“The universe is a spheroid region, 705 meters in diameter.”
I will forever carry that line in my head. Its awesome how some of the best performances in Star Trek came from actors trying their best not to emote or in any way stand out. Vulcans, computers, gas/energy cloud entities. They all stand out despite the actors being so limited in how much they could lean into the role.
The TNG-VOY computer was a character, it had the odd atittude and in some cases even agency. It gave the ship a personality. I really respect Majel for all her on screen roles, but the computer voice for me stands out. I can understand why tech companies wanted to leverage that. I would feel a lot less violated when a computer talks to me if it sounded like the Enterprise computer.
Majel’s voice would ultimately provide inspiration to the tech teams developing early AI projects that would emerge over subsequent years — indeed, Amazon’s early Alexa model was code-named “Majel.” Even before her passing, says Rod, “Someone approached her to be the voice of their upcoming computer thing, and she had said no. And I was like, ‘What, are you crazy?’” He nevertheless had his mother professionally record her voice and, working with the company OTOY, has created a working model he’d hopes to make available free to fans.
“I would love to somehow get her voice out there. My intention was never to profit off it, for it to just get out there,” he says. “I wouldn’t be giving them the voice of the computer. I’d be giving them a voice of Majel Roddenberry.”
Excellent.
That was a good read, it’s nice to have both her acting peers’ as well as Rod Roddenberry’s perspectives on her. I’m not sure I’ve read more than the equivalent of her Wikipedia entry before. Polite secondhand info, that is.
I’ve always enjoyed watching Majel whenever she’s on Trek. The first Number One, Nurse Chapel, Lwaxanna… and all the while, also the voice of the Enterprise. Geez, Gene may have been the mind behind the show, but she probably embodied it more than anybody outside of the main cast(s) 🤩
How can she be considered “outside the main cast(s)” anyway, when her voice is in damn near every episode? 🤔
Okay, that was rude and nitpicky. But I’ll bite:
Read the article. Her voice was heard on every episode, but recorded separately. So, for example, the cast of TNG never met her until she showed up for her first guest spot as Lwaxana. Sirtis relates their (or her) initial reservations:
I didn’t meet Majel until she was a guest star on our show in the episode ‘Haven,’ and we didn’t bond immediately because she was the boss’s wife, and we were all a bit nervous because as a cast; we were a little rowdy
Note the distinction I put in italics.
