Nichelle Nichols, the Star Trek legend who played Nyota Uhura on Star Trek: The Original Series, has died. The actress was 89.
Her son, Kyle Johnson, shared the news on his mother’s Instagram account.
“Last night, my mother, Nichelle Nichols, succumbed to natural causes and passed away,” Johnson wrote. “Her light, however, like the ancient galaxies now being seen for the first time, will remain for us and future generations to enjoy, learn from, and draw inspiration. Her’s was a life well lived and as such a model for us all.
“I, and the rest of our family, would appreciate your patience and forbearance as we grieve her loss until we can recover sufficiently to speak further. Her services will be for family members and the closest of her friends and we request that her and our privacy be respected.”
Nichols was a legend of her time and made her historic mark with Star Trek. She first guest starred in The Lieutenant but later played Nyota Uhura in Star Trek: The Original Series. Nichols was one of the first black women to be featured in a major television series and paved the way for so many others like her.
Nichols is also part of what is cited as the first interracial kiss on scripted U.S. television when she kissed William Shatner’s Captain James T. Kirk on the Star Trek episode ‘Plato’s Stepchildren.’
Following the cancellation of Star Trek: The Original Series in 1969, Nichols would continue on as Uhura in Star Trek: The Animated Series and six Star Trek films.
Outside of Star Trek, Nichols received her first Daytime Emmy nomination for her work on The Young and Restless and also appeared in an episode of Futurama, Gargoyles, Batman: The Animated Series, Snow Dogs, Heroes, The Blacks and more. She also worked closely with NASA to help recruit minorities and females.
Don’t judge a book by its cover, for behind all this makeup, is a geek just like you. To simply put it, superheroes, Star Wars, Harry Potter and all things gore and creepy makes this girly girl swoon.
Natalie
Trinity Sun
