star trek for nichelle

Nichelle Nichols (1932-2022)

Additional crew.

IMDbPro Starmeter Top 5,000 3562

• 7 wins & 7 nominations

• Lieutenant Nyota Uhura
• 1966–1969 • 68 eps

• Michelle McHalls
• Pre-production

• Octavia Butler

• Nyota Uhura

• Mystic Woman

• Teresa Suskin

• Secretary General Starr

• Adm. Grace Jemison
• Admiral Jemison

• Deejay Devine

• Admiral Grace Jemison

• Lucinda Winters

• Captain Nyota Uhura

• co-producer

• executive producer

• choreographer
• In-development projects at IMDbPro

Personal details

• Duke & Nichelle
• 5′ 3½″ (1.61 m)
• December 28 , 1932
• Robbins, Illinois, USA
• July 30 , 2022
• Silver City, New Mexico, USA (heart failure)
• Spouses Duke Mondy December 20, 1967 - March 1972 (divorced)
• Kyle Johnson
• Parents Samuel Earl Nichols
• Other works TV commercial: Psychic Encounters
• 1 Print Biography
• 12 Interviews
• 6 Pictorials
• 2 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

• Trivia Frustrated with the racist harassment, culminating with her learning that the studio was withholding her fan mail, she submitted her resignation from Star Trek (1966) after consulting with series creator Gene Roddenberry . She stated in several interviews that the harassment made her go back to work in theater until attending an NAACP fundraiser. The fundraiser was where a Star Trek fan was about to meet her for the first time and, to her astonishment, the fan turned out to be Dr. Martin Luther King . King stated that his wife and children had seen Star Trek on TV and it was the only television series that he had approved of. He said that her role as the fourth in command of the USS Enterprise became a positive role model for African-Americans. She withdrew her resignation from the series when King personally convinced her that her role was too important as a breakthrough to leave.
• Quotes [on the Star Trek (1966) fans] I'm a fan of the fans. I love them. They're fabulous. I love being around them. I love their madness and their caring. I love watching them take off for a weekend, don the costumes, and become characters from the 23rd century and beyond. I thank the fans for giving us--me--so much support and love. I want them to know I love them. They will always be my friends. I'll see the fans, always. They can rest assured of that.
• Trademarks Lieutenant Nyota Uhura on Star Trek (1966) and six of the Star Trek films
• When did Nichelle Nichols die?
• How did Nichelle Nichols die?
• How old was Nichelle Nichols when she died?

Related news

Contribute to this page.

• Learn more about contributing

More to explore

Add demo reel with IMDbPro

How much have you seen?

Recently viewed

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Nichelle Nichols, Lieutenant Uhura on ‘Star Trek,’ Dies at 89

She was among the first Black women to have a leading role in a TV series. She later worked with NASA to recruit minorities for the space program.

By Bruce Weber

Nichelle Nichols, the actress revered by “Star Trek” fans for her role as Lieutenant Uhura, the communications officer on the starship U.S.S. Enterprise, died on Saturday in Silver City, N.M. She was 89.

The cause was heart failure, said Sky Conway, a writer and a film producer who said he had been asked by Kyle Johnson, Ms. Nichols’s son, to speak for the family.

Ms. Nichols had a long career as an entertainer, beginning as a teenage supper-club singer and dancer in Chicago, her hometown, and later appearing on television.

But she will forever be best remembered for her work on “Star Trek,” the cult-inspiring space adventure series that aired from 1966 to 1969 and starred William Shatner as Captain Kirk, the heroic leader of the starship crew; Leonard Nimoy as his science officer and adviser, Mr. Spock, an ultralogical humanoid from the planet Vulcan; and DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy, a.k.a. Bones, the ship’s physician.

A striking beauty, Ms. Nichols provided a frisson of sexiness on the bridge of the Enterprise. She was generally clad in a snug red doublet and black tights; Ebony magazine called her the “most heavenly body in ‘Star Trek’” on its 1967 cover. Her role, however, was both substantial and historically significant.

Uhura was an officer and a highly educated and well-trained technician who maintained a businesslike demeanor while performing her high-minded duties. Ms. Nichols was among the first Black women to have a leading role on a network television series, making her an anomaly on the small screen, which until that time had rarely depicted Black women in anything other than subservient roles.

In a November 1968 episode, during the show’s third and final season, Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Uhura are forced to embrace by the inhabitants of a strange planet, resulting in what is widely thought to be the first interracial kiss in television history.

Ms. Nichols’s first appearances on “Star Trek” predated the 1968 sitcom “Julia,” in which Diahann Carroll, playing a widowed mother who works as a nurse, became the first Black woman to star in a non-stereotypical role in a network series.

(A series called “Beulah,” also called “The Beulah Show,” starring Ethel Waters — and later Louise Beavers and Hattie McDaniel — as the maid for a white family, was broadcast on ABC in the early 1950s and subsequently cited by civil rights activists for its demeaning portraits of Black people.)

But Uhura’s influence reached far beyond television. In 1977, Ms. Nichols began an association with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, contracting as a representative and speaker to help recruit female and minority candidates for spaceflight training; the following year’s class of astronaut candidates was the first to include women and members of minority groups.

In subsequent years, Ms. Nichols made public appearances and recorded public service announcements on behalf of the agency. In 2012, after she was the keynote speaker at the Goddard Space Center during a celebration of African American History Month, a NASA news release about the event lauded her help for the cause of diversity in space exploration.

“Nichols’s role as one of television’s first Black characters to be more than just a stereotype and one of the first women in a position of authority (she was fourth in command of the Enterprise) inspired thousands of applications from women and minorities,” the release said. “Among them: Ronald McNair, Frederick Gregory, Judith Resnik, first American woman in space Sally Ride and current NASA administrator Charlie Bolden.”

Grace Dell Nichols was born in Robbins, Ill., on Dec. 28, 1932 (some sources give a later year), and grew up in Chicago. Her father, a chemist, was the mayor of Robbins for a time. At 13 or 14, tired of being called Gracie by her friends, she requested a different name from her mother, who liked Michelle but suggested Nichelle for the alliteration.

Ms. Nichols was a ballet dancer as a child and had a singing voice with a naturally wide range — more than four octaves, she later said. While attending Englewood High School in Chicago she landed her first professional gig, in a revue at the College Inn, a well-known nightspot in the city.

There she was seen by Duke Ellington, who employed her a year or two later with his touring orchestra as a dancer in one of his jazz suites.

Ms. Nichols appeared in several musical theater productions around the country during the 1950s. In an interview with the Archive of American Television, she recalled performing at the Playboy Club in New York City while serving as an understudy for Ms. Carroll in the Broadway musical “No Strings” (though she never went on).

In 1959, she was a dancer in Otto Preminger’s film version of “Porgy and Bess.” She made her television debut in 1963 in an episode of “The Lieutenant,” a short-lived dramatic series, created by Gene Roddenberry, about Marines at Camp Pendleton. Mr. Roddenberry went on to create “Star Trek.”

Ms. Nichols appeared on other television shows over the years — among them “Peyton Place” (1966), “Head of the Class” (1988) and “Heroes” (2007). She also appeared onstage in Los Angeles, including in a one-woman show in which she did impressions of, and paid homage to, Black female entertainers who preceded her, including Lena Horne, Pearl Bailey and Eartha Kitt.

But Uhura was to be her legacy. A decade after “Star Trek” went off the air, Ms. Nichols reprised the role in “Star Trek: The Motion Picture,” and she appeared as Uhura, by then a commander, in five subsequent movie sequels through 1991.

Besides her son, her survivors include two sisters, Marian Smothers and Diane Robinson.

Ms. Nichols was married and divorced twice. In her 1995 autobiography, “Beyond Uhura: Star Trek and Other Memories,” she disclosed that she and Mr. Roddenberry, who died in 1991, had been romantically involved for a time. In an interview in 2010 for the Archive of American Television, she said that he had little to do with her casting in “Star Trek” but that he defended her when studio executives wanted to replace her.

When she took the role of Uhura, Ms. Nichols said, she thought of it as a mere job at the time, valuable as a résumé enhancer; she fully intended to return to the stage, as she wanted a career on Broadway. Indeed, she threatened to leave the show after its first season and submitted her resignation to Mr. Roddenberry. He told her to think it over for a few days.

In a story she often told, she was a guest that Saturday night at an event in Beverly Hills, Calif. — “I believe it was an N.A.A.C.P. fund-raiser,” she recalled in the Archive interview — where the organizer introduced her to someone he described as “your biggest fan.”

“He’s desperate to meet you,” she recalled the organizer saying.

