Jeri Taylor dead: ‘Star Trek: Voyager’ co-creator was 86 years old

Jeri Taylor is an Emmy-nominated producer, writer, director and showrunner who has worked on the show for over a decade Star Trek: The next generation AND Star Trek: Voyagerwhich she co-created, died. She was 86 years old.

Taylor died Wednesday evening of natural causes at a nursing facility in Davis, California, said her son Andrew Enberg Hollywood reporter.

“My mother managed to succeed in a male-dominated industry,” her son said, “but she did it without being overly aggressive. She did it with compassion and kindness. She was like a cave mother to everyone.”

Before you commit to it Star Trek journey, the Indiana resident wrote and produced episodes of such popular crime series as Quincy, J.A, Magnum, PI, Jake and Fatty AND In the heat of the night. She was adept at writing about “character, people, relationships and feelings,” she said once noticed.

Taylor began writing for the syndicate The next generation in 1990, during the fourth season. In the sixth season of the series, she became a co-executive producer with Rick Berman and Michael Pillar, and during the seventh and final campaign (1993–1994) she served as showrunner with Patrick Stewart.

In 1994, she received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Drama Series.

She, Berman and Pillar created it Star Trek: Voyagerwhich bowed to UPN in January 1995, and she served as the series’ showrunner for its first four seasons through 1998 and as a creative consultant for its final three seasons.

It was Taylor’s idea to play a female lead Star Trekand Kate Mulgrew, who played Captain Kathryn Janeway in the series Travelerwrote in X that Taylor “was largely responsible for changing my life.”

“She was elegant, erudite and very opinionated” – Mulgrew he wrote. “She wanted Kathryn Janeway to be a significant part of her legacy, and I think there is no doubt that she succeeded in that endeavor.”

One of six children, Jeri Cecile Suer was born on June 30, 1938 in Evansville, Indiana. Her father Robert was a doctor and her mother Ruah was a mathematics teacher.

Taylor graduated from Wilmington High School in Ohio (where she was a high school student) and Indiana University. She earned a master’s degree from Cal State Northridge, taught acting workshops in Los Angeles, and directed local theater productions before working in television as a writer in 1979.

She started working at NBC Quincy in 1980, during the show’s fifth season, she directed two episodes and was a producer for the show’s eighth and final year.

She joined the writing team The next generation after rewriting the season four episode “Suddenly Human”.

Along the way, Taylor also wrote Special ABC extracurricular activitiesepisodes Little House on the Prairie, The Incredible Hulk, Blue Thunder AND The Secrets of Father Dowling and a 1987 CBS television movie A place to call homestarring Linda Lavin.

Of about 30 Star Trek episodes for which she received praise, Taylor was most proud of the fourth season The next generation part of “The Drumhead”, which takes place in a courtroom.

She also received a story credit in three syndicated episodes Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in 1993-94 and wrote three Star Trek novels for Pocket Books.

From 1959 until their divorce in 1974, Taylor was married to famed sportscaster Dick Enberg and writer-producer David Moessinger. Quincy and other performances – from 1986 until his death in 2018.

In addition to Andrew, her second son, Alexander Enberg, who appeared in the series, also survived Traveler as Ensign Vorik, the Vulcan. Her daughter, Jennifer Jo Enberg, died in 2015 of ovarian cancer at the age of 52.

On Instagram, Brannon Braga, who took over for Taylor as Travelershowrunner, he called her “a valuable mentor.”

“Jeri was generous with sharing her wisdom and time. She raised a whole cadre of young writers, which is a testament to her patience,” he continued. “Without Jeri’s complex guidance, I would not have had a successful career. She taught us all so much. Her memory will live on in many ways, but perhaps most of all through the character of Captain Janeway, who reflected the best of Jeri herself. Jeri Taylor, we were lucky to have known you.