How do you feel about Majel Barrett?

[EnriqueH]

I think that sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

You take the totality of what we know about her and form our opinion from that. Clegg's initial response threw me for a loop because it was about the way someone treated her and didn't address, at least in my mind, his opinion on HER.

In my limited experience in these boards, I've noticed---and maybe it's a misunderstanding on MY PART---a certain sarcastic...what's the word I'm looking for...hostility, almost passive aggressive, whenever someone makes a comment on her.

Which is why I created this thread: To explore what people think and to get to the bottom of my perception, accurate or not.

 

[T'Girl]

a lot of fans feel that she was the bedrock of Trek

I've never seen this to be true, at most she was on the periphery of Trek. She played some recurring characters.

 

[Timewalker]

I think that sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

You take the totality of what we know about her and form our opinion from that. Clegg's initial response threw me for a loop because it was about the way someone treated her and didn't address, at least in my mind, his opinion on HER.

In my limited experience in these boards, I've noticed---and maybe it's a misunderstanding on MY PART---a certain sarcastic...what's the word I'm looking for...hostility, almost passive aggressive, whenever someone makes a comment on her.

Which is why I created this thread: To explore what people think and to get to the bottom of my perception, accurate or not.

You asked what people think of Majel Barrett. That's a pretty open question, so a wide variety of answers are what you should have expected.

I'm curious as to your opinion of her performance in the Bonanza episode I posted. I didn't recognize her at first, but then realized it was her. It was a treat to see both her and Doohan in pre-Star Trek roles.

 

[EnriqueH]

You asked what people think of Majel Barrett. That's a pretty open question, so a wide variety of answers are what you should have expected.

I think you have the impression that I didn't want to hear any negatives, which is not the case.

Again, the initial responses about her relationship confused me, which is why I probed/challenged the responses at first.

I apologize if I gave the impression that I did not want a variety of responses, which I did.

I'm curious as to your opinion of her performance in the Bonanza episode I posted. I didn't recognize her at first, but then realized it was her. It was a treat to see both her and Doohan in pre-Star Trek roles.

I'll check it out and get back to you.

Overall, I thought she was a good actress (on Star Trek) when she had the right material, such as "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" and "Half A Life". But unfortunately, she did not have the best material most of the time.

 

[Taelon]

She's like the "First Lady" of Star Trek.

 

[mswood]

I adore Majel. I think Chapel was sweet and likable, but Lwaxana was a hoot, my favorite character! She shows a lot of range, as Lwaxana is hilarious, she can always turn on a dime and break your heart. One of my favorite scenes is when Lwaxana takes off her wig and make up to show Odo her true face when they're stuck in the elevator.
Her personal life is none of our business.

I hated the performance of Lwazana up until the lift scene in that episode. But the lift scene was perhaps her best material.

She also gave a very respectable performance in Half a Life. But outside of those two, most of the material with Lwazana just annoyed me, and would yank me out of the episodes. Number One was so robotic that I am glad that character didn't continue (or if it has I sure hope they would have her show a more rounded personality. Chapel as a character is just a mess.

 

[Cyke101]

a lot of fans feel that she was the bedrock of Trek

I've never seen this to be true, at most she was on the periphery of Trek. She played some recurring characters.

She provided a lot of moral support, and was one of the more consistent people associated with Trek to do so. Also, she was involved with a lot of planning and participation around events and activities associated Roddenberry's legacy. Additionally, she at times had been known to voice input or stand up for the main casts at times. A popular story is that she argued with Rick Berman when he and Avery Brooks clashed once on the set of DS9.

So it goes beyond what happened on screen; indeed, the bulk of her Trek-related work, especially after Roddenberry died, seemed to be in very much a support role in taking care of Trek and Roddenberry's profiles.

 

[Push The Button]

She's like the "First Lady" of Star Trek.

This is perfect, +1.

 

[EnriqueH]

As others have suggested, would the character of Nurse Chapel even have existed if not for Gene Roddenberry's wish to have his wife join the cast?

She. Wasn't. His. Wife. He was still married to Eileen when he cast Majel as Number One and Chapel.

Oh. Dear. Please. Forgive. Me. For. Not. Knowing. This.



The point I was making was whether or not Nurse Chapel would have existed if Roddenberry hadn't wanted Majel Barrett to join the cast.

For anyone who is curious about her acting pre-Star Trek, I found a Bonanza episode she was in (James Doohan is also in this episode).

This is the 3rd season episode "Gift of Water."

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmAyVaZ_F58&list=PL6fJmjt84zZiWk6e8mBtjFUU2PCVcO_I6&index=86[/yt]

I just finished watching it. I had never seen an episode of Bonanza before, even though I knew about the show and probably saw a clip of it here and there. All I really knew about the show was that it had Lorne Greene.

Anyway, I enjoyed this episode and it was a treat to see Doohan and Barrett in the same episode.

To answer your question, I thought Majel did a nice job with the role. It was a smaller part, and was assuming she had a larger role, but I thought she did well. It's like I said earlier: When the script is right, Majel tends to do a very good job. The problem is that she had the misfortune of not having the best roles/scripts.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I was honoured to be a dinner guest in Majel Barrett's Bel-Air mansion in December 1991, when it was decorated for Christmas. Gene had passed away just a few months earlier. I was driven there in Gene's yellow limousine (by their driver, Ernie Over), and Majel was a most gracious and friendly hostess, with a delightfully wacky sense of humour.

