Majel Barrett Roddenberry, the widow of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and the voice of the U.S.S. Enterprise’s computer in nearly every iteration of the Star Trek property (including J.J. Abrams’ new Star Trek movie), has died of leukemia at the age of 76.

Born Majel Lee Hudec in 1932 in Cleveland, Ohio, she began her acting career in the 1950s earning roles on a number of classic shows including Leave It to Beaver, The Lucy Show, The Untouchables, and Bonanza, before beginning her stint on Star Trek in the 1960s.  She appeared in the Star Trek pilot episode “Caged” as the Enterprise’s first officer, but since she was a veritable unknown (and Roddenberry’s girlfriend) the network insisted that she be replaced by a man.  She liked to joke that given the choice between keeping her or the character of Mr. Spock (who was also hated by the network brass), Roddenberry “...kept the Vulcan, and married the woman, because he didn’t think Leonard would have it the other way around.”

Barrett did get to portray Nurse Christine Chapel in the original Star Trek series where the emotionless Mr. Spock regularly spurned her love-struck advances, and returned as the Betazoid Ambassador Lwaxana Troi in Star Trek: The Next Generation where she was spurned by Captain Jean Luc Picard.

After her husband’s death in 1991 she continued to promote the Star Trek legacy at conventions. Because of her marriage to Roddenberry (they wed in August of 1969 after the cancellation of the original series) and her continuing involvement, vocal and otherwise, with all things Star Trek, she became known as “The First Lady of Star Trek.”