The fan, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., introduced himself.

“He said, ‘We admire you greatly, you know,’ ” Ms. Nichols said, and she thanked him and told him that she was about to leave the show. “He said, ‘You cannot. You cannot.’”

Dr. King told her that her role as a dignified, authoritative figure in a popular show was too important to the cause of civil rights for her to forgo. As Ms. Nichols recalled it, he said, “For the first time, we will be seen on television the way we should be seen every day.”

On Monday morning, she returned to Mr. Roddenberry’s office and told him what had happened.

“And I said, ‘If you still want me to stay, I’ll stay. I have to.’”

Eduardo Medina contributed reporting.

An earlier version of this obituary misspelled the surname of one of the astronauts NASA said were inspired to join the American space program by Ms. Nichols’s role on “Star Trek.” She was Judith Resnik, not Resnick.

How we handle corrections

• Skip to main content
• Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

Nichelle Nichols' remains will go explore strange new worlds

Rachel Treisman

Dustin Jones

The remains of actress and singer Nichelle Nichols will be launched into deep space later this year, according to company Celestis. Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

The remains of actress and singer Nichelle Nichols will be launched into deep space later this year, according to company Celestis.

More than five decades after the original Star Trek series ended, its beloved communications officer will venture into the unknown for real when Nichelle Nichols ' ashes are launched into deep space later this year.

Nichols, the trailblazing actress who played Lt. Nyota Uhura in the original Star Trek series in the 1960s and in several of the franchise's feature films, died at age 89 in July. She is remembered as one of the first Black women featured in a major television series, as well as credited with inspiring women and people of color to join NASA.

Nichelle Nichols, Lt. Uhura on 'Star Trek,' dies at 89

And now her symbolic journey beyond the stratosphere continues. United Launch Alliance — an American spacecraft launch provider — announced last week that a portion of Nichols' ashes will travel to deep space aboard a Vulcan rocket with Celestis, a private company that sends peoples' cremated remains and DNA into space for memorial flights.

The first Celestis Voyager Service is set to launch later this year and will bear the name Enterprise Flight in honor of its passengers.

It will also carry the remains of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and his wife, actor Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, as well as those of James Doohan, who played Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the series and films.

Star Trek's Uhura Reflects On MLK Encounter

"We're very pleased to be fulfilling, with this mission, a promise I made to Majel Barrett Roddenberry in 1997 that one day we would fly her and husband Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry together on a deep space memorial spaceflight," Celestis Co-Founder and CEO Charles M. Chafer said in a press release .

The flight is slated to launch from Florida's Cape Canaveral and travel more than 250 million miles into deep space, beyond the Earth-moon system and NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, in what the company calls "a mission that is first of its kind."

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'star trek: strange new worlds' goes there, boldly.

Willing participants can pay to send their own DNA or a portion of their loved ones' cremated remains on the journey, with tickets starting at $12,500. Availability is limited, and reservations close on Wednesday.

Fans can also join from a distance by submitting a tribute message to Nichols online , which the company says will be sent into space too. Beam 'em up, Scotty!

Correction Aug. 30, 2022

A previous version of this story said the flight would travel 250 miles into deep space. The actual number is 250 million miles. Additionally, a previous version of this story said tickets are $125,000. The correct price is $12,500.

• space travel
• Nichelle Nichols

Nichelle Nichols, trail-blazing Star Trek actress, dead at 89

Lt. uhura role broke stereotypes about black women, featured iconic interracial kiss.

Social Sharing

Nichelle Nichols, who broke barriers for Black women in Hollywood when she played communications officer Lt. Uhura on the original Star Trek  television series, has died. She was 89.

Her son Kyle Johnson said Nichols died Saturday in Silver City, N.M.

"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 wrote on his mother's official Facebook page Sunday.

"Hers was a life well lived and as such a model for us all."

Her role in the 1966-69 series as Lt. Uhura earned Nichols a lifelong position of honour with the series' rabid fans, known as Trekkers and Trekkies. It also earned her accolades for breaking stereotypes that had limited Black women to acting roles as servants and included an interracial onscreen kiss with co-star William Shatner that was unheard of at the time.

Many actors become stars, but few stars can move a nation. Nichelle Nichols showed us the extraordinary power of Black women and paved the way for a better future for all women in media. Thank you, Nichelle. We will miss you. <a href="https://t.co/KhUf4YM6pX">pic.twitter.com/KhUf4YM6pX</a> &mdash; @RealLyndaCarter

"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," George Takei wrote on Twitter.

"For today, my heart is heavy, my eyes shining like the stars you now rest among, my dearest friend."

• q Hailing Frequencies Open! Nichelle Nichols on Star Trek at 50

Takei played Sulu in the original Star Trek  series alongside Nichols. But her impact was felt beyond her immediate co-stars, and many others in the Star Trek  world also tweeted their condolences.

Celia Rose Gooding, who currently plays Uhura in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , wrote on Twitter that Nichols "made room for so many of us. She was the reminder that not only can we reach the stars, but our influence is essential to their survival. Forget shaking the table — she built it."

Like other original cast members, Nichols also appeared in six big-screen spinoffs starting in 1979 with Star Trek: The Motion Picture  and frequented Star Trek  fan conventions. She also served for many years as a NASA recruiter, helping bring minorities and women into the astronaut corps.

More recently, she had a recurring role on television's Heroes , playing the great-aunt of a young boy with mystical powers.

The original Star Trek  premiered on NBC on Sept. 8, 1966. Its multicultural, multiracial cast was creator Gene Roddenberry's message to viewers that in the far-off future — the 23rd century — human diversity would be fully accepted.

Nichelle Nichols speaks about 50th anniversary of Star Trek on CBC News Network

"I think many people took it into their hearts … that what was being said on TV at that time was a reason to celebrate," Nichols said in 1992 when a Star Trek  exhibit was on view at the Smithsonian Institution.

She often recalled how Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was a fan of the show and praised her role. She met him at a civil rights gathering in 1967, at a time when she had decided not to return for the show's second season.

"When I told him I was going to miss my co-stars and I was leaving the show, he became very serious and said, 'You cannot do that,"' she told The Tulsa (Okla.) World in a 2008 interview.

"'You've changed the face of television forever, and therefore, you've changed the minds of people,"' she said the civil rights leader told her.

"That foresight Dr. King had was a lightning bolt in my life," Nichols said.

Iconic kiss

During the show's third season, Nichols's character and Shatner's Capt. James Kirk shared what was described as the first interracial kiss to be broadcast on a U.S. television series. In the episode, Plato's Stepchildren , their characters, who always maintained a platonic relationship, were forced into the kiss by aliens who were controlling their actions.

"The characters themselves were not freaking out because a Black woman was kissing a white man," Eric Deggans, a television critic for National Public Radio, told The Associated Press in 2018. "In this utopian-like future, we solved this issue. We're beyond it. That was a wonderful message to send."

Worried about reaction from Southern television stations, showrunners wanted to film a second take of the scene where the kiss happened off-screen. But Nichols said in her book, Beyond Uhura: Star Trek and Other Memories , that she and Shatner deliberately flubbed lines to force the original take to be used.

Despite concerns, the episode aired without blowback. In fact, it got the most "fan mail that Paramount had ever gotten on Star Trek for one episode," Nichols said in a 2010 interview with the Archive of American Television.

Controversial conservatorship

Born Grace Dell Nichols in Robbins, Ill., Nichols hated being called "Gracie," which everyone insisted on, she said in the 2010 interview. When she was a teen her mother told her she had wanted to name her Michelle, but thought she ought to have alliterative initials like Marilyn Monroe, whom Nichols loved. Hence, "Nichelle."

Nichols first worked professionally as a singer and dancer in Chicago at age 14, moving on to New York nightclubs and working for a time with the Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton bands before coming to Hollywood for her film debut in 1959's Porgy and Bess , the first of several small film and TV roles that led up to her Star Trek  stardom.

Nichols was known as being unafraid to stand up to Shatner on the set when others complained that he was stealing scenes and camera time. They later learned she had a strong supporter in the show's creator.

In her 1994 book, Beyond Uhura , she said she met Roddenberry when she guest starred on his show The Lieutenant , and the two had an affair a couple of years before Star Trek  began. The two remained lifelong close friends.

Nichols was a regular at Star Trek  conventions and events into her 80s, but her schedule became limited starting in 2018 when her son announced that she was suffering from advanced dementia.

Nichols was placed under a court conservatorship in the control of her son Johnson, who said her mental decline made her unable to manage her affairs or make public appearances.

