Jeri Taylor, known to Trek fans for her work on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager has passed away. The Emmy-nominated writer and producer was 86 years old. According to her son Andrew, Jeri passed away Wednesday night at an assisted living facility in Davis, CA.
RIP Jeri Taylor
Jeri Taylor began her time with the Trek franchise in the fourth season of The Next Generation, becoming the showrunner in the final season, which garnered her an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Drama Series. She co-created Star Trek: Voyager with Rick Berman and Michael Piller, and stayed with the series as executive producer and showrunner until retiring and handing over the reins to Brannon Braga after the fourth season. It was Braga who first shared the news of Taylor’s passing on Instagram, praising her writing and describing her as “a cherished mentor,” crediting his career to her “intricate guidance.”
View this post on Instagram
Taylor is likely most associated for her work on Voyager, including writing credits for 14 episodes, starting with the series premiere “Caretaker.” Developing the character of Captain Kathryn Janeway was particularly important to Taylor. In his post today, Braga noted “Her memory will live on in many ways, but perhaps most of all in the character of Captain Janeway.” Speaking at STLV in 2021, Taylor talked about how she put a lot of herself into the character:
“I always thought of Janeway is just me, I wrote her. I can’t say that I wrote her as me, but as I would like to be. I felt full of her. And I think she is full of me, although, in many ways, far more skilled and able than I am. But it was my fantasy that Janeway was me and I tried to approach it like that. Flaws—we all have flaws. I could name my own; I don’t know that I could name Janeway’s”
Taylor even gave Janeway the same city of her own birth, Bloomington, Indiana, which now has a statue to the fictional captain.
Janeway actress, Kate Mulgrew offered her memorial on Twitter, saying Taylor was responsible for changing her life, and praising her for the legacy of Janeway and being “elegant, erudite, and fiercely opinionated.”
Jeri Taylor was responsible, in large part, for changing my life. She was elegant, erudite, and fiercely opinionated. She wanted Kathryn Janeway to be a significant part of her legacy and I think there is no doubt that in that endeavor she succeeded.
(1/2) pic.twitter.com/FW3qoZga8J
— Kate Mulgrew (@TheKateMulgrew) October 26, 2024
Voyager‘s Roxann Dawson also posted her tribute to Taylor.
RIP JERI TAYLOR. I am heart broken to hear of the passing of Jeri Taylor. Not only was her contribution to Voyager remarkable, but she was unmistakably the female voice of Voyager. I know my journey both on the show and beyond is completely affected by her presence, her talent…
— Roxann Dawson (@roxdaws) October 27, 2024
Taylor’s career before Trek began in the late 1970s including becoming a staff writer and producer on the drama Quincy M.E in 1980, where she met her second husband, David Moessigner. She worked as a writer and producer on several other popular series during the 80s, including Magnum P.I., In the Heat of the Night and Jake and the Fatman in 1989, her first credit as a co-executive producer. She started her time with TNG as a supervising producer in season 4, with writing credits on several episodes in her first season including sole credit on the critically acclaimed episode “The Drumhead.”
Taylor also penned three Star Trek novels, including the Voyager novels “Mosaic” and “Pathways,” seen by many fans as semi-canon due to her being the author. Jeri had three children, including Voyager’s Vorik, actor Alexander Enberg (with her first husband, sportscaster Dick Enberg). In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Enberg said: “My mother succeeded in a male-dominated industry, but she did it without being super aggressive. She did it with compassion and kindness. She was like a den mother to everyone.”
In a post on Instagram, TNG executive producer and co-creator of Voyager with Jeri said this of his former collogue:
“A generous woman who used her remarkable talents to bring out the best in all of us. Voyager would never have been what it was, nor would Janeway, if it weren’t for Jeri Taylor. The warmest colleague and friend one could ever ask for.”
More Jeri on Janeway
Jeri Taylor was interviewed for upcoming Voyager documentary To the Journey, and she can be seen talking about developing the character of Janeway in the following clip.
