Nichelle Nichols died on July 30th at the age of 89. As Star Trek’s communications officer Lieutenant Uhura, Nichols became one of the first African American women to be featured in a non-menial role on television.
Nichols played Uhura on the original “Star Trek” series (1966-68), voiced her on Filmation’s Saturday morning animated show (1973-74), and reprised the role in six “Star Trek” movies (1979-91). In “Star Trek: The Motion Picture,” she was promoted to lieutenant commander, and in “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” she was simply commander. She was also a crack translator, who could sing and play the Vulcan lyre.
In real life, Nichols was a singer and dancer who worked with Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton, a longtime supporter of NASA, and the first African American woman to have her handprints immortalized in cement at Grauman’s Chinese Theater.
We’ll pay tribute to Nichols tomorrow night on Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner. Viewers are invited to join us in sharing their memories and observations. Hailing frequencies will be open, both in the comments section and on-camera, when we livestream on Facebook, this Friday evening at 7:30 EDT.
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