Some, including Nichols's managers and her friend, film producer and actor Angelique Fawcett, objected to the conservatorship and sought more access to Nichols and to records of Johnson's financial and other moves on her behalf. Her name was at times invoked at courthouse rallies that sought the freeing of Britney Spears from her own conservatorship.

But the court consistently sided with Johnson, and over the objections of Fawcett allowed him to move Nichols to New Mexico, where she lived with him in her final years.

Appreciation: ‘Star Trek’ underutilized Nichelle Nichols. She was its heart and soul anyway

• Show more sharing options
• Copy Link URL Copied!

The original “Star Trek” may have been canceled in 1969, but it is still with us . That three seasons of a television series could in those days produce 79 episodes led to a healthy life in syndication, which brought the voyagers of the starship Enterprise new generations of viewers and led to the creation of a dedicated fandom, multiple ongoing conventions and the eventual creation of a franchise that continues to pay respect to the original .

As communications officer Lt. Uhura (the first name Nyota was a later addition), Nichelle Nichols, who died Saturday at the age of 89 , was with the show from first to last, including the subsequent “Star Trek: The Animated Series” and six feature films built around the original cast. Nichols was an elegant, poised performer — she was a trained dancer who held herself like one, just sitting at her console, one leg forward, one leg back, one hand to her earpiece — and in a series in which overacting can sometimes seem like the baseline, she never did too much. But Uhura was far more than a character in a television show, just as Nichols was something more than an actor: They were inspirational figures of historical import, both the player and the part, models of dignity who pointed to a better future simply by doing their jobs.

While racism was a recurring theme on “Star Trek,” Earth in the 23rd century is portrayed as having moved beyond prejudice, and so within the context of the series there is nothing extraordinary about a Black woman in a position of responsibility — Nichols has described Uhura as “fourth in command” — which is exactly what made it extraordinary in the context of late-1960s television.

Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt. Uhura on ‘Star Trek,’ dies at 89

Nichols died of heart failure Saturday night at a hospital in Silver City, N.M.

July 31, 2022

“Where I come from, size, shape or color make no difference,” William Shatner’s Kirk tells little person Michael Dunn in “Plato’s Stepchildren,” the third-season episode in which Kirk and Uhura have their famous kiss — not television’s first interracial kiss, it has been pointed out, but as far as I can tell, the first between a Black woman and a white man. The fact that they’re forced into it by telekinetic aliens, robbing them of agency, makes the scene no less groundbreaking, and Uhura’s speech to Kirk just beforehand puts a deeper slant on things: “I’m thinking of all the times on the Enterprise when I was scared to death. And I would see you so busy at your command. And I would hear your voice from all parts of the ship. And my fears would fade. And now [the aliens] are making me tremble. But I’m not afraid.“

Kiss aside, there’s no question Nichols was underused in the series; in the hierarchy of the show, in terms of screen time, there are Kirk and Spock, and then McCoy and Scott, and then Uhura (and Sulu and Chekhov). A lot of dudes. (Majel Barrett’s recurring Nurse Chapel was the only other female element, notwithstanding various guest aliens, often scantily clad.) Uhura rarely joins a landing party. But even when she’s not the focus of a scene, she is regularly onscreen, even if just visible at her post on the bridge, completing the picture, contributing to the emotional tenor. (And when she isn’t there, you notice it.) As the communications officer, everything runs through Uhura: She’s the voice of what’s happening elsewhere on the ship, and what’s happening outside the ship, whether announcing the presence of some other spacecraft or relating what’s up with Planet X. Even reciting lines like “I’m receiving Class Two signals from the Romulan vessel” or “Revised estimate on cloud visual contact 3.7 minutes,” she is the picture of the professional. She builds exposition, asks important questions; wordlessly reacting to some bit of business on the viewing screen, she brings an emotion and energy into the scene different from that of her sometimes blustery male colleagues.

Still, in the series’ first episode, Uhura confesses that she’s “beginning to feel too much a part of that communications console.” And whenever she’s liberated from her post for a minute and allowed to do anything else at all, you notice and remember. Whether she’s in a crawl space rigging up a subspace bypass circuit, or speaking teasingly with Spock (“Why don’t you tell me I’m an attractive young lady or ask me if I’ve ever been in love? Tell me how your planet Vulcan looks on a lazy evening when the moon is full”), or pretending to be an evil mirror-universe version of herself, these excursions leave you wanting more. For all it accomplished, the series missed a few tricks when it came to Nichols.

There was more to her than “Star Trek,” before, after and during. A performer since her teens, Nichols had toured as a dancer (and at least one night as a replacement singer) with Duke Ellington and made her screen debut in the 1959 film of “Porgy and Bess.” She had originally set her sights on a career in musical theater. You get a glimpse of that performer in the series’ second episode, when, as Spock plays on his Vulcan lyre, Uhura begins to mischievously sing and move catlike through the ship’s lounge: “Oh, on the Starship Enterprise / There’s someone who’s in Satan’s guise / Whose devil ears and devil eyes / Could rip your heart from you.” (Nichols got a couple more chances to sing in the series and performed a fan dance in “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.”) It was to take a part in a Broadway-bound play that Nichols decided to leave the series after its first season, only to be persuaded to stay after an oft-recounted chance meeting with self-professed huge fan Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who, she later recalled, told her: “For the first time on television, we will be seen as we should be seen every day, as intelligent, quality, beautiful people who can sing, dance and can go to space.”

‘Star Trek’ is the greatest sci-fi franchise of all. Why it’s stood the test of time

Full of ideas and emotions, the ever-expanding ‘Star Trek’ canon is still finding new ways to go where no TV show has gone before, 55 years on.

Oct. 28, 2021

Apart from “Star Trek” films, which commenced in 1979, a decade after the series was canceled, Nichols continued sporadically to act, including episodes of “Heroes,” “Downward Dog” and “The Young and the Restless,” and movies of varying budget and quality, including Disney’s “Snow Dogs” and the zombie film “The Supernaturals”; perhaps her least Uhura-esque role is in the 1974 Isaac Hayes blaxploitation film “Truck Turner,” in which she plays an ice-cold, highly profane madam. (In 2008, she’d play another madam, a friendly one, in “Lady Magdalene’s,” a ridiculous low-budget action comedy.) Whatever the vehicle, her work always feels committed and self-assured.

But “Star Trek” remains her legacy, and her gift, and it shaped her life, leading Nichols to work with NASA, recruiting women and people of color to the space program (as recounted in the 2019 documentary “Woman in Motion”). Finally, it was home. In the 2007 feature-length fan film “Star Trek: Of Men and Gods,” directed by “Star Trek: Voyager” actor Tim Russ and also starring Nichols’ old castmate Walter “Chekhov” Koenig, Nichols played Uhura one final time, in a part that — with no Kirk, no Spock in the way — at last brought her to center stage. Currently available on YouTube , the film definitely feels homemade, but it is clearly a labor of love, and Nichols, white-haired and still beautiful, is wonderful in it. And Uhura still lives, in the person of Celia Rose Gooding, who plays the character’s younger self in “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.” These days, “Trek” women get a lot to do. And often they are women of color.

“I believe it was fated,” Nichols said in a Television Academy interview of the encounter with Dr. King that sent her back to “Star Trek.” ”And I’ve never looked back, I never regretted it. Because I understood the universe had somehow, that universal mind had somehow put me there. And we have choices — are we going to walk down this road or are we going to walk down the other? And it was the right road for me.”

More to Read

CNN Originals looks for a comeback after cuts with space shuttle Columbia series

April 6, 2024

Joe Flaherty will always remain dear to comedy fans, thanks to ‘SCTV’ and ‘Freaks and Geeks’

April 2, 2024

Barbara Rush, ‘It Came From Outer Space’ and ‘Peyton Place’ actor, dies at 97

April 3, 2024

The complete guide to home viewing

Get Screen Gab for everything about the TV shows and streaming movies everyone’s talking about.

You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.

Robert Lloyd has been a Los Angeles Times television critic since 2003.

More From the Los Angeles Times

Commentary: ‘The Golden Bachelor’ divorce turns a TV success story into a cautionary tale

Crystal Kung Minkoff says her ‘Real Housewives’ days are over: ‘It was a blessing’

Lily Gladstone and Riley Keough shine in Hulu’s dark true-crime drama ‘Under the Bridge’

‘It’s the best job ever’: ‘Family Guy’ cast reflects on 25 years of irreverent humor

April 16, 2024

Watch CBS News

Nichelle Nichols, groundbreaking "Star Trek" star, dies at age 89

Updated on: August 1, 2022 / 7:09 PM EDT / CBS News

Nichelle Nichols, who portrayed Uhura on "Star Trek" in a groundbreaking role for Black actresses before going on to help recruit people of color and women for NASA in real life, has died, her representatives confirmed to CBS News. She was 89.

