Role in ‘Star Trek’ inspired other black actors
LOS ANGELES: Nichelle Nichols, whose portrayal of starship communications officer Lieutenant Uhura in the 1960s scifi TV series Star Trek and subsequent movies broke colour barriers and helped redefine roles for black actors, has died at age 89.
She was born on December 28, 1932 in Robbins, Illinois, trained as a singer and dancer and toured with jazz greats Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton before her acting career took off.
Nichols, who was married twice and had one child, suffered a mild stroke in June 2015.
Nichols, whose fans included Martin Luther King jun and a young Barack Obama, ‘‘succumbed to natural causes and passed away’’ on Saturday night, her son, Kyle Johnson, wrote on Facebook.
‘‘Her light however, like the ancient galaxies now being seen for the first time, will remain for us and future generations to enjoy, learn from and draw inspiration,’’ Johnson wrote.
The series, which became a pop culture phenomenon, shattered stereotypes common on United States television at the time by casting black and minority actors in highprofile roles on the show.
In 1968 she and Star Trek star William Shatner broke a cultural barrier when they engaged in US television’s first interracial kiss.
She had planned to quit Star Trek after one season, but King, the 1960s civil rights leader, convinced her to stay because it was so revolutionary to have a black woman playing an important senior crew member at a time when black people were fighting for equality in US society.
Nichols also helped break colour barriers at Nasa, whose leaders were Star Trek fans. After she criticised the space agency for failing to pick qualified women and minorities as astronauts, it hired her in the 1970s to help in recruiting.
Her efforts helped attract, among others, the first female US astronaut, Sally Ride; the first black female astronaut, Mae Jemison; and the first black Nasa chief, Charlie Bolden.
Nichols ‘‘symbolised to so many what was possible’’ and ‘‘inspired generations to reach for the stars’’, Nasa said on Twitter.
Her portrayal of the competent, levelheaded Uhura also helped inspire future black actors, including Oscar winner Whoopi Goldberg. Nichols once recalled Goldberg telling her of watching Star Trek as a 10yearold, seeing her playing Uhura, and yelling out to her mother, ‘‘Come quick! There’s a black lady on television and she ain’t no maid!’’.
The original Star Trek series, tracking the adventures of the crew of the starship USS Enterprise in the 23rd century, ran for only three seasons on the NBC network from 1966 to 1969.
Nichols appeared in six Star Trek films ending with Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country in 1991. — Reuters