The artist her signature role: Nichelle Nichols as radio officer Uhura on the bridge of the “Enterprise”.
Photo: dpa/Chris Pizzello
One evening in 1932, when Nichelle Nichols was still a baby in her mother’s womb, Al Capone’s brother visited her childhood home. In retaliation for the raid on an illegal mob club, the mayor of Robbins, Illinois, near Chicago, was to die. The gangsters were convinced that Samuel Nichols had first collected large bribes and then betrayed them. According to legend, Nichols snapped at the criminals that he had never accepted their dirty money and would have died rather than do so. The mafiosi then called off the planned execution, impressed by the chutzpah of Nichols’ parents – their mother had hidden a live pistol between her baby bump and a pillow. According to Nichols’ autobiography, Beyond Uhura, Capone walked away shaking her head, laughing, and complimenting her mother.
–