Emmy-nominated ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Writer-Producer Dies at 86

Jeri Taylor, who was nominated for an Emmy and worked as a scribe, producer, director, and showrunner for Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager (both of which she developed), has passed away. She was 86.

“My mother succeeded in a male-dominated industry,” her son Andrew Enberg said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, “but she did it without being super aggressive. She did it with compassion and kindness. She was like a den mother to everyone.”

According to Enberg, the industry veteran passed away on October 24 due to natural causes at an assisted living facility in Davis, California, as Deadline reported.

Taylor dedicated over a decade of her career to the creation of episodes that were set within the Star Trek universe. She began writing for Next Generation Season 4 in 1990 and rose to the position of co-executive producer in Season 6.

More From Her Career

She received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Drama Series for her role as the showrunner of the seventh and final installment of the Patrick Stewart vehicle.

Afterward, Taylor co-created Voyager with Next Generation co-EPs Rick Berman and Michael Pillar, and served as showrunner from 1995 to 1998 and later as a creative consultant for the final three seasons.

According to some who knew her, the late producer pioneered the concept of allowing a female lead captain in the franchise, as was done with actress Kate Mulgrew. The actress worte a tribute ]on X, writing that 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. I owe her a debt of gratitude. May she rest in peace,” she concluded.

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

Her Legacy

Taylor wrote 30 episodes for the Star Trek canon, with the fan-favorite "The Drumhead" from Next Generation being her proudest accomplishment, according to StarTrek.com. For the show Pocket Books, she penned no less than three Star Trek novels.

Taylor has a background in writing and producing episodes of hit network procedurals such as In the Heat of the Night, Jake and the Fatman, Quincy, Magnum, P.I., and Quantum, P.I. before she made her contributions to the galaxy.

In addition to her work on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, she has written for Little House on the Prairie, The Incredible Hulk, and three episodes of the show. A Place to Call Home, a CBS primetime movie, was co-written by Taylor as well.

Taylor, who was born in Evansville, Indiana, on June 30, 1938, earned a degree in English from Indiana University. She started her career in Hollywood after earning her master's degree from California State University, Northridge, and directed local stage shows before switching to screenwriting in the early 1980s.