Pioneers in “Star Trek” Actress and space exploration advocate Nichelle Nichols died Saturday in Silver City, New Mexico. She was 89.
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His death was first announced by his son Kyle Johnson on Facebook and later confirmed to Variety by his talent manager and business partner, Gilbert Bell.
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“Last night my mother, Nichelle Nichols, succumbed to natural causes and passed away,” Johnson wrote on Nichols’ official Facebook and Instagram pages on Sunday. “Yet the light from it, like ancient galaxies now being seen for the first time, will remain for us and future generations to enjoy, learn from and inspire.”
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“His was a life well lived and as such a model for all of us,” he added. “I, and the rest of our family, would appreciate her patience and forbearance as we grieve her loss until we can recover enough to continue speaking out.”
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Born Grace Dell Nichols on December 28, 1932, near Chicago, Nichols was an artist of many talents.
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Her entertainment career began when she was just 16 years old, as a singer with Duke Ellington in a ballet she created for one of his compositions. Although she would continue to work as a model and dancer, Nichols toured internationally as a singer with big bands led by Ellington and Lionel Hampton.
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Nichols made her film debut opposite Sammy Davis Jr. in the 1959 film “Porgy and Bess” and began working in television a few years later. She was later cast in the role of her life, as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, communications officer on the Starship Enterprise, in the original television series “Star Trek.”
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African-American women had appeared on television before, but had usually been cast as servants. When “Star Trek” began in 1966, Nichols’ breakout role in a prime-time series was a television landmark.
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Academy Award-winning actress and comedian Whoopi Goldberg credits Nichols with inspiring her own acting career.
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“When I was 9 years old, ‘Star Trek’ came on. I looked at him and I went screaming through the house: ‘Come here, mom, everyone, come quickly, come quickly, there is a black woman on television and she is not a maid!’” Goldberg said. “I knew at that moment that I could be anything I wanted to be.”
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Nichols remained on “Star Trek” for its entire original run, which ended in 1969, and made appearances in subsequent “Star Trek” films.
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However, he had originally planned to quit after his first year on the show. As Nichols explained in a 2011 PBS interview, she changed her mind after a chance encounter at an NAACP event.
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“One of the promoters came up and said someone wanted to meet me. He said that he is my biggest fan,” Nichols said. “I thought he was some Trekker, some kid. I turned in my seat and there was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a big smile on his face. He said, ‘I’m a Trekker, I’m your biggest fan.’
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King encouraged Nichols to stay on the series.
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“He was telling me why he couldn’t [resign]”, he recalled. “He said that he had the first non-stereotypical role, he had a role with honor, dignity and intelligence. He said: ‘You just can’t abdicate, this is an important role. That’s why we’re marching. We never thought we’d see this on TV.’”
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In November 1968, Nichols made history when her “Star Trek” character kissed Captain James T. Kirk, played by white actor William Shatner. The scene is often cited as the first interracial kiss on American television.
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In her long acting career, Nichols appeared in several other productions on the big and small screen, including the NBC series “Heroes” and movies like “The Supernaturals” and “The Bitter Earth.” She also lent her voice to animated shows like “Futurama” and “Batman: The Animated Series.”
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CBS Photo Archive/Fake Images
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Nichols may be best remembered for her entertainment career, but she also leaves behind a different legacy: as a woman who dedicated decades of her life to championing space exploration, particularly among women and minorities.
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A lover of all things space, Nichols served on the Board of Governors of the National Space Society, a nonprofit space advocacy organization, and was reportedly an active leader in the now-defunct Space Cadets of America. He also launched a consulting firm, Women in Motion, which partnered with NASA to recruit female and minority staff for the space agency. His recruits included Guion Bluford, the first African American astronaut, and Sally Ride, the first American female astronaut.
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Nichols received NASA’s distinguished Public Service Award for his efforts in this field. He even had an asteroid named after him.
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Nichols was married and divorced twice and is survived by her son, Kyle Johnson.
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