 Gene Roddenberry was born on August 19 , 1921 in his parents ' rented home in El Paso , Texas , the first child of Eugene Edward Roddenberry and Caroline " Glen " ( née <unk> ) Roddenberry . He was named after his father and referred to as " Little " Gene . Roddenberry would later describe his father as " very intelligent " but a " very common man " . At the time of Gene 's birth , his father was working as a linesman , but shortly afterward he rode the rails to Los Angeles to seek better employment . He joined the Los Angeles Police Department as an emergency appointee on December 7 , 1922 . The following March he sent a message to his wife to tell her to come to Los Angeles with their son . Two months later , Gene Sr. passed the Civil Service test and was given a police commission . 
