanding of hate and prejudice when we came out of those internment camp barbed wire fences.

My parents decided to go back to Los Angeles.

Housing was impossible.

Jobs were very difficult to get.

Our first home was on Skid Row, and that was terrifying to us.

My father's first job was as a dishwasher in a Chinatown restaurant.

Only other Asians would hire us.

Even when I started school, I had a teacher who continually called me "the Jap boy," which stung.

And so I wanted to hide the fact that I was of Japanese ancestry, but I couldn't hide it.

♪ Oh, give me land, lots of land, under starry skies above ♪ ♪ Don't fence me in ♪ ♪ Let me ride through to the wide open country that I love ♪ ♪ Don't fence me in ♪ ♪ Let me be by myself in the evening breeze ♪ ♪ I listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees ♪ ♪ Send me off forever, but I ask you, please ♪ ♪ Don't fence me in ♪ ♪♪ -A "Star Trek" star's stunning secret.

-I started noticing boys, and they were more interesting to me than girls.

-Sulu comes out of the closet.

-Tim Hardaway, how do you deal with gay teammate?

-Oh, you know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known.

I don't like to be around gay people.

I don't, you know -- I'm -- I'm homophobic.

I don't like it.

-What he's saying is, "I'm afraid they're going to do me."

And then along comes George.

-As a gay man and a human being, I was shocked and saddened.

But I want you to know, Tim, on behalf of gay people everywhere that despite your ugly words, we don't hate you.

As a matter of fact, we like you.

We like you very much.

We particularly like your large, powerful calves.

-It's not just an older gentleman being creepy by feeling up a basketball player.

It's a gay guy saying... -I will have sex with you.

-And in that moment, you realize how ridiculous that basketball player's fear was because George acted it out.

-I love sweaty basketball players.

-When George speaks about homosexuality in the same way I speak about heterosexuality, it makes things normal.

He's talking directly to heterosexuals who have complete homophobia.

And we're not laughing at him.

We're having a great time with him.

So George is performing a great activist duty.

-Happy Pride.

Thank you.

♪♪ Oh, my!

-As I, as a child, thought I was living a normal life behind very real barbed wire fences, there is another group of Americans trying to live a normal life who are incarcerated behind another kind of barbed wire fence.

It's normal for two people who love each other, who care for each other through thick and thin, to be able to be married.

It's normal for all Americans to be able to have access to any job if they are qualified for it.

What is abnormal is that lesbians, gays, bisexual, and transgender people cannot.

But our history tells us that we have a dynamic democracy.

And with all of us acting as change agents, I look forward to the time when equality is enjoyed by all Americans.

Thank you very much.

[ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪ -We are going to get our marriage license today.

Isn't that extraordinary, and isn't that wonderful?

It has never happened before -- equal marriage for all people.

You know, on "Star Trek," we had this core value, IDIC -- infinite diversity in infinite combinations.

And here we are, this much closer to that ideal.

[ Cheers and applause ] -Over the more than 21 years, I have called you many things.

I have called you my life partner, my significant other, my longtime companion, my lover.

-But now you can call me husband.

-Yeah.

-I thought that was so sweet and very touching.

-Thank you.

Your wedding vows were touching, too.

-When my mother got ill and could no longer take care of herself, we moved her in with us.

And you helped me care for her with the devotion and the affection of a real son.

-In the last few years of her life, she was not able to live on her own.

And she moved into our house with us.

-Brad was a pillar of support.

I mean, he was a saint because, you know, caregiving is not easy, and particularly with someone who has Alzheimer's that gets worse and worse.

That was a test of his love, and I am eternally grateful.

And my love for him is that much deeper.

-We're family.

-Through the power of your own love, I pronounce you spouses for life.

[ Applause ] -When Brad and I got married, we sent invitations out to all the Star Trek colleagues.

We got no response from Bill.

So we thought, well, that's typical of Bill.

He's not going to come.

-Um, no.

I read about it.

And I was glad that he had found someone to love and to love him.

-He was invited to -- to the wedding.

-In its proper perspective, I don't know him, and he doesn't know me.

-We've done six movies together.

We did three seasons of television together.

-Such a personal thing, like a wedding, I would not have anticipated him asking me.

-That's our Bill.

-Bill, we -- we invited you to our wedding, and then you went on YouTube, ranting and raving about not getting an invitation.

-Bill no longer has control over George.

George is going on his own way.

He's made a new career for himself.

-I can finally say what I've waited 40 years to say -- ---- you and the horse you rode in on!

[ Cheers and applause ] That wasn't acting.

There was a lot of truth in that line reading.

[ Laughs ] -Good night.

[ Cheers and applause ] -It's been 47 years since I did "Star Trek."

I'm a different person.

I look different.

I sound different.

And I am a different person.

Like when you see baby pictures, that's a baby picture.

And in that sense, I'm quite changed from that picture of me from my "Star Trek" days.

-Well, Mr. Spock.

These guys follow you on Facebook, too.

-Oh, thank you very much.

Live long and prosper.

-First of all, I've watched you since I was a kid, Captain Sulu.

And your Facebook contributions are a wonderful addition to my day.

-Well, thank you very much.

-I totally love your smart humor on Facebook.

And I'm sure you get told that a million times, but I totally love it.

-My wife handed me the laptop one morning and said, "You have to look at this picture."

I don't remember what it was, but was very funny.

And it was was content from George Takei.

