Jeri Taylor | |
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| Born | (1938-06-30)June 30, 1938 Evansville, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | October 24, 2024(2024-10-24) (aged 86) Davis, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Indiana University Bloomington Cal State Northridge |
| Occupations |
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| Known for | Star Trek: The Next Generation Star Trek: Voyager |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3, includingAlexander Enberg |
Jeri Cecile Suer (June 30, 1938 – October 24, 2024), known professionally asJeri Taylor,[1][2] was an American television scriptwriter and producer who wrote many episodes of theStar Trek: The Next Generation andStar Trek: Voyager series.[3][4]
Jeri Cecile Suer was born in Evansville, Indiana, on June 30, 1938.[5] She attendedIndiana University Bloomington,[6] where she was a member ofKappa Alpha Theta. Taylor also received herM.A. in English fromCalifornia State University, Northridge in 1966.[6]
Taylor wrote scripts for television series likeLittle House on the Prairie andThe Incredible Hulk, then served as a producer and director onQuincy, M.E. andJake and the Fatman.[6] While working onJake and the Fatman, Taylor and her producer partnerDavid Moessinger hiredJ. Michael Straczynski (who would later go on to createBabylon 5) as an executive story consultant, giving him his first experience working on an hour-long show.[7] Taylor was recommended tothe producers ofStar Trek: The Next Generation byLee Sheldon, with whom she had worked onQuincy.[8][9]
Taylor joinedThe Next Generation staff at the beginning of the fourth season as a supervising producer, co-writing the second episode to go into production, "Suddenly Human".[8] After two years, Taylor became co-executive producer withRick Berman andMichael Piller and served as executive producer/showrunner for the (final) seventh season ofThe Next Generation.[6][8] During this time, she received credit on a number of episodes, includingWil Wheaton's final episode as a regular character, "Final Mission";[8] the episode that introduced theCardassian race, which featured heavily inStar Trek: Deep Space Nine, "The Wounded";[8] the first of a two part episode featuringSpock, "Unification",[8] and the script she has said she was most proud of, "The Drumhead".[8]
During the last year ofThe Next Generation, Taylor worked with Rick Berman and Michael Piller to develop the fourthStar Trek series,Star Trek: Voyager.[6] WhenThe Next Generation production ended, Taylor transferred to theVoyager production staff and served as executive producer with Rick Berman during the first four years. At the beginning of the third season, when Piller moved to a reduced creative consultant role, Taylor became head of the writing staff (showrunner) and stayed in that role until the end of the fourth season in 1998, when she retired and handed over control of the writing staff toBrannon Braga. Despite retiring, she continued to work with theVoyager team as creative consultant during the show's last three seasons.[citation needed]
During her time onThe Next Generation andVoyager, Taylor wrote threeStar Trek novels forPocket Books: a novelisation of "Unification" that she wrote at the same time she was scripting its first part,[8] and twoVoyager novels that expanded on the background of the characters she had helped create for the series.
Between the years 1995 to 1998, Taylor gave the Indiana University Lilly Library a collection of her screenwriting work including outlines, scripts for theNext Generation series and for the first twoVoyager seasons, technical notes, cast lists, and shooting schedules for the final season ofThe Next Generation (1993–1994), casting call sheets and research notes forVoyager (1994–1996). Some of the outlines, technical notes, and lists contain Taylor's handwritten changes and comments.[10]
Taylor died at an assisted living facility inDavis, California, on October 24, 2024, at the age of 86.[11][12]
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