Nichelle Nichols, who broke boundaries for black girls in Hollywood when she performed communications officer Lieutenant Nyota Uhura on the unique Star Trek tv sequence, has died on the age of 89.
Her son Kyle Johnson mentioned Nichols died on Saturday in Silver Metropolis, New Mexico.
“Final night time, my mom, Nichelle Nichols, succumbed to pure causes and handed away. Her gentle nevertheless, like the traditional galaxies now being seen for the primary time, will stay for us and future generations to get pleasure from, study from, and draw inspiration,” Johnson wrote on her official Fb web page Sunday. “Hers was a life effectively lived and as such a mannequin for us all.”
Her position within the 1966-69 sequence as Lt. Uhura earned Nichols a lifelong place of honour with the sequence’ rabid followers, generally known as Trekkers and Trekkies. It additionally earned her accolades for breaking stereotypes that had restricted black girls to performing roles as servants and included an interracial onscreen kiss with co-star William Shatner that was exceptional on the time.
She usually recalled how the Reverend Martin Luther King jnr was a fan of the present and praised her position and personally inspired her to stick with the sequence.
Like different unique forged members, Nichols additionally appeared in six big-screen spinoffs beginning in 1979 with Star Trek: The Movement Image and frequented Star Trek fan conventions. She additionally served for a few years as a NASA recruiter, serving to convey minorities and girls into the astronaut corps.
Extra not too long ago, she had a recurring position on tv’s Heroes, taking part in the great-aunt of a younger boy with mystical powers.