Prior to landing the gig playing helmsman Hikaru Sulu on "Star Trek," actor George Takei landed a few dubbing jobs that led to him providing the English-language voices for Japanese films like "Rodan" and "Godzilla Raids Again." His first credited on-scree film role was for the 1958 adventure flick "Ice Palace" with Richard Burton. Throughout the early 1960s, he continued to play small roles in large Hollywood film productions, although his career began to thrive on television, with Takei landing guest spots on some of the hottest shows of the day. Indeed, he wound up being on episodes of "Perry Mason," "The Twilight Zone," "My Three Sons," "Death Valley Days," and "I Spy."

"Star Trek" was a three-year supporting gig for Takei, and it initially wasn't a hugely successful show, ending in 1969. After that, Takei merely turned back to other one-shot appearances on shows like "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" and "Ironside.