"I regret to inform you that a great light in the firmament no longer shines for us as it has for so many years," her son, Kyle Johnson, posted on Nichols' official Facebook page. Nichols died of natural causes, according to Johnson.

"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. Hers was a life well lived and as such a model for us all," he wrote.

Nichols' "Star Trek" costar George Takei tweeted, "my heart is heavy, my eyes shining like the stars you now rest among, my dearest friend."

After "Star Trek," Nichols went on to become a recruiter for NASA, playing a key role in helping recruit people of color and female astronauts. 

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump and director Todd Thompson, who both served as executive producers of the documentary "Women in Motion: Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek and the Remaking of NASA," called her story "monumental."   

Nichols portrayed U.S.S. Enterprise communications officer Lt. Nyota Uhura on the "Star Trek" television series from 1966-1969. She also reprised the role in six movies from the iconic sci-fi franchise.  

Nichols was one of the first Black actresses to star in a primetime television show, and she and "Star Trek" made history with television's first interracial kiss in 1968.

"She was the third-highest ranking member in the space command," Crump told " CBS Saturday Morning" in 2021 . "I mean, you talk about every little Black boy and girl running to the TV to say, 'hello that's a Black woman, and she's in charge?'"

"Star Trek" suffered from poor ratings during its initial run and, according to "CBS Saturday Morning," Nichols had been contemplating leaving the show after the first season to go to Broadway. But then she met Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a devout Trekkie, who pleaded with her to stay, saying it was the only show he watched with his children. 

"He said, 'you don't understand the effect that you're having, not only on Black people, not only on young women, but on everybody,'" she said in the documentary. 

As "Star Trek" became more popular, members of NASA took notice — and had become fans, attending the "Star Trek" conventions. Nichols once gave a speech to members of NASA, and Crump said that she noticed there were no women or minorities in the audience.

"I said, 'where are my people?'" Nichols said in the documentary. "I meant that then and I mean it now."

The head of NASA was in the audience and took notice, offering her the opportunity to recruit for them. Nichols formed the company "Women in Motion," traveling throughout the country to recruit women and people of color for NASA. 

The effort paid off. In 1978, NASA recruited 35 people, including for the first time, six women and four people of color. 

"This might sound a little corny, but it felt like my children," she said in the "Women in Motion" documentary. "And my heart, it pounded. And I knew the world would never be the same again. We would go on to great heights — and to think I had the slightest thing to do with it makes me know that all things good are possible." 

More from CBS News

Should you get a home equity loan before the Fed's April meeting?

Vice President Harris to promote Nevada's abortion rights ballot

Gymnast Morgan Price talks what's next after her historic win

House to send Mayorkas impeachment articles to Senate as clash over trial looms

Nichelle Nichols, Uhura in ‘Star Trek,’ Dies at 89

By Carmel Dagan

Carmel Dagan

Staff Writer

• Louis Gossett Jr., ‘An Officer and a Gentleman’ Oscar Winner, Dies at 87 3 weeks ago
• Don Murray, Oscar-Nommed for His ‘Bus Stop’ Role Opposite Marilyn Monroe, Dies at 94 2 months ago
• Norman Jewison, ‘Moonstruck’ and ‘In the Heat of the Night’ Director, Dies at 97 3 months ago

Nichelle Nichols , who portrayed communications officer Uhura on the original “ Star Trek ” series, died Saturday night in Silver City, N.M. She was 89 years old.

Nichols’ death was confirmed by Gilbert Bell, her talent manager and business partner of 15 years.

Nichols shared one of the first interracial kisses in television history on “Star Trek.” That moment, with her co-star William Shatner, was a courageous move on the part of her, “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry and NBC considering the climate at the time, but the episode “Plato’s Stepchildren,” which aired in 1968, was written to give all involved an out: Uhura and Captain Kirk did not choose to kiss but were instead made to do so involuntarily by aliens with the ability to control the movements of humans. Nevertheless, it was a landmark moment.

There had been a couple of interracial kisses on American television before. A year earlier on “Movin’ With Nancy,” Sammy Davis Jr. kissed Nancy Sinatra on the cheek in what appeared to be a spontaneous gesture but was in fact carefully planned. The Uhura-Kirk kiss was likely the first televised white/African American lip-to-lip kiss.

Popular on Variety

But Uhura, whose name comes from a Swahili word meaning “freedom,” was essential beyond the interracial kiss: A capable officer who could man other stations on the bridge when the need arose, she was one of the first African American women to be featured in a non-menial role on television.

Nichols played Lt. Uhura on the original series, voiced her on “Star Trek: The Animated Series” and played Uhura in the first six “Star Trek” films. Uhura was promoted to lieutenant commander in “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” and to full commander in “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.”

Nichols mulled leaving “Star Trek” after the first season to pursue a career on Broadway, but the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who was a fan of the series and understood the importance of her character in opening doors for other African Americans on television, personally persuaded her to stay on the show, she told astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson in an interview for the Archive of American Television.

Whoopi Goldberg, who later played Guinan on “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” has described Uhura as a role model, recalling that she was astounded and excited to see a black woman character on television who was not a maid.

Nichols and Shatner remembered the shooting of the famous kiss very differently. In “Star Trek Memories,” Shatner said NBC insisted that the actors’ lips never actually touch (though they appear to). But in Nichols’ 1994 autobiography “Beyond Uhura,” the actress insisted that the kiss was in fact real. Nervous about audience reaction, the network insisted that alternate takes be shot with and without a kiss, but Nichols and Shatner deliberately flubbed every one of the latter so NBC would be forced to air what appeared to be a kiss (whether their lips actually touched or not).

Both the “Star Trek” and “Movin’ With Nancy” moments drew some negative reactions, though Nichols recalled that the fan mail was overwhelmingly positive and supportive.

NASA later employed Nichols in an effort to encourage women and African Americans to become astronauts. NASA Astronaut Group 8, selected in 1978, included the first women and ethnic minorities to be recruited, including three who were Black. Dr. Mae Jemison, the first Black woman to fly aboard the Space Shuttle, cited “Star Trek” as an influence in her decision to join the space agency.

Nichols remained a supporter of the space program for decades.

In 1991, Nichols became the first African American woman to have her handprints immortalized at the TCL Chinese Theatre. The ceremony also included other members of the original “Star Trek” cast.

Born Grace Nichols in Robbins, Ill. on Dec. 28, 1932, Nichols began her show business career at age 16 singing with Duke Ellington in a ballet she created for one of his compositions. Later, she sang with his band.

She studied in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. Her break came with an appearance in Oscar Brown’s high-profile but ill-fated 1961 musical “Kicks and Co.,” in which she played campus queen Hazel Sharpe, who’s tempted by the devil and Orgy Magazine to become “Orgy Maiden of the Month.” The play closed after its brief Chicago tryout, but Nichols attracted the attention of Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner, who booked her at his Chicago Playboy Club.

Nichols also appeared in the role of Carmen for a Chicago stock company production of “Carmen Jones” and performed in a New York production of “Porgy and Bess,” making her feature debut in an uncredited role as a dancer in an adaptation of that work in 1959. (Later she would display her singing talents on occasion on “Star Trek.”)

While working in Chicago, Nichols was twice nominated for that city’s theatrical Sarah Siddons Award for best actress. The first came for “Kicks and Co.,” while the second was for her performance in Jean Genet’s “The Blacks.”

She had small roles in the films “Made in Paris,” “Mr. Buddwing” and the Sandra Dee vehicle “Doctor, You’ve Got to Be Kidding!” before she was cast on “Star Trek.”

During the early ’60s, before “Star Trek,” Nichols had an affair with Gene Roddenberry that lasted several years, according to her autobiography. The affair ended when Roddenberry realized he was in love with Majel Hudec, whom he married. When Roddenberry’s health was failing decades later, Nichols co-wrote a song for him, entitled “Gene,” that she sang at his funeral.

In January 1967, Nichols was featured on the cover of Ebony magazine, which published two feature articles on her within five years.

In the early ’70s, the actress made a few guest appearances on TV and appeared in the 1974 Blaxploitation film “Truck Turner” starring Isaac Hayes. She appeared in a supporting role in a 1983 TV adaptation of “Antony and Cleopatra” that also featured her “Star Trek” co-star Walter Koenig. She starred with Maxwell Caulfield and Talia Balsam in the 1986 horror sci-fi feature “The Supernaturals.”

