Movies To History.com

STAR TREK’s Nichelle Nichols, the Trailblazing Trekkie, had an amazing life with an incredible journey trailblazing the Cosmos. Nichols died of heart failure at the age of 89 on July 30, 2022, in Silver City, New Mexico. When she debuted along with STAR TREK, as Lt. Uhura in 1966, Nichelle Nichols became one of the first Black performers and Black women to play a central character on a major television series.

UHURA’S GALAXY OF GREATNESS…

The series was a sci-fi drama about the galactic adventures aboard the exploratory spacecraft the Starship Enterprise. Even though the series only lasted three seasons, it remains a permanent fixture and cult franchise in the TV culture galaxy. Uhura, a name that was suggested by Nichols, and Nichelle believed the name was derived from the Swahili word for freedom. Nichelle could never have imagined how important her character would be to people.

GALAXY TRIBUTES…

President Joe Biden, in a statement released by The White House regarding her passing away, said: “our nation has lost a trailblazer of stage and screen who redefined what is possible for Black Americans and women.” You can read the Statement of President Joe Biden on the Passing of Nichelle Nichols by clicking on the photo of Nichols below:

LT. UHURA WASN’T JUST A CHARACTER, SHE WAS A STATEMENT…

Martin Luther King Jr. assured Nichols when she was contemplating leaving the show for a Broadway run after one season on TV, that her role was vital to the Black community. He told her it was indispensable and more important than any march she would choose to join him in for Civil Rights, telling her “for the first time, we are being seen the world over as we should be seen.”

LT. UHURA’S LASTING IMPACT…

Nichols would hold those words dear in her heart and stay with the series until its end. Nichols would also bring Uhura to the big screen and appear in six STAR TREK films. Whoopi Goldberg, who would later star in STAR TREK: The Next Generation as a bartender named Guinan, remembered the first time she saw Nichols as Uhura on TV. Goldberg said she ran screaming through her house telling everyone to come quick because there was a Black woman on TV, and she wasn’t playing a maid.

TRAILBLAZING THE COSMOS…

But Nichelle Nichols would be more than an actress, she would be a trailblazer for how people looked at race in America. She would go beyond the normal discussions of Black people and race and show exactly where Black women belong. Due to her role on STAR TREK, Nichols would have an active role in America’s space mission. Nichelle was NASA’s ambassador for the recruitment of minorities and women in space, in the late 1970s. While serving as ambassador, Nichols inspired astronauts Sally Ride and Mae Jamieson, the first Black woman in space, to join the space program.

WINDY CITY ROOTS…

Nichelle Nichols was born in Robbins, Illinois in 1932. As a young girl, Nichelle trained as a dancer. Nichols hoped to be the first Black Ballerina and would have the opportunity to dance for Jazz legend, Duke Ellington, and as a result, was bitten by the showbiz bug. She would appear in an uncredited role in Porgy and Bess before she got the job to board the Starship Enterprise. She would have many important moments in the series that included the first interracial kiss on United States Television. This pivotal moment in TV history would occur with her co-star, William Shatner. She would also become a sex symbol to many Black boys around the U.S., like a young Barack Obama, who admits to having a crush on her as a child.

IMITATION IS THE BEST FORM OF FLATTERY…

The reboot of STAR TREK films would include Lt. Uhura but now she would be played by Zoe Saldaña, who sought out Nichols’s blessing before taking the role. Zoe posted a tribute to her after her death on Instagram: “Nichelle made me feel safe, told me to play her with all the confidence in the world. My hope is that we continue to keep her memory alive by celebrating her amazing body of work, and by spreading the message of peace and equality amongst all people. She lived a long, impactful life and not only prospered but helped so many others prosper too.”

LASTING BLAZE…

Nichols continued to work long after STAR TREK ended. She appeared on the popular NBC series Heroes in 2007. She would then take her talents to daytime television where Nichols appeared on The Young and the Restless, in 2017, which earned her a Daytime Emmy Nomination. The later part of her life was not as great as the first half. Nichelle was suffering from dementia before her death and her medical rights were being argued by a close friend and her son due to Nichols being under a conservatorship put in place by her former manager.

LIVE LONG AND PROSPER…

But as William Shatner noted in his tribute, Nichelle Nichols was otherworldly in her activism for social change in the black community and that is what she will be remembered for, not the troubles of her later years. Shatner said: “She was a beautiful woman and played an admirable character, who did so much for redefining social issues both here in the U.S. and throughout the world.”