As a dedicated Star Trek fan with a soft spot for behind-the-scenes stories, Jeri Taylor’s passing has left a void that can hardly be filled. A trailblazer in a male-dominated industry, she navigated her career with grace and kindness, making her not just a den mother to her team, but also an inspiration to countless women in the field.
Jeri Taylor, an acclaimed producer, screenwriter, director, and showrunner known for her extensive work on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager (which she helped create), passed away at the age of 86.
Taylor passed away on Wednesday evening due to natural reasons, as confirmed by her son Andrew Enberg to The Hollywood Reporter, within an assisted living facility in Davis, California.
Her son stated that despite the industry being predominantly male, his mother managed to thrive. Instead of adopting a confrontational approach, she chose empathy and kindness, nurturing everyone around her like a den mother.
Before setting off on her Star Trek journey, the woman from Indiana previously wrote and produced episodes for well-known crime dramas on television such as Quincy M.E., Magnum P.I., Jake and the Fatman, and In the Heat of the Night. She was skilled at writing about “characters, people, relationships, and emotions,” she once mentioned.
Back in 1990, during the fourth season, I started contributing to ‘Next Generation’ as a writer. Come the sixth season, I was promoted to co-executive producer alongside Rick Berman and Michael Pillar. For the seventh and last season (1993-94), I had the honor of being the showrunner for the Patrick Stewart-led series.
In 1994, she shared an Emmy nomination for outstanding drama series.
Berman, along with Pillar, co-developed “Star Trek: Voyager,” which premiered on UPN in January 1995. She served as the showrunner for the series during its initial four seasons, up until 1998, and later functioned as a creative advisor during its final three seasons.
It was Taylor who proposed the female lead character for Star Trek, and Kate Mulgrew, who played Capt. Kathryn Janeway on Voyager, expressed on X that Taylor significantly influenced her life by playing a major role in its transformation.
Mulgrew penned that she was graceful, knowledgeable, and strongly opinionated. She aimed for Kathryn Janeway to be an essential aspect of her legacy, and without a doubt, I believe she achieved this goal.
Born on the 30th of June, 1938, in Evansville, Indiana, Jeri Cecile Suer is one of six siblings. Her dad, Robert, practiced medicine, while her mom, Ruah, taught math.
After graduating as valedictorian from Wilmington High School in Ohio, I then moved on to Indiana University. Following that, I completed my master’s degree at Cal State Northridge. Before making my mark in television in 1979, I honed my craft by leading acting workshops in L.A., directing local stage productions, and even dabbling in some theater directing.
1980 marked the beginning of her employment with NBC’s “Quincy” series, which was already in its fifth season. During this period, she directed two episodes, and moreover, she worked as a producer during the show’s eighth and concluding year.
After revising the fourth-season episode “Suddenly Human,” she became a part of the writing team for Next Generation>.
During his career, Taylor was also responsible for penning ABC Afterschool Specials, episodes of Little House on the Prairie, The Incredible Hulk, Blue Thunder, Father Dowling Mysteries, and the 1987 CBS movie A Place to Call Home, which featured Linda Lavin.
Among the numerous “Star Trek” episodes where she got credited as a writer, Taylor reportedly took particular pride in the fourth-season episode of “The Next Generation,” titled “The Drumhead.” This episode is notable for its courtroom setting.
Apart from that, she was credited for a story in three installments of the syndicated “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” during 1993-94, and she penned down three “Star Trek” novels published by Pocket Books.
Taylor was wedded to the renowned sportscaster Dick Enberg from 1959 to their divorce in 1974, and later to writer-producer David Moessinger (with whom she collaborated on shows like Quincy among others) from 1986 until his passing in 2018.
Besides Andrew, the survivors also include her son Alexander Enberg, famously known for his role as Ensign Vorik, a Vulcan on the TV series Voyager. Tragically, her daughter Jennifer Jo Enberg passed away in 2015 due to ovarian cancer at the age of 52.
On Instagram, Brannon Braga, who succeeded Taylor as the showrunner of Star Trek: Voyager, referred to her as a “cherished mentor.
Jeri was generous with her knowledge and her time, fostering an entire team of budding writers, which speaks volumes about her patience,” he went on. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without Jeri’s meticulous mentoring. She taught us all so much. Her spirit will continue to thrive in many aspects, but maybe most significantly in the character of Captain Janeway, who embodied some of Jeri’s finest qualities. Jeri Taylor, we were fortunate to have had you.
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2024-10-27 02:55