Later, Nichols began to do voice work, lending her talent to the animated series “Gargoyles” and “Spider-Man.” She also voiced herself on “Futurama.”

The actress played the mother of Cuba Gooding Jr.’s lead character in 2002’s “Snow Dogs” and Miss Mable in the 2005 Ice Cube comedy “Are We There Yet?”

In 2007, Nichols recurred on the second season of the NBC drama “Heroes” as Nana Dawson, matriarch of a New Orleans family devastated by Hurricane Katrina who cares for her orphaned grandchildren and great-nephew, Micah Sanders (series regular Noah Gray-Cabey). The following year she appeared in the films “Tru Loved” and “The Torturer.”

Nichols suffered a stroke in 2015 and was diagnosed with dementia in 2018, touching off a conservatorship dispute between her manager Bell and her son as well as a friend.

Nichols was married and divorced twice. She is survived by her son, Kyle Johnson.

More From Our Brands

Courtney love vs. taylor, madonna and more: an (incomplete) beef timeline, caitlin clark rocks a head-to-toe prada outfit at the wnba draft, caitlin clark smashes another tv record as wnba draft draws 2.45m, be tough on dirt but gentle on your body with the best soaps for sensitive skin, monday ratings: ncis grows with franchise’s 1,000th episode, verify it's you, please log in.

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt Uhura in original Star Trek, dies aged 89

Actor achieved worldwide fame and broke ground for Black women while playing Nyota Uhura in the original TV hit

Nichelle Nichols, who played communications officer Lt Nyota Uhura on the original Star Trek series and helped to create a new era for television in the 1960s, has died in New Mexico at the age of 89.

Nichols’ son, Kyle Johnson, announced her death on Sunday via Facebook , saying: “I regret to inform you that a great light in the firmament no longer shines for us as it has for so many years.” Nichols’s death, on Saturday night in Silver City, was later confirmed by her agent.

Johnson said his mother had succumbed to natural causes, seven years after suffered a stroke.

“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.”

Nichols will be remembered chiefly for her role in the sci-fi adventure series, but she began her career as a dancer and nightclub singer.

US president Joe Biden paid tribute to Nichols, saying she “shattered stereotypes”. “Our nation has lost a trailblazer of stage and screen who redefined what is possible for Black Americans and women”.

“Our nation is forever indebted to inspiring artists like Nichelle Nichols, who show us a future where unity, dignity, and respect are cornerstones of every society.”

Co-star George Takei tweeted that his heart was heavy, “my eyes shining like the stars you now rest among, my dearest friend” and he would have more to say soon on the “incomparable” trailblazer.

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. — George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) July 31, 2022

Prominent Georgia Democrat and voting rights organizer Stacey Abrams , who is running again for the state governorship and is a longtime Star Trek fan, tweeted a picture of herself with Nichols.

“One of my most treasured photos – Godspeed to Nichelle Nichols, champion, warrior and tremendous actor. Her kindness and bravery lit the path for many,” she wrote. “May she forever dwell among the stars.”

One of my most treasured photos - Godspeed to Nichelle Nichols, champion, warrior and tremendous actor. Her kindness and bravery lit the path for many. May she forever dwell among the stars. #RIPNichelle #Uhura pic.twitter.com/nFXHif8HEC — Stacey Abrams (@staceyabrams) July 31, 2022

Star Trek brought Nichols enduring recognition and helped to break down some racial barriers in the television business, as they were rampant elsewhere.

She shared one of the first lip-to-lip interracial kisses on television – with co-star William Shatner, aka Captain Kirk. The kiss at the time was considered a forward-looking move on the part of the actors, as well as Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and the network that broadcast the show, NBC.

The episode in question, titled Plato’s Stepchildren, aired in 1968 and was fashioned in a way that gave those involved something of an out from any potential discriminatory backlash: Uhura and Kirk did not choose to kiss but were instead made to do so after being inhabited by aliens.

Roddenberry had reportedly insisted on an integrated crew for Starship Enterprise – a bold move given that interracial marriage was still illegal in 17 US states. Only a year earlier, Variety reported, Sammy Davis Jr had gone no further than kiss Nancy Sinatra on the cheek on Movin’ With Nancy.

The original Star Trek premiered on NBC on 8 September 1966. Its multicultural, multiracial cast was creator Gene Roddenberry’s message to viewers that in the far-off future, the 23rd century, human diversity would be fully accepted.

“I think many people took it into their hearts … that what was being said on TV at that time was a reason to celebrate,” Nichols said in 1992 when a Star Trek exhibit was on view at the Smithsonian Institution.

She often recalled how civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr was a fan of the show and praised her role.

She met him at a civil rights gathering in 1967, at a time when she had decided not to return for the show’s second season.

“When I told him I was going to miss my co-stars and I was leaving the show, he became very serious and said ‘You cannot do that’,” she told The Tulsa World in a 2008 interview.

“‘You’ve changed the face of television forever, and therefore, you’ve changed the minds of people’,” she said the civil rights leader told her.

Nichols said: “That foresight Dr King had was a lightning bolt in my life.”

More recently, she had a recurring role on television’s Heroes, playing the great-aunt of a young boy with mystical powers.

Nichols, trained as a dancer and also worked as a nightclub chanteuse, with the Washington Post reporting that she thought being cast in Star Trek would be a “nice stepping stone” to Broadway stage fame, not realizing that the TV show and her character would be an iconic and enduring smash hit.

Actor Wilson Cruz wrote on Twitter that “representation matters”.

Nichols “modeled it for us. With her very presence and her grace she shone a light on who we as people of color are and inspired us to reach for our potential,” he wrote . “Rest well, glittering diamond in the sky.”

Before we understood how much #RepresentationMatters #NichelleNichols modeled it for us. With her very presence & her grace she shone a light on who we as people of color are & inspired us to reach for our potential. Rest well glittering diamond in the sky https://t.co/DmeLFbg825 — Wilson Cruz (@wcruz73) July 31, 2022

The Smithsonian tweeted a picture of Lt Uhura’s iconic red mini-dress and noted that Nichols made “history for African American women in TV and film. Nichols also volunteered to recruit women and people of color for Nasa.”

Today we remember Nichelle Nichols. She starred as Lieutenant Uhura on "Star Trek" wearing this uniform now in our @NMAAHC , making history for African American women in TV and film. Nichols also volunteered to recruit women and people of color for NASA. #BecauseOfHerStory pic.twitter.com/fZZqfGlomz — Smithsonian (@smithsonian) July 31, 2022

Nichols was born Grace Dell Nichols in Robbins, Illinois, on December 28 1932. According to the National Space Society , she sang as a 16-year-old with jazz great Duke Ellington – her career getting under way at an early age – in a ballet she created, and later joined his band.

Her big break in the 1961 Chicago musical Kicks and Co. Nichols later appeared in the title role in Carmen Jones and in a New York staging of Porgy and Bess as well as in Jean Genet’s The Blacks, and landed small film roles.

Nichols was married and divorced twice, and is survived by her son, Kyle Johnson.

• US television

Most viewed

The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News

Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter

site categories

Nichelle nichols remembered by friend and ‘star trek’ star dawnn lewis.

The 'Lower Decks' captain went from growing up watching the sci-fi icon to enjoying a decades-long friendship with her.

By Dawnn Lewis, as told to Aaron Couch

Dawnn Lewis, as told to Aaron Couch

• Share this article on Facebook
• Share this article on Twitter
• Share this article on Flipboard
• Share this article on Email
• Show additional share options
• Share this article on Linkedin
• Share this article on Pinit
• Share this article on Reddit
• Share this article on Tumblr
• Share this article on Whatsapp
• Share this article on Print
• Share this article on Comment

On July 23 at San Diego Comic-Con, Dawnn Lewis shared an impromptu tribute to Nichelle Nichols , the trailblazing Star Trek star. Lewis, who voices Capt. Carol Freeman on Star Trek: Lower Decks , told 6,500 fans about looking up to Nichols as a child and later sharing a decades-long friendship . Days after that emotional Comic-Con moment, Nichols passed away on July 30 at the age of 89. Here, Lewis reflects on the iconic actor and activist, best known for playing Lt. Nyota Uhura.

Related Stories

William shatner on living boldly throughout acting career: "the future is unheralded", 'star trek: lower decks' to end with season 5.

