The Cinema Arts Centre, 423 Park Ave., Huntington will present A Special Evening with George Takei on Tuesday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. The event will include a screening of the acclaimed documentary, To Be Takei, an interview with Q&A moderated by Jud Newborn, and gala book signing reception with live music by Mike Soloway.
The world-renowned actor, author and activist has appeared in more than forty feature films and hundreds of television series, most famously as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the Starship Enterprise in the original Star Trek and in six blockbuster Star Trek feature films. But like Star Trek’s iconic introductory voice-over, Takei‘s story goes where few have gone before.
Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind event
Tickets are $75 per person, $60 members and includes
a copy of George Takei’s new NY Times bestselling children’s book, My Lost Freedom: A Japanese American World War II Story. To order, visit www.cinemaartscentre.org or click here.
SPECIAL NOTE: George Takei is honored to be appearing at the Cinema Arts Centre and is not receiving any fee or honorarium. All profits go to support Cinema Arts Centre.
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George Takei is a civil rights activist, social media superstar, Grammy-nominated recording artist, New York Times bestselling author, and pioneering actor whose career has spanned six decades. He has used his success as a platform to fight for social justice, LGBTQ+ rights, and marriage equality. His advocacy is personal: during World War II, George spent his childhood unjustly imprisoned in US incarceration camps along with more than 125,000 other Japanese Americans. This experience inspired the musical Allegiance, in which George made his Broadway debut in 2018, and again in London, where it was staged anew in 2023.
Over the years he has appeared in TV series ranging from The Twilight Zone, The Big Bang Theory and Will & Grace to Psych and Ridley Scott’s The Terror in 2019 – in addition to his legendary work on Star Trek. His rich baritone has provided narration for the Ken Burns / PBS series The National Parks, while his voiceover work has ranged from The Simpsons to the animated feature, Mulan.
Winner of numerous awards and conferred with Honorary Doctorates by universities around the globe, George Takeinow serves as Chairman Emeritus and a member of the Japanese American National Museum’s board of trustees. George served on the board of the Japan–United States Friendship Commission and, in 2004, was given the Gold Rays with Rosette of the Order of the Rising Sun by the emperor of Japan for his contribution to US-Japan relations.
Film Screening:
To Be Takei. From outer space to Capitol Hill, from the silver screen to YouTube, the legendary George Takei has blazed his own trail while conquering new frontiers with a beaming trademark grin. Oh, my! To Be Takei is a look at the many roles played by this eclectic actor and activist. His wit, humor and grace have helped him to become an internationally beloved figure and Internet phenomenon with 7-million Facebook fans and counting. Those testifying to Takei’s charisma include Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig, Senator Daniel Inouye, Dan Savage, Howard Stern, and George and Brad Takei themselves. The film offers unprecedented access to the daily life of George and his husband/business partner Brad and chronicles George‘s fascinating personal journey from Japanese American internment camps to his iconic and groundbreaking role as Sulu on Star Trek, and his rise as a pop culture icon. (USA, 2014, 94 mins. | Dir. Jennifer Kroot)
George Takei’s new book:
My Lost Freedom: A Japanese American World War II Story, is the moving, beautifully illustrated true story for children ages 6 to 9 about growing up in Japanese American incarceration camps during World War II – from George Takei, the iconic Star Trek actor, activist, author, world-renowned social influencer and tireless educator. Published lovingly in hardcover – and a pleasure for adults as well – Takei’s heartfelt account will make an important and enlightening gift for the children in your lives. Takeilooks back at his own memories to help children today understand what it feels like to be treated as an enemy by your own country. Featuring powerful, meticulously researched watercolor paintings by Michelle Lee, this is a story of a family’s courage, a young boy’s resilience, and the importance of staying true to yourself in the face of injustice.
“This is the first appearance that he’s making as the book is being released so we’re really honored and delighted he would choose us,” said Jud Newborn, Emmy Award-winning producer of special programs at the Centre. “It’s wonderful to be appreciated.”
Newborn, who will be moderating the discussion, said that people are drawn to these events because the Centre brings in guests who can speak to the concerns and interests of people — and have been since it was opened in 1973.
“How would you like to star opposite the tallest, darkest leading man in Hollywood?” Enticed by these words, brunette leading lady Fay Wray dyed her hair blonde and accepted the role of Ann Darrow in King Kong — and stayed with the project even after learning that her “leading man” was a 50-foot ape.
FAY WRAY AND ROBERT RISKIN: A HOLLYWOOD MEMOIR is a Hollywood love story, a Hollywood memoir, a dual biography of two of Hollywood’s most famous figures, whose golden lives were lived at the center of Hollywood’s golden age, written by their daughter, an acclaimed writer and producer. Fay Wray and Robert Riskin, legendary Academy Award winning screenwriter, lived large lives finding each other after establishing their artistic selves and after each had had many romantic attachments—Wray, an eleven-year-long difficult marriage and a fraught affair with Clifford Odets, and Riskin, a series of romances with, among others, Carole Lombard, Glenda Farrell, and Loretta Young. Here are Wray’s and Riskin’s lives, their work, their fairy-tale marriage that ended so tragically. Here are their dual, quintessential American lives, ultimately and blissfully intertwined.
GS: The idea came up when we’d be traveling and missing our dogs. We would spot people at the airport, on the street or at a beach and say, “There’s Honey” (old lady in a bathrobe and a floppy sun hat), or “There’s Leon” (short little guy wearing big sunglasses and a flat cap), and the story just grew from there. The problem with dogs is that they don’t stick around forever. I think this was our way of trying to immortalize them, and we thought kids would like this tale.
GS: All the time. It usually involved food and dog treats I think. One time we rang up a pet psychic, so she could tell us what the dogs were thinking. She was so off, saying that Leon didn’t like my phone’s ringtone (I never used a ringtone) and that Honey wanted Alan to eat more vegetables (as a vegan, that’s all he eats). It was worth a funny phone call though.
Do you two hope to adopt pets again someday? 
