{"id":31855,"date":"2022-08-01T06:10:40","date_gmt":"2022-08-01T06:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/nichelle-nichols-death-pioneering-star-trek-actor-dies-aged-89\/"},"modified":"2022-08-01T06:10:40","modified_gmt":"2022-08-01T06:10:40","slug":"nichelle-nichols-death-pioneering-star-trek-actor-dies-aged-89","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/nichelle-nichols-death-pioneering-star-trek-actor-dies-aged-89\/","title":{"rendered":"Nichelle Nichols death: Pioneering Star Trek actor dies, aged 89"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nichelle Nichols, the Star Trek <\/em>actor whose role as an on-screen lieutenant on the bridge of a starship was a groundbreaking example of representation for Black Americans in Hollywood, died on Saturday (30 July). She was 89.<\/p>\n

Her death was confirmed on Instagram on Sunday (31 July) by the actor’s son Kyle Johnson. <\/p>\n

\u201cLast night, my mother, Nichelle Nichols, succumbed to natural causes and passed away,\u201d he wrote. \u201cHer 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHers was a life well lived and as such a model for us all,\u201d added Johnson. <\/p>\n

Nichols rose to fame when she was cast for the 1966 space adventure series Star Trek<\/em> as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, the ship’s communications officer. The role was significant for many reasons: It was one of the first major roles for a Black woman in a US television series, it was among the first portrayals of a Black woman in a military-style command role in any format, and it would later culminate in one of the first on-screen kisses between a white actor, William Shatner, and a Black co-star.<\/p>\n

Every time in that role only lasted a few years, with the show being canceled in 1969, but its significance would last for decades. She was even reportedly persuaded by legendary civil rights activist Dr Martin Luther King Jr to remain in the role during the series’ short-lived run. Nichols would later go on to reprise the role of Lt Uhura in a number of Star Trek<\/em> movies including The Search for Spock.<\/em><\/p>\n

In conjunction with her Star Trek<\/em> career, Nichols would partner with NASA, the US space agency, in a bid to recruit more women and people of color to its astronaut and sciences programs. The effort led to the recruitment of Sally Ride, the first American female astronaut.<\/p>\n

She spoke about how her work on Star Trek<\/em> had led to the expansion of NASA’s efforts to recruit women during an interview with StarTrek.com in 2012.<\/p>\n

“[My] legacy continues into the modern astronaut corps, where sex and color no longer matter… as it should be,” she said. “I continue to be proud to have been chosen to make those first women and minorities [in the space program] a reality.”<\/p>\n

In her later years, she would make a semi-retirement from appearances at fan conventions where she and other members of the original cast were treated like royalty. <\/p>\n

She made an appearance at the Los Angeles Comic Con as recently as 2021.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nichelle Nichols, the Star Trek actor whose role as an on-screen lieutenant on the bridge of a starship was a groundbreaking example of representation for Black Americans in Hollywood, died on Saturday (30 July). She was 89. Her death was confirmed on Instagram on Sunday (31 July) by the actor’s son Kyle Johnson. \u201cLast night, …<\/p>\n

Nichelle Nichols death: Pioneering Star Trek actor dies, aged 89<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":31782,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/george-takei-stacey-abrams-more-pay-tribute-the-hollywood-reporter\/","url_meta":{"origin":31855,"position":0},"title":"George Takei, Stacey Abrams, More Pay Tribute \u2013 The Hollywood Reporter","date":"August 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Hollywood is mourning the death of Nichelle Nichols, who made history for her portrayal of communications officer Lieutenant Uhura on Star Trek. Nichols died Saturday of natural causes at age 89, every son, Kyle Johnson, posted on Facebook. \u201cHer light however, like the ancient galaxies now being seen for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entertainment"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32031,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/nichelle-nichols-lt-uhura-on-star-trek-has-died-at-89\/","url_meta":{"origin":31855,"position":1},"title":"Nichelle Nichols, Lt. Uhura on ‘Star Trek,’ has died at 89","date":"August 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Nichelle Nichols, who broke barriers for Black women in Hollywood when she played communications officer Lt. Uhura on the original \u201cStar Trek\u201d television series, has died at the age of 89. Kyle Johnson said Nichols died Saturday in Silver City, New Mexico.\u201cLast night, my mother, Nichelle Nichols, succumbed to natural\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entertainment"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32115,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/nichelle-nichols-lt-uhura-on-star-trek-has-died-at-89-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":31855,"position":2},"title":"Nichelle Nichols, Lt. Uhura on ‘Star Trek,’ has died at 89","date":"August 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Nichelle Nichols, who broke barriers for Black women in Hollywood as communications officer Lt. Uhura on the original \"Star Trek\" television series, has died at the age of 89. Kyle Johnson said Nichols died Saturday in Silver City, New Mexico. \"Last night, my mother, Nichelle Nichols, succumbed to natural causes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entertainment"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31587,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/nichelle-nichols-trailblazing-star-trek-actress-dies-at-89\/","url_meta":{"origin":31855,"position":3},"title":"Nichelle Nichols, trailblazing ‘Star Trek’ actress, dies at 89","date":"July 31, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Last night, my mother, Nichelle Nichols, succumbed to natural causes and passed away. 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 said in a statement shared to Nichols'\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entertainment"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31468,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/nichelle-nichols-uhura-in-the-star-trek-franchise-dies-at-89\/","url_meta":{"origin":31855,"position":4},"title":"Nichelle Nichols, Uhura in the ‘Star Trek’ franchise, dies at 89","date":"July 31, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Nichelle Nichols, an actress whose role as the communications chief Uhura in the original \u201cStar Trek\u201d franchise in the 1960s helped break ground on TV by showing a Black woman in a position of authority and who shared with co-star William Shatner one of the first interracial kisses on American\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entertainment"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31481,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/nichelle-nichols-dead-uhura-in-original-star-trek-series-was-89\/","url_meta":{"origin":31855,"position":5},"title":"Nichelle Nichols Dead: Uhura in Original ‘Star Trek’ Series Was 89","date":"July 31, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Nichelle Nichols, who portrayed communications officer Uhura on the original \u201cStar Trek\u201d series, died Saturday night in Silver City, NM She was 89 years old. Nichols' death was confirmed by Gilbert Bell, every talent manager and business partner of 15 years. Nichols shared one of the first interracial kisses in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entertainment"","img":{"alt_text":"STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN, Nichelle Nichols, wearing her communications ear piece, 1982. (c)Paramount. Courtesy: Everett Collection.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/variety.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/MSDSTTR_PA036.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2022\/07\/31\/19\/GettyImages-1357440745.jpg?quality=75&width=1200&auto=webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31855"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31855\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}