Growing up, we had a 10-inch black and white TV. Myself and my brothers would gather around the TV at night. We were supposed to be in bed, but my mom worked during the day and went to school at night, so she left one of the neighbors in charge of making sure we got our homework done and got to bed. We would turn the volume down low. We would cover ourselves up with blankets to make a tent around the TV to muffle the sound, but invariably, she would always hear it. “I can hear that TV! Turn that TV off!”

We learned all of the lines. We used to play Star Trek by reenacting the battle scenes between the Romulans and the Klingons. At the same time we were watching that play out on television, we were watching what was happening in the Civil Rights Movement in the world. Watching people of different nationalities not be accepted. People being brutalized for the color of the skin. Yet on Star Trek, you had people of different nationalities, different species, out in space, finding a way to exist together and work together. Everyone was encouraged to be excellent.

As a kid, I thought that was the way the world was supposed to be. Nichelle represented me as a little girl. Her being the communications officer, it was her job to break things down. “Let’s do what we can to understand each other.” That’s who I wanted to be as a person.

Nichelle had a lot of friends who were Leos. She wasn’t a Leo, but she used her house to host Leo parties every summer. I’m seeing Walter Koenig, who I had a huge crush on, and George Takei, another one I had a crush on. We’re all there hanging out as people. I would have birthday parties, and Nichelle would be in my house. We had come to know and love and respect each other.

When I was cast in Star Trek , I told her right away. She said, “At least you’re a captain.” Because she knew I always wanted to be an alien. I wanted to be some warrior, a Klingon — somebody with all the prosthetics with a battle shield and a big sword. I think I am the second African American female captain in the Star Trek universe. Madge Sinclair was the first. Avery Brooks was Commander Sisko. Now we’ve got Sonequa Martin-Green on Discovery .

When I called after Comic-Con, she said, “I’ve got my new place in New Mexico. You have to come to the house.” I said, “Alright, as soon as this summer slows down, I’m going to come down and spend some time with you and Kyle.” Then four days later she was gone.

Nichelle was more than an actor. She was an advocate. She worked directly with NASA and really did change the face of how people are color are represented in science and in the space program. She was an incredible writer and singer and a musician. Lt. Uhura was an iconic character, but she was that and so much more.

THR Newsletters

Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day

More from The Hollywood Reporter

Seth meyers looks back at 10 years of ‘late night,’ new lonely island podcast with andy samberg, katie couric says bryant gumbel had an “incredibly sexist attitude” about her ‘today’ maternity leave, james gandolfini reprises tony soprano role in newly found footage, ‘hacks’ season 3 trailer finds jean smart and hannah einbinder right back where they started, christy carlson romano recalls mom calling out planned inappropriate close-up on ‘even stevens’, sylvester stallone returns to ‘tulsa king’ season 2 set amid casting controversy.

Screen Rant

Star trek’s famous kirk & uhura kiss “would not have got done” without william shatner.

Star Trek: The Original Series' most famous kiss might not have happened if not for Captain James T. Kirk himself, William Shatner.

• Shatner's insistence ensured Kirk and Uhura's iconic kiss stayed in Star Trek, a groundbreaking moment for diversity on TV.
• Despite NBC's concerns, no backlash was received for the interracial kiss, a memorable scene in a mediocre episode.
• Shatner's determination during filming made TV history by ensuring Kirk and Uhura's kiss was included on-screen.

Star Trek: The Original Series ' iconic interracial kiss between Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Lt. Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) would likely not have happened if not for William Shatner. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry wanted his series to push boundaries and depict a future where everyone was accepted for who they were. While Star Trek: The Original Series remains a product of its time, it undoubtedly helped pave the way for more diversity on television. Kirk and Uhura's iconic kiss, while not technically the first interracial kiss to air on television, was a monumental moment and received very little backlash from viewers despite the worries of NBC.

Kirk and Uhura's kiss happens in Star Trek: The Original Series season 3, episode 10, "Plato's Stepchildren," an otherwise mediocre episode about halfway through TOS' final season. "Plato's Stepchildren" begins when the USS Enterprise answers a distress call from a people known as the Platonians. The Platonians possess telekinetic powers and the leader, Parmen (Liam Sullivan), wishes Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) to remain on the planet as their doctor. When he refuses, Parmen humiliates Kirk and his crew by forcing them to perform for them. In one instance, Parmen forces Kirk and Uhura to kiss in what would become one of Star Trek's most famous scenes.

Star Trek: The Original Series Cast & Character Guide

William shatner says star trek’s first interracial kirk & uhura kiss would not have happened without him, shatner made sure kirk's kiss with uhura stayed in the final episode..

William Shatner appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher to promote his autobiographical documentary, William Shatner: You Can Call Me Bill . Maher took the opportunity to ask Shatner about Star Trek's most famous kiss , and Shatner admitted it likely would not have happened if not for him. Read their conversation below:

Bill Maher: That moment, you were brave because from what I understand, NBC, of course, was nervous about it. I mean, we had seen before when Southern stations would cancel shows or not show them over something like that. And you kind of stuck to your guns and did the kiss.

William Shatner: Yes, I puckered up my lips and [makes kissing motion]... Like that. I mean, [Nichelle Nichols is] no longer with us, but in her lifetime, she was a remarkably attractive lady.

Bill Maher: Yes, but that’s not really the issue. I want to know, if you hadn’t insisted on doing it, would it have not got done?

William Shatner: It would not have got done. That’s bad English.

According to some of his fellow Star Trek cast members, Shatner was not always the easiest to work with, but he made Captain Kirk one of the most iconic television characters of all time. The legendary actor, who celebrated his 93rd birthday on March 22, 2024, ensured Captain Kirk and Uhura's kiss made it into the final cut of "Plato's Stepchildren." The late Nichelle Nichols has also spoken about the kiss scene in various interviews, and she, too, credits Shatner with making sure the scene made it to air.

William Shatner: You Can Call Me Bill will be available for video-on-demand rental or purchase everywhere on April 26th.

How Star Trek’s First Interracial Kiss Happened

Despite nbc's worries, there are no records of any complaints about the kiss..

When it came time to film the kiss scene in "Plato's Stepchildren," both the Star Trek episode's director, David Alexander, and studio executives at NBC were hesitant to show the full kiss, fearing it would anger certain viewers. The kiss was filmed as the last shot on the final day of shooting, and Gene Roddenberry was brought in to discuss how the scene should be shot. ​​​​​​Nichelle Nichols, who famously remained in Star Trek because of Martin Luther King, Jr. , was not always respected on set. Roddenberry generally sided with Nichols when it came to Uhura, and he decided to shoot a take with the kiss and one without. William Shatner, however, had other ideas.

Shatner insisted on multiple takes, causing the shoot to run even further over schedule. Finally out of time, the director insisted on a no-kiss version of the shot, but Shatner wasn't done. This time, Captain Kirk leaned Uhura back to imply a kiss without it being on-screen, but Shatner deliberately looked into the camera and crossed his eyes. The director was unable to see this from his point of view and, believing the take to be a good one, he called cut. Of course, as the footage was reviewed later, the shot without the kiss was unusable, ensuring Kirk and Uhura's Star Trek: The Original Series kiss made television history.

Source: Real Time With Bill Maher

Star Trek: The Original Series is available to stream on Paramount+.

Star Trek: The Original Series

William Shatner Recalls Pushing for Star Trek's Interracial Kiss Scene

William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols made history when their characters kissed in an episode of Star Trek in 1968. Now, Shatner has done some more reflection on the big moment, reaffirming how it wouldn't have happened if he wasn't pushing to make it so, even with some reluctance from the network.

In a new interview on Real Time with Bill Maher , Shatner was asked about the famous kiss scene. Bill Maher described the big scene as a "major moment in American culture," noting how "it was the first time, in a scripted moment, a white man had kissed a Black woman." Maher goes on to commend the Star Trek actor for being "brave," pointing to the well-documented story of how Shatner had insisted upon doing the kiss scene, despite any controversy that it may have caused at the time.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Gets Renewed, Lower Decks to End With Season 5

"NBC, of course, was nervous about it," Maher said. "I mean, we had seen before when Southern stations would cancel shows, or not show them, for something like that. And you stuck to your guns and did the kiss."

Miming the kiss, Shatner said, "Yes, I puckered up my lips , and [kissing motion]. She's no longer with us, but in her lifetime, she was a remarkably attractive lady."

When asked what would've happened if Shatner hadn't insisted upon doing the scene, Shatner added, " It would not have gotten done ."

Star Trek Origin Movie Confirmed by Paramount, Logline Revealed

Nichols passed away in 2022, though she previously had addressed the major kiss scene in various interviews. She recalled how Shatner refused to film any takes of the scene where he wasn't actually kissing Nichols, even with the director requesting him to fake it for the camera.

