Maybe. But he was also an insecure, misogynistic hack. Born in El Paso in 1921, Gene Roddenberry moved to Los Angeles to become a police officer. He married and had two children. Then World War II ...

Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock in “Star Trek,” shakes hands with Gene Roddenberry in Los Angeles in January 1985. — AP photo That man turned his life around, got married and had two children.

So that was my first experience with Roddenberry. I did another pilot for him called 'Police Story.' For the benefit of those of you who don't know, Gene was a cop for about eight years.