Born in Passaic, New Jersey, she grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York. A tragedy had the family move to the Dominican Republic where her father was from. She soon found herself back in New York where in 1995 she performed in a theater group in Brooklyn.  She later moved on to roles on television and then on to the big screen. She is married to Italian artist Marco Perego, who adopted her surname when they married, breaking the wedding tradition of just the wife taking the surname of the husband. Her name is Zoe Saldana-Perego. His name is Marco Perego-Saldana. Together they have twin sons.

This 38th birthday is bittersweet for her.  It is Father’s Day in the Unites States, a day she cannot celebrate with her father because her dad died in a car crash when she was 9. A memory cruelly relived today and darkened by another tragedy because her Star Trek co-star Anton Yelchin had a freak accident with his car on his property yesterday on June 18. He was pronounced dead today at the age of 27. The talented young Mr. Yelchin portrayed Pavel Chekov in the new series of Star Trek films.

Saldana and Yelchin can be seen together in the latest installment of Star Trek, Star Trek Beyond when it premieres next month on July 22, 2016.

Incidentally Zoe’s name in the Greek language means Life. May she live long, and prosper.

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An actor since the age of 9, he worked both in television and in films. As a 6 month old baby, he came to the United States with his Jewish parents, a pair of famed figure skaters from Russia who sought and received political refugee asylum from the US State Department.

Initial reports state that Yelchin was found pinned between his brick mailbox by his security gate and his vehicle. He was found around 1 am on June 18, 2016  by friends of his who came to see why he was late for a rehearsal. Somehow his car rolled backwards down the incline of his driveway and crushed him. According to reports, his car was in neutral and still running. He was pronounced dead today on Father’s Day.

Anton Yelchin does appear as Chekov in the upcoming second sequel Star Trek Beyond (2016). His other film credits include Terminator Salvation (2009), the remake of Fright Night (2011), and the recent adaptations of The Smurfs films and holiday specials where he voiced the character Clumsy Smurf.

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Special events scheduled at the Eternal Con include gaming tournaments, cosplay contests, giveaways, singing performances, celebrity panels, jedi battles, comedy shows, and Hollywood props on display.

Cos Play is a big part of the Eternal Con. In fact, three years ago, Sonic Eclectic’s youngest writer Anthi did her first Cos Play at the Eternal Con. This year, the Con will host its  third annual Costume Parade where everyone in costume is invited to march down Charles Lindbergh Blvd at 10am on Saturday morning. The parade will walk past the museum’s huge parking lot, where a display of vehicles (like the Bat-mobile) will be exhibited.

Eternal Con’s Cosplay Contest pre-judging session and a walk-through display will take place in the 350 seat Imax theatre. Later, judges will judge contestants on their costumes based on criteria that includes the design,  workmanship and inspiration of their work. All are invited to attend, no matter what type of costume or genre.

Cosplay Night is held in Citifield Park at 123-01 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11368 . Citifield Park is where the NY Mets play their official ball games against other MLB teams. You can check for the time and day of the event on their website.

As with other Cons, entertainers and artists will be there from all genre of fandoms.The Eternal Con has a special event called Portfolio Review where all artists, can have their artwork reviewed and critiqued by a panel of experts from the fields of advertising, art, comics, and media. The panel includes agents, critics, designers, directors, editors, and publishers who are willing to answer your questions and give you advice and tips. This is a great opportunity for artists to receive constructive criticism from the professionals so arrive early because this special panel is on a first come, first served basis.

There will be an art show, vendors at the Eternal Con, and an artist’s alley. Creative people expected to be there include Rich Buckler, Ken Kelly, Mark Morales, Greg Pak, Jim Shooter, and Mark Teixeira.

Media Guests scheduled to appear on both Saturday and Sunday are Dr. Who’s Karen Gillan, Agents of SHIELD’s Elizabeth Henstridge,  Star Trek’s Brent Spiner, Red Power Ranger Yuta Mochizuki, Pink Power Ranger Reiko Chiba, Star Trek’s Chase Masterson, The Hobbit’s William Kircher and cast members of Sailor Moon (Linda Ballantyne, Katie Griffin, Susan Roman, and Toby Proctor).