"It had been OK'ed, script-wise, and we went into production for that episode," Nichols said in a 2012 interview . "After the first take, the director yelled 'CUT!' and came over, saying, 'Bill, what are you doing? You actually kissed her!' And Bill said, 'Yeah, I can't get her to let me do it any other way except that it was written in the script. So, what's the problem?' And the director said, 'The South -- they'll kill us.'"

Nichols added, "Bill would say, 'Just once more. I feel there's an intensity that we're not getting because (the aliens) are causing us to do it with their telekinetic powers.'"

Nichelle Nichols Passed Away in 2022

" I am so sorry to hear about the passing of Nichelle ," Shatner said in an X post in 2022 after Nichols' death was announced. "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 new episode of Real Time with Bill Maher featuring William Shatner is streaming on Max. Meanwhile, the new documentary about Shatner's life and career, called You Can Call Me Bill , hits VOD on April 26.

Source: Real Time with Bill Maher

The Star Trek universe encompasses multiple series, each offering a unique lens through which to experience the wonders and perils of space travel. Join Captain Kirk and his crew on the Original Series' voyages of discovery, encounter the utopian vision of the Federation in The Next Generation, or delve into the darker corners of galactic politics in Deep Space Nine. No matter your preference, there's a Star Trek adventure waiting to ignite your imagination.

Created by Gene Roddenberry

First Film Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Latest Film Star Trek: Nemesis

First TV Show Star Trek: The Original Series

Latest TV Show Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Cast Nichelle Nichols, Scott Bakula, Kate Mulgrew, Jonathan Frakes, Patrick Stewart, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Avery Brooks, Deforest Kelley, James Doohan

TV Show(s) Star Trek: Animated, Star trek, Star Trek Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek Lower Decks, Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Prodigy, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: Lower Decks

• Election 2024
• Entertainment
• Newsletters
• Photography
• Personal Finance
• AP Investigations
• AP Buyline Personal Finance
• Press Releases
• Israel-Hamas War
• Russia-Ukraine War
• Global elections
• Asia Pacific
• Latin America
• Middle East
• Election Results
• Delegate Tracker
• AP & Elections
• March Madness
• AP Top 25 Poll
• Movie reviews
• Book reviews
• Personal finance
• Financial Markets
• Business Highlights
• Financial wellness
• Artificial Intelligence
• Social Media

Nichelle Nichols, Lt. Uhura on ‘Star Trek,’ has died at 89

FILE - Actor Nichelle Nichols speaks during the Creation Entertainment’s Official Star Trek Convention at The Westin O’Hare in Rosemont, Ill., Sunday, June 8, 2014. Nichols, who gained fame as Lt. Ntoya Uhura on the original “Star Trek” television series, died Saturday, July 30, 2022, her family said. She was 89. (Photo by Barry Brecheisen/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Actor Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt. Ntoya Uhura on ''Star Trek,’' waves as she arrives at the “Star Trek: 30 Years and Beyond” tribute at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, Sunday, Oct. 6, 1996. Nichols died Saturday, July 30, 2022, her family said. She was 89. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

FILE - Members of the “Star Trek” crew, from left, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley, Walter Koenig, William Shatner, George Takei, Leonard Nimoy and Nichelle Nichols, toast the newest “Star Trek” film during a news conference at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, Dec. 28, 1988. Nichols, who gained fame as Lt. Ntoya Uhura on the original “Star Trek” television series, died Saturday, July 30, 2022, at age 89. (AP Photo/Bob Galbraith, File)

FILE - Actor Nichelle Nichols expresses her support to striking members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) outside the gates of Paramount Pictures studios in Los Angeles, Monday, Dec. 10, 2007. Nichols, who gained fame as Lt. Ntoya Uhura on the original “Star Trek” television series, died Saturday, July 30, 2022, at age 89. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

• Copy Link copied

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.

Her son Kyle Johnson said Nichols died Saturday in Silver City, New Mexico.

“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 wrote on her official Facebook page Sunday. “Hers was a life well lived and as such a model for us all.”

Her role in the 1966-69 series earned Nichols a lifelong position of honor with the series’ rabid fans, known as Trekkers and Trekkies. It also earned her accolades for breaking stereotypes that had limited Black women to acting roles as servants and included an interracial onscreen kiss with co-star William Shatner that was unheard of at the time.

Shatner tweeted Sunday: “I am so sorry to hear about the passing of Nichelle. 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.”

George Takei, who shared the bridge of the USS Enterprise with her as Sulu in the original “Star Trek” series, called her trailblazing and incomparable. “For today, my heart is heavy, my eyes shining like the stars you now rest among, my dearest friend,” he tweeted.

Nichols’ impact was felt far beyond her immediate co-stars, and many others in the “Star Trek” world also tweeted their condolences.

Celia Rose Gooding, who currently plays Uhura in “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” tweeted that Nichols “made room for so many of us. She was the reminder that not only can we reach the stars, but our influence is essential to their survival. Forget shaking the table, she built it.”

“Star Trek: Voyager” alum Kate Mulgrew tweeted, “Nichelle Nichols was The First. She was a trailblazer who navigated a very challenging trail with grit, grace, and a gorgeous fire we are not likely to see again.”

Like other original cast members, Nichols also appeared in six big-screen spinoffs starting in 1979 with “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” and frequented “Star Trek” fan conventions. She also served for many years as a NASA recruiter, helping bring minorities and women into the astronaut corps.

More recently, she had a recurring role on television’s “Heroes,” playing the great-aunt of a young boy with mystical powers.

The original “Star Trek” premiered on NBC on Sept. 8, 1966. Its multicultural, multiracial cast was creator Gene Roddenberry’s message to viewers that in the far-off future — the 23rd century — human diversity would be fully accepted.

“I think many people took it into their hearts ... that what was being said on TV at that time was a reason to celebrate,” Nichols said in 1992 when a “Star Trek” exhibit was on view at the Smithsonian Institution.

She often recalled how Martin Luther King Jr. was a fan of the show and praised her role. She met him at a civil rights gathering in 1967, at a time when she had decided not to return for the show’s second season.

“When I told him I was going to miss my co-stars and I was leaving the show, he became very serious and said, ‘You cannot do that,’” she told The Tulsa (Okla.) World in a 2008 interview.

“‘You’ve changed the face of television forever, and therefore, you’ve changed the minds of people,’” she said the civil rights leader told her.

“That foresight Dr. King had was a lightning bolt in my life,” Nichols said.

During the show’s third season, Nichols’ character and Shatner’s Capt. James Kirk shared what was described as the first interracial kiss to be broadcast on a U.S. television series. In the episode, “Plato’s Stepchildren,” their characters, who always maintained a platonic relationship, were forced into the kiss by aliens who were controlling their actions.

AP entertainment correspondent Oscar Wells Gabriel reports on Obit Nichelle Nichols

The kiss “suggested that there was a future where these issues were not such a big deal,” Eric Deggans, a television critic for National Public Radio, told The Associated Press in 2018. “The characters themselves were not freaking out because a Black woman was kissing a white man ... In this utopian-like future, we solved this issue. We’re beyond it. That was a wonderful message to send.”

Worried about reaction from Southern television stations, showrunners wanted to film a second take of the scene where the kiss happened off-screen. But Nichols said in her book, “Beyond Uhura: Star Trek and Other Memories,” that she and Shatner deliberately flubbed lines to force the original take to be used.

Despite concerns, the episode aired without blowback. In fact, it got the most “fan mail that Paramount had ever gotten on ‘Star Trek’ for one episode,” Nichols said in a 2010 interview with the Archive of American Television.

Born Grace Dell Nichols in Robbins, Illinois, Nichols hated being called “Gracie,” which everyone insisted on, she said in the 2010 interview. When she was a teen her mother told her she had wanted to name her Michelle, but thought she ought to have alliterative initials like Marilyn Monroe, whom Nichols loved. Hence, “Nichelle.”

Nichols first worked professionally as a singer and dancer in Chicago at age 14, moving on to New York nightclubs and working for a time with the Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton bands before coming to Hollywood for her film debut in 1959’s “Porgy and Bess,” the first of several small film and TV roles that led up to her “Star Trek” stardom.

Nichols was known as being unafraid to stand up to Shatner on the set when others complained that he was stealing scenes and camera time. They later learned she had a strong supporter in the show’s creator.

In her 1994 book, “Beyond Uhura,” she said she met Roddenberry when she guest starred on his show “The Lieutenant,” and the two had an affair a couple of years before “Star Trek” began. The two remained lifelong close friends.

