When Star Trek: The Next Generation debuted in 1987, most of the cast were unfamiliar faces to the American television viewing public. Few Star Trek fans were familiar with Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes or Michael Dorn, though LeVar Burton was a recognizable name, having established himself a decade earlier in "Roots." But the "hottest" (in the mercurial terms of Hollywood) cast member of TNG at the time was the youngest: Wil Wheaton. Having made a splash a year earlier as the lead in the Rob Reiner hit "Stand By Me," Wheaton took on the role of Wesley Crusher, the only main cast member not an officer aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise-D, and the character Gene Roddenberry felt most personally connected to, and thus lending him his middle name.

By the time the 16-year-old Wheaton stepped onto the Enterprise bridge, he was already a seasoned veteran of film and television, having begun acting nine years earlier in commercials at age seven, and appearing in television movies ("A Long Way Home" with Timothy Hutton and "The Shooting" with Lynn Redgrave), on regular series such as Highway to Heaven, Family Ties and St. Elsewhere, and on the big screen in feature films such as "The Secret of NIMH," "The Last Starfighter," "The Buddy System" and the aforementioned "Stand By Me."

As his journey aboard the Enterprise-D continued, he also found time to appear on other shows like Monsters and Tales From the Crypt and other projects, like playing the title role in the television movie "Young Harry Houdini."

Wheaton and "Acting Ensign Wesley Crusher" left TNG in 1990, Crusher heading to Starfleet Academy and Wheaton pursuing other opportunities, but he returned for numerous episodes, including "The Game," "The First Duty," "Parallels," and "Journey's End." He can be seen briefly in "Star Trek Nemesis," his last appearance in a Trek-related role. Post-TNG, Wheaton acted on shows such as The Outer Limits, Perversions of Science, Diagnosis Murder and also participated in the Star Trek version of the game show The Weakest Link and the episode of Biography profiling his "Stand By Me" co-star River Phoenix. He has also been in feature films like "Flubber," "Foreign Correspondents," "Python" and "Deep Core."

Wheaton often appears at Star Trek conventions, usually in the smaller rooms where he can connect with the fans more intimately, to express his various views through readings of his blogs, diaries and other writings, and to chat up and entertain the audience with his trademark snarkiness. He has also brought his improvisational troupe "Earnest Borg-9" to the convention cabarets, much as other Star Trek actors bring songs, stand-up comedy and other performances to share with the fans.

Wheaton has written a book of short stories entitled "Dancing Barefoot," and published a collection of personal introspections called "Just a Geek." But most of his day-to-day writing has to do with communicating with his base of fans and friends through his popular and irreverent blog site, WilWheaton.net.

But just yesterday, Wheaton was at Comic-Con in San Diego to talk up his latest writing effort, a Star Trek manga titled ""Te Cura Ipsum." It will come out in September as part of TOKYOPOP's second volume of Star Trek manga, called "Kakan ni Shinkou." We will have a report about that appearance in a few days.

Acting-wise lately, Wheaton has mostly been doing voice work for a variety of animated comic-style shows such as Avatar: The Last Airbender and Legion of Super-Heroes, and video games such as "Grand Theft Auto." But look for him soon in a live-action feature titled "Americanizing Shelley," in which he plays a film director with the famous pseudonym "Alan Smithee." After debuting at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, "Shelley" completed a successful limited theatrical release in the U.S. last month, and plans are underway for a wide release this fall, probably starting in October.

And of course, we can't get enough of Wil's fantastic Shatner impressions in his role as co-host of the FanLib "Kirk vs. Picard" writing contest! He and George Takei have truly made this ground-breaking activity a lively event, and we all couldn't be more pleased.

If you want to see Wil in person and be wowed by his hip intellect, be sure to register soon for Creation Entertainment's big Las Vegas Star Trek convention, coming up quickly — the weekend after next! Wil is tentatively scheduled to appear Thursday, August 9.

STARTREK.COM wishes Wil a very Happy Birthday, and many thanks for all the great work and for being such as great friend.

Click here to post your own birthday greeting for Wil Wheaton!