American actor Nichelle Nichols, who rose to global fame and broke ground for black women as Lt. Uhura in the original Star Trek TV hit in the 1960s, has died aged 89. his family announced on Sunday.
Nichols’ son, Kyle Johnson, announced his death via Facebook.
Nichols suffered a stroke in 2015, and his son said he died on Saturday, July 30, as he “succumbed to natural causes.”
“I regret to inform you that a great light in the firmament no longer shines for us as it has for so many years,” he wrote on Instagram.
Cast as Nyota Uhura, her character was in a position of authority and had a high profile on screen, on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise.
“Their light, however, like the ancient galaxies now seen for the first time, will remain for us and future generations to enjoy, learn from, and inspire,” Johnson wrote.
Nichols was born in Robbins, Illinois, in 1932 and grew up in Chicago.
Co-star George Takei tweeted that his heart was heavy, “my eyes shone like the stars you now rest among, my dearest friend” and would soon have more to say about the “incomparable” trailblazer.
I will have more to say about the trailblazing and incomparable Nichelle Nichols, who shared the bridge with us as Lt. Uhura of the USS Enterprise, and who passed today at the age of 89. For today, my heart is heavy, my eyes shine like the stars among which you now rest, my dearest friend.
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) July 31, 2022
Prominent Georgia Democrat and voting rights organizer Stacey Abrams, who is running for governor again and is a longtime Star Trek fan, tweeted a photo of herself with Nichols.
“One of my most cherished photos – Godspeed to Nichelle Nichols, champion, warrior and tremendous actor. Her kindness and bravery lit the way for so many. May she live forever among the stars,” he wrote.
Nichols’ role in the 1966-69 series as Lt. Uhura earned him a lifelong position of honor among the series’ rabid fans, known as Trekkers and Trekkies.
It also brought her praise for breaking stereotypes that limited black women to roles as maids, and included an on-screen interracial kiss with co-star William Shatner that was unheard of at the time.
Like other members of the original cast, Nichols also appeared in six big screen spin-offs beginning in 1979 with Star Trek: The Motion Picture and frequented Star Trek fan conventions.
She also served for many years as a recruiter for the US space agency Nasa, helping to bring more minorities and women into the astronaut corps.
The original Star Trek premiered on NBC on September 8, 1966. Its multicultural and multiracial cast was creator Gene Roddenberry’s message to viewers that in the distant future, in the 23rd century, human diversity would be fully accepted .
“I think a lot of people took it to heart … that what was being said on television at the time was cause for celebration,” Nichols said in 1992 when viewing a Star Trek exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution.
He often recalled how civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr was a fan of the show and praised his role.
She met him at a civil rights rally in 1967, at a time when she had decided not to return for the show’s second season.
“When I told him I was going to miss my teammates and was leaving the program, he got really serious and said, ‘You can’t do this,'” she told The Tulsa World in a 2008 interview.
“‘You’ve changed the face of television forever, and therefore you’ve changed people’s minds,'” the civil rights leader said she told him.
Nichols said, “That foresight that Dr. King had was a lightning bolt in my life.”
Most recently, she had a recurring role on TV’s Heroes, playing the great-aunt of a boy with mystical powers.
Nichols, trained as a dancer and also worked as a nightclub chanteuse, with the Washington Post reporting that she thought being cast in Star Trek would be a “good stepping stone” to fame on the Broadway stage, without realizing that the TV show and his character would be an iconic and enduring success.
Actor Wilson Cruz wrote on Twitter that “representation matters.”
Nichols “modeled it for us. With her very presence and her grace, she illuminated who we are as people of color and inspired us to reach our potential. Rest well, a bright diamond in the sky,” he write.
The Smithsonian tweeted an image of Lt. Uhura’s iconic red minidress and noted that Nichols made “history for African-American women in television and film. Nichols also volunteered to recruit women and people of color for NASA.
Today we remember Nichelle Nichols. She played Lt. Uhura on “Star Trek” in this uniform now at our @NMAAHC, making history for African-American women in TV and film. Nichols also volunteered to recruit women and people of color for NASA. #BecauseOfHerStory pic.twitter.com/fZZqfGlomz
— Smithsonian (@smithsonian) July 31, 2022