Appearing Sunday are Bob Bruce of Comic Book Men fame, and Professional Wrestlers Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, Andrew Anderson, and Mick Foley (with Noelle Foley).

Prices for the autographs and photo opportunities vary with all of the scheduled guests.

Sunday is the designated day for kids special kids event. Tickets are on sale now! See you there!

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West joins a small list of popular personalities of fandom who have appeared on the show. Others include Battlestar Galactica actor Katie Sackhoff,  Firefly‘s Summer Glau, comic book legend Stan Lee, Star Wars‘ James Earl Jones & Carrie Fisher, and Star Trek actors Levar Burton, Leonard Nimoy (voice over only), George Takei, and Wil Wheaton. Wheaton will also appear on the 200th episode, unfortunately.

Adam West, born William West Anderson in Walla, Walla, Washington, is most famous for his role as Batman; a role in which he has vocally reprised often in various cartoons. He has also voiced Thomas Wayne (the father of Bruce Wayne), The Gray Ghost (Bruce Wayne’s television idol), Mayor Grange, and Protobot in different cartoon series based on Batman.  He portrayed Batman in live action in 1979’s two-part Legends of the Superheroes. In the 1986 short-lived police sitcom The Last Precinct,  he wore the Batman costume but without the bat symbol on his chest. He also wore the cowl and a track suit years earlier to a wrestling event  where he got into a war of words with Jerry “The King ” Lawler, dressed as “SuperKing”.

His other superhero roles have included Cat-Man on The Fairly Odd Parents and The Galloping Gazelle on the live action series Goosebumps.

It won’t be the first time Mr. West is portraying himself on screen. He voiced his appearances as himself on several cartoon series like The Simpsons and Johnny Bravo, and he continues to voice a wacky version of himself  on the adult themed Family Guy. West has appeared as himself in films like the Burt Reynold’s film Hooper and decades later in Drop Dead Gorgeous. He has appeared as himself many times on several shows including Murphy Brown, The Drew Carey Show, and King of Queens and has also voiced himself and his version of Batman in a video game called Lego Batman 3:Beyond Gotham. 

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This year marks the 5oth anniversary of the classic science fiction franchise Star Trek.  With all of its reincarnations, it remains the most lucrative franchise that has gone from television to motion picture theaters; not many television programs have had that success with the exception of Star Trek and Mission Impossible (the late actor Leonard Nimoy was a regular on both shows by the way). In celebration of the 50th anniversary, Paramount Pictures will be releasing Star Trek Beyond this July 22nd, the 13th major motion film in the history of this franchise (not including its unofficial spoof, Galaxy Quest) and CBS will stream a new Star Trek series in 2017.  Not to be undone in all of this observance of half of a century of great science fiction, ReedPOP , the proven leader in celebration of pop culture, has teamed up with CBS Consumer Products, a unit of the CBS Corporation, to bring us Star Trek:Mission New York.

There’s that Star Trek and Mission connection again….

In a statement by Lance Fensterman, the Global Senior Vice President of ReedPOP, Mr. Fensterman stated “Star Trek fans set the gold standard of what these type of experiential events are all about, truly establishing this industry that we’ve been so proud to be a part of.” Star Trek fans will have the opportunity to continue setting the bar at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City where the Star Trek Convention will be held a month before ReedPOP’s  New York City Comic Con 2016. Annually, millions of people attend hundreds of events at the 2.1 million square foot convention facility on the West side of New York City named after United States Senator Jacob K. Javits who died in 1986, the year the facility was completed.  A far cry from the first Star Trek Convention which was held January 1972 at the Hotel Pennsylvania, in New York City, where almost 5,000 people showed up when only 300 were expected.

That’s the thing about Star Trek fans; they boldly go wherever they need to go, and this year they will travel the galaxy to Star Trek: Mission New York,  star date: September 2nd-4th 2016. Ticket sales, exhibitors, guests, and events will be announced in the near future.

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