Nichelle is now 89 years old. The Star TrekActress died in Silver City, New Mexico, on Saturday, July 30th.
Her son, Kyle JohnsonShe confirmed her death on Sunday 31 July. “I regret to inform you that a great light in the firmament no longer shines for us as it has for so many years,” Johnson’s post on Nichols’ official Facebook page announced. “Last night, my mother, Nichelle Nichols, succumbed to natural causes and passed away. We and future generations will be able to see her light, just like the ancient galaxies, for which we are now able to learn and draw inspiration. Hers was a life well lived and as such a model for us all.”
Johnson, 70, continued: “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’ official cause of death was heart failure, according to the New York Times.
Born in December 28, 1932, in Robbins, Illinois, Nichols grew up in the Chicago suburb with father Samuel, the town mayor, and her mother Lishia, but she left at just 15 to start her career when she joined Duke Ellington’s tour as a singer and dancer. In 1959, Porgy and Bess was the first role she played as a dancer on screen. Before landing on TV, she went to Peyton Place and Tarzan. Star Trek1966, as Lt. Uhura.
Famously, the actress attempted to quit the sci-fi series following just one season. She intended to return to Broadway. Gene Roddenberry accepted her resignation and told her to give her a weekend to reflect on her decision. She changed her mind after meeting one particular fan — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“That weekend, I went to what I remember as a NAACP fundraiser, though it could have been something else,” Nichols recalled to StarTrek.com in 2010. “Whatever it was, I was in Beverly Hills. As other notables arrived to join us, I was seated at a dais. One of the organizers came over to me and said, ‘Ms. Nichols, I hate to bother you just as you’re sitting down to dinner, but there’s someone here who wants very much to meet you. And he said to tell you that he is your biggest fan.’ I said, “Oh, certainly.’ I stood up and turned around and who comes walking over towards me from about 10 or 15 feet, smiling that rare smile of his, is Dr. Martin Luther King. I remember saying to myself, ‘Whoever that fan is, whoever that Trekkie is, it’ll have to wait because I have to meet Dr. Martin Luther King.’ And he walks up to me and says, ‘Yes, Ms. Nichols, I am your greatest fan.’ You know I can talk, but all my mouth could do was open and close, open and close; I was so stunned.”
King told Nichols Star TrekCoretta Scott King and Nichols allowed their children to watch the show, but it was the only one they allowed them to keep up with. Nichols was touched and said she’d really miss her costars, and the activist discouraged her from quitting.
“He said, ‘You cannot,’ and so help me, this man practically repeated verbatim what Gene said. He said, ‘Don’t you see what this man is doing, who has written this? This is the way of the future. He has established us as he intended. We are here three hundred years after this. We are marching, this is the first stage. When we see you, we see ourselves, and we see ourselves as intelligent and beautiful and proud.’ He goes on and I’m looking at him and my knees are buckling,” she explained. “And he said, ‘You turn on your television and the news comes on and you see us marching and peaceful, you see the peaceful civil disobedience, and you see the dogs and see the fire hoses, and we all know they cannot destroy us because we are there in the 23rd Century.’”
She concluded, “That’s all it took.” She remained with the original Star Trek through 1969, appearing in 69 of the show’s 80 episodes. In the first six episodes of the series, she reprised her role as Uhura. Star Trekmovies and voiced lieutenant in Star Trek: The Animated SeriesIn the mid-1970s.
Breaking barriers was a theme throughout Nichols’ career. Captain Kirk and Uhura (William ShatnerIn 1968, ) and ) shared the first interracial smooch on broadcast television. “I am so sorry to hear about the passing of Nichelle,” Shatner tweeted on Sunday. “She was a beautiful woman & played an admirable character that did so much for redefining social issues both here in the US & throughout the world. She will be missed. Sending my love and condolences to her family.”
In 1992, she received a star Hollywood Walk of Fame and became the first Black actress to place her handprints in front of Hollywood’s Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
Nichols inspired many young women to become astronauts through her fictional character, but also her involvement with the Board of Directors of the National Space Institute (now called the National Space Society), and her work as a Space Cadets of America. NASA awarded her a Public Service Award in 1985 for her efforts in diversifying the field.
“We celebrate the life of Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek actor, trailblazer, and role model, who symbolized to so many what was possible,” NASA shared via Twitter on Sunday. “She partnered with us to recruit some of the first women and minority astronauts, and inspired generations to reach for the stars.”
Her final TV roles were on The Young and the RestlessIn 2016, and Sharknado 5: Global SwarmingThe next year was her last film. Her last film was 2020 Star TrekParody Unbelievable.
Nichols was briefly married in 1951 to Forest Johnson, with whom she had Kyle, now 70. The couple split later that year. From 1968 to 1972, Nichols was married again to Duke Mondy. Kyle filed for conservatorship after a 2015 stroke and a 2018 diagnosis with dementia. The case is still pending.
News of Nichols’ death spawned reactions from stars across Hollywood. Scroll down to view George Takei, Lynda Carter, Celia Rose GoodingYou can also pay tribute to the following:
