Apr 12, 2006 - Site Downtime - Some of you may have noticed problems with the I-CON site over the past few days. We have been having hardware issues with our server, which have now been resolved. All site functionality should now be fully restored... if you notice any issues, please email webmaster@iconsf.org. Thank you.

Mar 22, 2006 - Important Travel Update! - The Suffolk County Half Marathon will be taking place this Sunday, resulting in closures on Nichols Road between the Long Island Expressway and Rt. 347. Please use these directions to get to the convention on Sunday.

Mar 22, 2006 - New I-CON Community - ICON Science Fiction, Inc. is proud to announce its new project, community.iconsf.org. Designed to encourage community involvement and the open sharing of ideas and information, community.iconsf.org is our new hub for everyone who is interested in Science Fiction, Fact, and Fantasy (and Gaming, Anime, and everything else you might see at I-CON - and likely a whole lot more!). We encourage you all to stop in, take a look, and speak your mind - this site was created to allow you to immerse yourself further in the things that matter to you (and us).

Mar 22, 2006 - Indie Film Schedule - In addition to the main schedule and gaming schedule linked from our home page, the Indie Film schedule is now online. Also, an HTML (webpage) version of the schedule is coming soon, we thank everyone for their patience.

Mar 21, 2006 - Schedule Coming Soon Posted! - We know that many of you were anxiously awaiting the schedule for I-CON. Well, it's here! Go to the site index and check it out to see everything what I-CON 25 has in store for you!

News Archive

George Takei, best known for his portrayal of Mr. Sulu in the acclaimed television and film series Star Trek, has more than 30 feature films and hundreds of television guest-starring roles to his credit.

Recognized worldwide as a member of the original Star Trek cast, George received a star on Hollywood Boulevard's Walk of Fame in 1986 and he placed his signature and hand print in the forecourt of the landmark Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood in 1991.

In January 2006, George debuted as the new announcer and on-air personality on the Howard Stern Show on Sirius Satellite Radio.

Among his credits is a music industry accolade -- a 1987 Grammy nomination in the "Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Recording" category. George's distinctive voice is featured in Walt Disney Pictures' full-length animated features, Mulan and Mulan II, Star Trek audio novel recordings, Fox Television's The Simpsons, Futurama, and in numerous voice-overs and narrations.

A community activist, George serves as chair of the council of governors of East West Players, the nation's foremost Asian Pacific American theater. He is chairman emeritus of the board of trustees of the Japanese American National Museum and on the advisory committee of the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program.

George's acting career has spanned four decades. It began in the summer between his freshman and sophomore years at the University of California at Berkeley, when George answered a newspaper advertisement placed by a company casting voices for a motion picture. The film was Rodan, a Japanese science-fiction classic about a prehistoric creature terrorizing Tokyo. In a sound stage on the MGM lot in Culver City, Calif., George dubbed the original Japanese lines into English, creating distinct voices for eight characters.

George's professional acting debut occurred on live television in the pioneering drama series, Playhouse 90. His motion picture debut was in Ice Palace starring Richard Burton, released by Warner Bros. in 1959. Films include six Star Trek motion pictures, Mulan I and II, Trekkies, Bug Busters and Oblivion.

In addition to his role in the original Star Trek series, television roles include guest-starring appearances on Scrubs , 3rd Rock From the Sun, Grosse Pointe, John Woo's Once a Thief, Muppets Tonight, Twilight Zone, Kung Fu, The Six Million Dollar Man, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Combat, MacGyver, and many others.

George's theatrical credits include Undertow, and The Wash. He performed in Year of the Dragon and in Fly Blackbird. George played in a musical version of Snow White at the Dome Theater in Brighton, England, and was the genie in Aladdin at the Hexagon Theatre in Reading, England.

George is grateful for his association with Star Trek, TV's quintessential sci-fi show, and the character he portrays, Hikaru Sulu. Originally helmsman of the starship U.S.S. Enterprise, Mr. Sulu was promoted to captain of the U.S.S. Excelsior in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, released in 1991. George reprised his Captain Sulu role in a Star Trek: Voyager episode titled "Flashback" in 1996.

George's talents extend to writing. In 1979, he co-wrote with Robert Asprin a science-fiction novel, Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe.

As told in his autobiography, To the Stars, George was born in Los Angeles, California. With the outbreak of World War II, he and his family together with 120,000 other Japanese Americans were placed behind the barbed-wire enclosures of United States internment camps. George spent most of his childhood at Camp Rohwer in the swamps of Arkansas and at wind-swept Camp Tule Lake in northern California.

George's family eventually returned to his native Los Angeles, which shaped his acting career. The motion picture studios -- their magical back lot sets visible behind tall fences -- were alluring presences. Every grammar school skit, junior high drama club, and high school play became a stepping stone to realizing his not-so-secret dream of becoming an actor.

After graduating from Los Angeles High School, George enrolled in the University of California at Berkeley. Later, he transferred to the University of California at Los Angeles, where he received a bachelor of arts in theater in 1960 and a master of arts in theater in 1964. He attended the Shakespeare Institute at Stratford-Upon-Avon in England and Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan. In Hollywood, he studied acting at the Desilu Workshop.

In addition to his acting career, George always has been extremely involved in civic affairs. Along with actress Beulah Quo, George produced and hosted a public affairs show, Expression East/West, which aired on KNBC-TV in Los Angeles from 1971 to 1973.

George is a past chairman of El Pueblo Park Association and former president of Friends of Little Tokyo Arts, an organization that encourages and supports artists.

In the international arena, George was appointed by President Clinton to the board of the Japan-United States Friendship Commission, where he served two terms. The Government of Japan recognized George's contribution to the Japan-United States relationship by giving him the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette. The decoration was conferred by His Majesty, Emperor Akihito, at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo in November 2004.

George is a dedicated long-distance runner since his high school cross-country team days. He has completed five 26.2-mile marathons and carried the Olympic Flame in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Torch Relay. George and his life partner, Brad Altman, are residents of Los Angeles.