And I had no idea that he was publishing on Facebook.

To keep an audience coming, I thought I'd add some funny pictures and some commentary as well as some advocacy on equality issues.

And it started to grow and grow, and I now have over 2 million people.

-The fact that he's come out as a gay man feeds into the perception that he is a very honest and open person.

The fact that he doesn't hide his political viewpoints, and that he's actually willing to maybe potentially alienate some of his fans feeds into the perception that he's open and honest.

You know, what makes him appealing is that people feel like they have a very real connection to him.

-I want to say thanks for your Facebook posts.

Every day, I laugh my ass off.

-Well, I like to bring a little smile on people's faces.

-I never would have guessed, you know it's going to be 75-year-old ex-"Star Trek" star engaging with people in a way that is genuinely very innovative.

-Good morning, everybody.

I know.

I know.

I know what you're saying.

Is there anything exciting happening this morning in terms of an announcer?

-I'm George Takei.

-When I came out, Howard's people called me and they said, we'd like you to be the official announcer.

And I agreed to do it every quarter.

-You know, this part is about the role you played, Howard.

And you played a central role in expanding and giving dimension to my identity as George Takei, as opposed to Sulu.

-Ooh, allow me to introduce myself.

I'm George Takei.

-Oh!

-Yes.

-Mr. Takei, I'm a huge fan.

Would you sign my doll?

-Hello?

-I'm George Takei.

-Yes?

-George gives me way too much credit.

I have to tell you that in my e-mail that I receive from my audience, no one gets more positives than George, and I'm including myself in that category.

And if I had some small part in introducing him to America as George Takei, I'm glad I did because he's an important voice.

-Oh, my.

Can I help?

-What's George Takei doing here?

-We were in our mid-60s, I think, and I said, "George, you know, our careers are over.

What are you so concerned about this, you know?"

He says, "Well, maybe yours."

And of course, he was absolutely right.

He went on to do a lot of stuff.

-Oh, my.

-This is our calendar book... New York, Nashville, Los Angeles.

-It's a very special celebrity edition of "The Newlywed Game."

-Denver, Boston, Raleigh, North Carolina.

Joining me now for a "Last Word" exclusive, actor and gay rights activist George Takei.

-We're workaholics.

We work.

We work some more.

-Election day, that's when we did "The Neighbors."

-"The Neighbors" season finale with George Takei and Mark Hamill.

-Are we going to beam something somewhere?

-I'm not your father.

-Kansas City, let's see, Shanghai, Little Rock, Arkansas.

We travel all the time.

♪♪ -As far as I can remember, I've always been me.

Maybe it's my neediness, but I like to be popular.

-I am full of surprises.

-You're fired.

-I think it takes an innate positive attitude, an optimistic attitude, to get over something like the internment and to be able to -- to achieve things.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -As a teenager, I asked my father a lot of questions about the internment experience.

And I was an idealistic, self-important, arrogant kid.

And I remember one conversation I'll never forget.

I said I would have organized my friends.

We would have gone downtown.

We would have protested.

We would have done everything we can to stop this.

And I topped it off by saying, "Daddy, you led us like sheep to slaughter."

And my father was silent for a long time.

And then he said, "Maybe you're right."

And he got up.

He'd never done that.

And then he walked into his bedroom and closed the door.

And I was stunned, but at the same time I realized that I had hurt him.

And that's the one regret I have, that I never apologized to him for that -- for what I said and for my wounding him so deeply.

♪♪ -The musical that we're working on, "Allegiance," deals with that.

♪♪ My father wanted to see a better America.

-I loved you so much.

I've missed you terribly.

I should have told you while I still had the chance.

And now it's too late.

60 years too late.

[ Crying ] -♪ You're here today ♪ -It's my parents that I'm visiting, that cemetery scene.

There's so much I want to share with them, but that's part of life, isn't it?

You lose those people you love very much.

And in some ways, I consider this my tribute and gift to them, as well as my legacy to the future.

-♪ The strength to carry on ♪ ♪ Hold your head up high ♪ ♪ Walk on ♪ ♪♪ [ Cheers and applause ] -Yeah, this way, George.

-This way?

-Oh, well.

Opening night jitters, I guess.

-Well, what'd you think?

-You did a lot of line mishaps tonight.

-50 years.

-You thought your emotional overlay was good, though, didn't you?

-What'd you think?

-Yeah, I thought the emotion was real good.

-Well, that's what carried me.

-Yeah.

-But everybody was on a high.

It was a wonderful, wonderful evening.

Are you happy?

-Well, we're going to keep working on those lines and get them memorized.

-Well, I have them, but things happen on stage.

-Yeah.

-That's unpredictable.

-Well.

-You can't prepare for.

They just happen.

-Well, the haircut looks good, except that the -- that there.

I think you cut too much off here.

-It looks great.

-Mr. Takai, thank you very much.

-Jerry, you've mispronounced George's last name.

-Takei.

-Takei.

-You've only known him for 55 years.

-Give me a break.

-Yeah.

-Give me a break.

-I'm just going to put everything here so I don't forget.

-Love you, Jerry.

Take care.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-We're going to head up to the Starbucks coffee shop.

-And we're going to go to the farmer's market.

-Yeah, let's go.

Are we still -- I'm waiting for Jennifer.

She's not giving me any clues on what to do, so let's just walk up and see what happens.

You've got to like you know, and now we cut.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