When Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the Starship Enterprise fulfilled its weekly promise on the NBC television series “Star Trek” ‘To boldly go where no man has gone before,’ there was a Black woman entrusted with one of its most important roles -literally and figuratively.
Communications Officer “Uhura” was the only woman of high enough rank to serve on “The Bridge” with Kirk, Spock, Sulu, and Chekov. Her role was vital to the mission and American society.
Nichelle Nichols, who portrayed Uhura during the three-year run of the groundbreaking series, has died at 89. Her family confirmed her death on Sunday July 31, 2022.
In 2016 during an interview with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson for the Archive of American Television, Nichols shared that she considered leaving “Star Trek” after its first season because of an opportunity to perform in a Broadway musical. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was a fan of the series and persuaded her to remain in the role because it was doorway for other Black actors to play lead television roles.
Seven months after King’s assassination in Memphis, Nichols and Star Trek provided America with a landmark moment in television history.
While it was not television’s first interracial kiss, on Nov. 22, 1968, Nichols and William Shatner, who portrayed Kirk on the series, kissed in the episode “Plato’s Children.”
Nichols wrote in her 1994 autobiography “Beyond Uhura,” the actress that the kiss was real. NBC insisted that the episode would be with and without a kiss.
However, Nichols and Shatner purposely “flubbed” every one of the latter so NBC would be forced to air the kiss. There is debate whether their lips touched, but Nichols says it was a true kiss.
“I am so sorry to hear about the passing of Nichelle,” Shatner said on Twitter.
“She was a beautiful woman & played an admirable character that did so much for redefining social issues both here in the US & throughout the world. I will certainly miss her. Sending my love and condolences to her family.”
The late Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek’s creator, and the producers and directors that followed realized the importance of the character and Nichols in the role. She played Uhura in the first six “Star Trek” films. She was promoted to lieutenant commander in “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” and to full commander in “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.”
I shall have more to say about the trailblazing, incomparable Nichelle Nichols, who shared the bridge with us as Lt. Uhura of the USS Enterprise, and who passed today at age 89. For today, my heart is heavy, my eyes shining like the stars you now rest among, my dearest friend, tweeted George Takei, who played alongside Nichols as Star Trek; helmsman Hikaru Sulu.
Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr., praised Nichols for her representation.
“Representation matters. Excellence in representation matters even more. Thank you, #NichelleNichols.” she wrote. “Rest well, ancestor.”
Nichols, was born in Illinois as Grace Nichols. She was discovered in Chicago by composer and musician Duke Ellington as a teenager while working as a dancer and choreographer, according to the National Space Society, for which Nichols was on the board of governors.
Nichols wrote on her website that when I was on those wonderful sets with all of the cast members, the universe of Star Trek began to feel not so much a fantasy but an opportunity to lay the groundwork for what we might actually achieve by the 23rd Century … a bold aspiration and an affirmation of Uhura as we eagerly await her arrival.”