Also at dinner was Majel's mother - and Rod Roddenberry, then an unassuming but friendly teenaged, longhaired, Californian skater dude.

Coincidentally, it was the night of an important Superbowl final, and Majel asked if I minded her having the game on during dinner, since "her team" was playing. (Who was I to argue? But please don't ask me who won; it's a night that's kind of hard to remember, because I was floating in a bizarre haze of disbelief, and there was a traditional house rule that "Star Trek" not be mentioned.) I did get a tour of Gene's office from Ernie and, when I got home, I wrote a column on the highlight of that US trip for my Australian Trek club. My piece was called, "For the Wallet is Hollow and I have Touched the Car."

It truly felt like I was meeting Mrs Troi - ie. Majel Barrett-Roddenberry wasn't acting whenever she played that character. Majel WAS Lwaxana Troi!

 

[Horizons96]

It truly felt like I was meeting Mrs Troi - ie. Majel Barrett-Roddenberry wasn't acting whenever she played that character. Majel WAS Lwaxana Troi!

What a delightful story!!! I always guessed that a lot of her true nature came through in her Lwaxana character!

 

[EnriqueH]

Huh! Very nice, Therin! Very happy you got the chance to do that.

I never thought that she was like Lwaxana in real life, but she was a natural in that part. (Though the scripts for her character were not always the best.)

Do you remember any conversations or questions you asked her?

 

[Orphalesion]

I'm generally not very interested in the actual lives and personalities of actors, same with musicians or writers, with the exception of authors occasionally. I might sometimes watch an interview that relates to the character/show I'm interested in, but that's it.

So I know very little about Majel Barrett. I dislike Nurse Chapel very, very much, I love Lwaxana. I know that Barrett had a hand in creating Andromeda, so that's a definite plus.

 

[The Old Mixer]

I was driven there in Gene's yellow limousine (by their driver, Ernie Over)

We all ride in a yellow limousine,
a yellow limousine,
a yellow limousine....

 

[Therin of Andor]

Do you remember any conversations or questions you asked her?

Well, as I mentioned, it was banned to discuss Trek inside the house (longstanding rule!), so we talked about Los Angeles, earthquakes and the meal she was cooking (scampi for us but only salad for her - she was dieting for a her next Mrs Troi role, Ernie Over whispered - what I now know to have been "Cost of Living" the next February). We also chatted about my job, a beautiful set of Franklin Mint "Wizard of Oz" figurines she'd only recently put on display (the Franklin Mint Trek chess set was on a table, but all other Trek stuff was in Gene's office), and her amazing foyer display of artificial Christmas trees - there was a whole grove of them, each one a different colour and style! There was also a pirate's treasure chest (under one tree), filled with huge Christmas chocolates, and it was traditional for each departing guest to take one.

I did meet Majel again, in 1996 at a Brisbane, Australia, Star Trek convention, where I surprised her by asking her to sign one of her ST IV cue cards!

Bought in a charity auction at a New Zealand convention in 1988 (auctioneer: David Gerrold), the cue card was supposedly written by hand by the ST IV director, Leonard Nimoy, and features dialogue for the character of Commander Christine Chapel. Majel was staggered to see it again! It also was a great ice-breaker so I could mention our 1991 dinner, and I was able to thank her again for the wonderful memories. She gave a huge Mrs Troi guffaw and empathised that, as a Trek fan banned from discussing Star Trek, I had done very well. "That rule is how we keep our sanity," she said.


Star Trek IV cue card for Majel Barrett by Therin of Andor, on Flickr

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I was driven there in Gene's yellow limousine (by their driver, Ernie Over)

We all ride in a yellow limousine,
a yellow limousine,
a yellow limousine....

Ernie Over?

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrRdy4BAYp0[/yt]

 

[1001001]

I met her at a convention once. She was very nice, and made several self-deprecating jokes about how Lwaxanna Troi "might be based on me."

 

[Sector 7]

I had the good fortune to know Ms. Roddenberry (I never could bring myself to call her Majel). A very gracious host and champion of all things Trek. Among other traits mentioned, she had a wit which could be vulgar or subtle, as the situation called. To fans, she was a devout keeper-of-the-flame for Star Trek and her husband's legacy.

Therin of Andor, I envy you. While I had been to her home, I had never seen it decorated for Christmas.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

It truly felt like I was meeting Mrs Troi - ie. Majel Barrett-Roddenberry wasn't acting whenever she played that character. Majel WAS Lwaxana Troi!

Oh my God, that is terrifying. Lwaxana is not someone I would care to meet in life.

 

[Sector 7]

It truly felt like I was meeting Mrs Troi - ie. Majel Barrett-Roddenberry wasn't acting whenever she played that character. Majel WAS Lwaxana Troi!

Oh my God, that is terrifying. Lwaxana is not someone I would care to meet in life.

I know people like that in real life. It is mostly their way of keeping themselves from being hurt by others... a coping mechanism. Underneath the facade, they are very sweet, caring people.