47 Facts About Nichelle Nichols

Nichelle Nichols was an American actress, singer and dancer whose portrayal of Uhura in Star Trek and its film sequels was groundbreaking for African American actresses on American television.

Grace Dell "Nichelle" Nichols was born the third of six children on December 28,1932, in Robbins, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, to Samuel Earl Nichols, a factory worker who was elected both town mayor of Robbins in 1929 and its chief magistrate, and his wife, Lishia Nichols, a homemaker.

The family later moved into an apartment in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago, where Nichols attended Englewood High School, graduating in 1951.

Nichelle Nichols began her professional career as a singer and dancer in Chicago.

Nichelle Nichols then toured the United States and Canada with the bands of Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton.

Nichelle Nichols's acting break was an appearance in Kicks and Co.

In January 1967, Nichelle Nichols was featured on the cover of Ebony magazine, and had two feature articles in it in five years.

Nichelle Nichols continued touring the US, Canada, and Europe as a singer with Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton.

On Star Trek, Nichelle Nichols was one of the first Black women featured in a major television series.

Nichelle Nichols's prominent supporting role as a bridge officer was unprecedented.

Nichelle Nichols was once tempted to leave the series; however, a conversation with Martin Luther King Jr.

Towards the end of the first season, Nichelle Nichols was offered a role on Broadway.

Nichelle Nichols went to Roddenberry's office, told him that she planned to leave, and handed him her resignation letter.

That weekend, Nichelle Nichols attended a banquet organized by the NAACP, where she was informed that a fan wanted to meet her.

Nichelle Nichols reached out to me and said, 'Yes, Ms.

Whoopi Goldberg has spoken of Nichelle Nichols' influence, saying she asked for a role on Star Trek: The Next Generation, and her character Guinan was specially created, while Jemison appeared on an episode of the series.

Nichelle Nichols provided the voice of Uhura in Star Trek: The Animated Series; in one episode, "The Lorelei Signal", Uhura assumes command of the Enterprise.

Nichelle Nichols noted in her autobiography her frustration that this never happened on the original series.

Nichelle Nichols co-starred in six Star Trek films, culminating in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

In 1994, Nichelle Nichols published her autobiography, Beyond Uhura: Star Trek and Other Memories.

Between the end of the original series and the Star Trek animated series and feature films, Nichelle Nichols appeared in small television and film roles.

Nichelle Nichols appeared in animated form as one of Al Gore's Vice Presidential Action Rangers in the "Anthology of Interest I" episode of Futurama, and she provided the voice of her own head in a glass jar in the episode "Where No Fan Has Gone Before".

Nichelle Nichols voiced the recurring role of Elisa Maza's mother Diane Maza in the animated series Gargoyles, and played Thoth-Kopeira in an episode of Batman: The Animated Series.

Nichelle Nichols served as executive producer and choreographer, and sang three songs in the film, two of which she composed.

Nichelle Nichols was twice nominated for the Chicago theatrical Sarah Siddons Award for Best Actress, first for her portrayal of Hazel Sharpe in Kicks and Co.

Nichelle Nichols had a recurring role on the second season of the NBC drama Heroes, first in the episode "Kindred", which aired October 8,2007.

Nichelle Nichols portrayed Nana Dawson, the matriarch of a New Orleans family financially and personally devastated by Hurricane Katrina, who cares for her orphaned grandchildren and her great-nephew, series regular Micah Sanders.

In 2008, Nichelle Nichols starred in the film The Torturer, playing the role of a psychiatrist.

Nichelle Nichols received her first Daytime Emmy nomination for "Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series" for the role on March 22,2017.

Nichelle Nichols released two music albums: Down to Earth, a collection of standards released in 1967, during the original run of Star Trek; and Out of This World, released in 1991, a more rock-oriented album themed around Star Trek and space exploration.

Nichelle Nichols began this work by making an affiliation between NASA and a company which she helped to run, Women in Motion.

An enthusiastic advocate of space exploration, Nichelle Nichols served from the mid-1980s on the board of governors of the National Space Institute, a nonprofit, educational space advocacy organization.

In late 2015, Nichelle Nichols flew aboard NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy Boeing 747SP, which analyzed the atmospheres of Mars and Saturn on an eight-hour, high-altitude mission.

Nichelle Nichols was a special guest at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, on July 17,1976, to view the Viking 1 soft landing on Mars.

Nichelle Nichols said the affair ended well before Star Trek began, when she realized Roddenberry was involved with her acquaintance Majel Hudec.

When Roddenberry's health was fading, Nichelle Nichols co-wrote a song for him, "Gene", which she sang at his memorial service.

Nichelle Nichols wrote that she had "a short, stormy, exciting relationship" with Sammy Davis Jr.

Nichelle Nichols married Duke Mondy, in 1968; they divorced in 1972.

Nichelle Nichols' younger brother, Thomas, was a member of the Heaven's Gate cult.

On February 29,2012, Nichelle Nichols met with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office.

In June 2015, Nichelle Nichols suffered a mild stroke at her Los Angeles home and was admitted to a Los Angeles-area hospital.

That dispute, and a 2019 court case by Bell over being evicted from the guesthouse on Nichelle Nichols' property, were both ongoing as of August 2021.

Nichelle Nichols died of heart failure in Silver City, New Mexico, on July 30,2022, at the age of 89.

Nichelle Nichols's ashes were sent into deep space alongside Majel Barrett's and Douglas Trumbull's.

In 1999, Nichelle Nichols was awarded a Goldene Kamera for.

Nichelle Nichols received The Life Career Award, from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, in 2016, the first woman to receive it.

Nichelle Nichols was an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.