Jeri remembered
Several more Star Trek luminaries are sharing their thoughts about the passing of Jeri Taylor on social media, including some who worked with her…
Voyager writer/producer Bryan Fuller:
View this post on Instagram
Next Generation and DS9 writer/producer Robert Hewitt Wolfe:
Jeri Taylor was a talented writer and a wonderful person. In additional to contributing to hundreds of hours of awesome TV, she gave many writers (including me) our first jobs, launching dozens of careers. She was one of the greats, and she’ll be missed. RIP. 😢🖖
— Robert Hewitt Wolfe (@writergeekrhw) October 26, 2024
Trek artist Mike Okuda:
The world of Star Trek lost one of its giants yesterday with the passing of writer-producer Jeri Taylor. Jeri became a supervising producer on Star Trek: TNG’s fourth season, eventually becoming co-executive producer. pic.twitter.com/OVBxpygK75
— Michael Okuda (@MikeOkuda) October 25, 2024
Star Trek historian and podcaster Mark Altman:
So saddened to hear about the passing of EP & showrunner #JeriTaylor, When I was a fledgling journalist covering #TNG, she could not have been more warm & welcoming and thoughtful. Always considerate to everyone she met, she was also immensely talented. The perfect combination. pic.twitter.com/sYgHTNzSsE
— Mark A. Altman * (@markaaltman) October 25, 2024
Star Trek Communicator editor and historian Larry Nemecek:
I guess the news got out ahead of the family, but yes, #StarTrek: it’s true: #RIPJeriTaylor, EP on later #TNG and co-creator of #StarTrekVoyager —and the spiritual mother of #CaptainJaneway. Will have more live thoughts soon—but so glad she’s on cam and all over @voydocumentary. pic.twitter.com/5JXtKqTji1
— Larry Nemecek * (@larrynemecek) October 25, 2024
Prodigy writer/co-executive producer Aaron Waltke:
Jeri Taylor donated her hand-noted Star Trek scripts to Indiana University, where they were free for students to study…
… including one ambitious young fan. Me.
I learned to write studying her. I wouldn’t be here without her.
Thank you, Jeri. For everything.
Rest in peace.
— Aaron J. Waltke (@GoodAaron) October 25, 2024
TrekMovie offers our condolences to the friends and family of Jeri Taylor.
May She Rest In Holy Peace.
OMG no! This is horrible! RIP Jeri!
Icon
Jeri gave us great Star Trek TV with TNG and VOY, especially Captain Janeway. She will be missed greatly by all. RIP
Absolute pioneer who wrote many excellent stories and help craft some incredibly memorable characters.
I always wanted to ask her if she had plotted the whole story to Janeway’s season 1 and 2 holonovel. I have nothing but love and respect for Captain Proton, but damned if I didn’t want to watch Mrs Davenport find out what was on the mysterious fourth floor of the mansion…
One of so many lovely ideas Taylor had.
Condolences. Another sad passing of a talented writer who ‘got’ Trek. We need more, imo.
and showrunner for Voy.
I always kind of thought of her as the D.C. Fontana of the Berman era. Her approach to the franchise had a lot of heart, and is sorely missed.
Same!
RIP
RIP Jeri! My first Star Trek was Voyager. My first captain was Janeway. Thank you Jeri, for creating this wonderful character and opening my young mind to the world of Star Trek.
As I understand it, Jeri was bought in to TNG to strengthen the woman characters and boy did she succeed! I don’t think we would have seen Crusher or Troi in command if not for Teri’s input. RIP as you ascend to a higher realm!
Rest in Peace…
I had the privilege of meeting this amazing woman twice in my life, once in the late 90s and again a little over a decade ago. I told her because of her and creating an amazing character like Captain Janeway inspired my daughter to become a scientist and she did. Taylor, like D.C. Fontana before her paved the way for women in science fiction and helped create more inspiring women characters as well.
Jeri Taylor created some of the best acclaimed Star Trek stories to date. I wish we had more voices like hers today working on the franchise.
She will be truly missed.
that last scene in ‘drumhead’ more relevant now than ever…
Haven’t seen it in decades, but am thinking it has to do with being ever-vigilant?
Honestly, with all the voting fervor from trek alums, surprised nobody has made a big deal of using Scotty’s ‘Fool me once, shame on you — fool me twice, shame on me’ line in FRIDAY’S CHILD as a way of ear-flicking those who were conned into voting Trump in 2016 and were somehow thinking about going down that same nutty path again this time.
The Harris campaign could have used this as a sub-heading for ‘reasoning’ with some of these folks.
Agreed, Kev.
Oh, no. From what I hear she made TNG a Great Working environment. One of Treks Great moms:(
Wow just on a weird lark, I watched Drumhead a week ago. Taylor was a major talent and the first woman credited for creating a Star Trek show. Voyager and especially Janeway will live on for decades so her legacy will always be sealed. She did a lot for women producers in this space, especially for science fiction. RIP
I don’t think it’s said enough, even though it isn’t a particularly profound insight, but women made Star Trek the thing we all love it to be. From TOS forward, women writers shaped the shows, and Jeri Taylor had to have been one of its biggest influencers. So glad we were blessed with her wonderful work, which will forever shine as a testament to who she was and what she stood for :)