Another fan of Nichols and the show was future astronaut Mae Jemison, who became the first black woman in space when she flew aboard the shuttle Endeavour in 1992.

In an AP interview before her flight, Jemison said she watched Nichols on “Star Trek” all the time, adding she loved the show. Jemison eventually got to meet Nichols.

Nichols was a regular at “Star Trek” conventions and events into her 80s, but her schedule became limited starting in 2018 when her son announced that she was suffering from advanced dementia.

Nichols was placed under a court conservatorship in the control of her son Johnson, who said her mental decline made her unable to manage her affairs or make public appearances.

Some, including Nichols’ managers and her friend, film producer and actor Angelique Fawcett, objected to the conservatorship and sought more access to Nichols and to records of Johnson’s financial and other moves on her behalf. Her name was at times invoked at courthouse rallies that sought the freeing of Britney Spears from her own conservatorship.

But the court consistently sided with Johnson, and over the objections of Fawcett allowed him to move Nichols to New Mexico, where she lived with him in her final years.

Associated Press Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton contributed from Los Angeles. Former AP Writer Polly Anderson contributed biographical material to this report.

Ohio Man Shoots & Kills Uber Driver After Both of Them Were Scammed

Elsa Hosk Bares It All On The Sand ... Check Out The Sexy Beach Shots!

Jenna Jameson's Wife Files for Divorce After Less Than Year of Marriage

Guess Who's Lookin' Summer Ready In This Shredded Pic!

TikTok Star Kyle Marisa Roth Dead At 36

Bill maher drills down on 'star trek's controversial interracial kiss, bill maher sits down with william shatner ... interracial kiss mystery solved.

Bill Maher tackled one of the most burning questions in the history of "Star Trek" Friday ... and thanks to William Shatner , we now have our answer!

The 'Real Time' host interviewed Shatner on his HBO show – and, at one point during their convo, Bill asked about the famous interracial kiss between Admiral James T. Kirk (white) and Lt. Nyota Uhura (Black).

Shatner, as Kirk, planted the lip smacker on Nichelle Nichols , as Uhura, in the 1968 Star Trek episode titled, "Plato's Stepchildren." The moment was very controversial because NBC – which aired "Star Trek" – was afraid of turning off their conservative Southern audience.

Network execs demanded the two actors never lock lips while they shot the scene, using instead a technique to suggest they were kissing by turning their heads away from the camera. But that's not how it went down in the end.

Bill dove into all the drama, first commending Shatner for being "brave about it" because Southern TV stations canceled programs that attempted to promote interracial relationships.

At first, Shatner made light of the situation, saying he puckered his lips before shaping his mouth into a fish for the laughing crowd.

Then he got a bit more serious, explaining that Nichelle – who died in 2022 – was a beautiful woman "in her lifetime."

Bill then turned to the big question ... Would the kiss have appeared in the scene if Shatner had not insisted on doing it?

Shatner didn't miss a beat, replying, "It would have not got done."

Bill heartily applauded along with the audience, acknowledging Shatner's boldness in breaking barriers during that period.

Mystery solved!

• Share on Facebook

related articles

Bill Maher Blasts COVID Pandemic Overreaction

'Star Trek' & 'Captain Marvel' Actor Kenneth Mitchell Dead at 49

Old news is old news be first.

• Search Please fill out this field.
• Manage Your Subscription
• Give a Gift Subscription
• Newsletters
• Sweepstakes
• Entertainment

George Takei Says the Secret to His Happy Marriage Is ‘Sharing’ These Two Emotions with Husband Brad (Exclusive)

“We understand each other,” says the 'Star Trek' icon, who penned the new children’s book 'My Lost Freedom' about his time in a U.S. prison camp during WWII

Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty

George Takei and his husband Brad Takei have been married for 16 years of the nearly four decades they have been a couple.

The secret to their longevity, according to the Star Trek icon? “He keeps me laughing and he keeps me getting angry. I think it’s sharing these emotions.”

According to George, 86, the pair are “opposites” so a disagreement is bound to happen from time to time. But ultimately, the actor, activist and author, who penned the new children’s book My Lost Freedom , appreciates their differences.

“Brad is a strict disciplinarian,” he says.  “Brad is detail-oriented, he's organized and he brings that detail and organization to my life so that I can do what I do.”

Brad, 70, will say, “‘We got to leave the apartment in five minutes,’” George explains, as an example. “And that's about 20 minutes before I need to leave.”

“We understand each other,” he continues. “When he's giving me only five minutes, I know we have 20 minutes.”

If George stays up late and gets lost in his writing, Brad will come get him. “Once I get going, I won't come to bed,” says George. “And writing is worth it because I have Brad to fuss over me. I love the fussing.”

Amanda Edwards/Getty

Brad, a former financial journalist, is also a valuable editor for his husband's work. He even got a first peek at George’s new book about the years he and his Japanese American family, like thousands of others, were imprisoned on American soil during World War II.

“I always have him read it,” Takei, who has penned several other books, says of Brad's help with his book projects. “He’s good at editing. I shouldn’t tell my editor!”

The pair has been together since the 1980s, when they met at an LGBTQ+ athletic group called the L.A. Frontrunners. 

VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty 

“He was the best runner in the club," George recalled to Oprah Winfrey on an episode of Oprah: Where Are They Now? . "And also great-looking. So I went up to him and I asked him to train me for my first marathon. Before long, we became partners.”

They kept their relationship private from the public until George came out in 2005 . They wed three years later, with George’s late Star Trek costar Nichelle Nichols serving as their maid of honor.

Since then, the pair have been vocal about their support for LGBTQ+ rights and were even invited by then-President Barack Obama to a state dinner in 2015. 

Penguin Random House

“There we were in the East Room [of the White House] with Michelle Obama ; Obama, the first African American President of this country; and me, a kid who grew up in an American prison camp,” George recalled to PEOPLE in 2022.

“Across from me sat the man that I love, Brad. [This was] undreamt of when I was a child. It can happen. It did happen.”

George credits Brad for much of his success and happiness: “I would not be who I am today without Brad.”

Related Articles

• More to Explore
• Series & Movies

Published Apr 15, 2024

Michael Ansara Broke Barriers in Hollywood and Star Trek

For Arab-American History Month and Ansara's birthday, we're looking back at the life of the Commander Kang actor and those who followed in the Star Trek universe.

StarTrek.com

A series as representative of the present as it is of the future, Star Trek has been a trailblazer in showcasing the diversity in our own world without capitalizing on its stereotypes.

Actors such as Nichelle Nichols and George Takei, to Sonequa Martin-Green and Shazad Latif, have proven that Star Trek started and will always include multiracial communities while giving them their own distinct narratives. As we celebrate Arab-American Heritage Month, I am able to reflect on my own background as a Lebanese-American woman and recognize representation from this exact community within Star Trek . With a history of promoting diversity, it is no surprise that a significant Klingon Commander — in three separate series no less — is a notable member of the Arab-American community.

Michael Ansara, a voice and screen actor from the mid '40s to the late '90s, played the Klingon Commander Kang in The Original Series , Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , and Star Trek: Voyager . He can be seen in full Klingon garb in The Original Series' " Day of the Dove ," DS9's " Blood Oath ," and finally Voyager ’s " Flashback ."

"Day of the Dove"

The Lebanese and Syrian Ansara is originally from a small village within the French Mandate for Syria and Lebanon, and eventually immigrated with his family to America to pursue a new life. His father George Ansara was born in the states while his mother Cyria Sarah was born in Syria.

In America, Michael began to pursue an acting career that would lead to many pivotal roles in film and television. He's largely known for playing some of our favorite villains, stepping out of Klingon prosthetics to play roles like Killer Kane in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and Mr. Freeze in Batman: The Animated Series . Eventually, he earned himself a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, paving a new road for this community of actors and their ability to book roles beyond aggressive and politically-charged stereotypes.

Although Ansara's success and popularity within both the Hollywood and Star Trek communities brought notoriety to Arabs (though not all American) in a creative space, there are several other instances throughout the Star Trek franchises that also lend a hand.

"Dr. Bashir, I Presume"

In Deep Space Nine , actor Alexander Siddig plays Dr. Julian Bashir, the Chief Medical Officer of space station Deep Space 9 and the U.S.S. Defiant .

Alexander Siddig, whose original stage name was Siddig El Fadil — a shortened version of his birth given name — was born in Sudan. Siddig spent most of his life in England and made his first television debut in A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia . It was from there that he was cast onto Deep Space Nine, and through that role, joined Ansara on the list of Arab actors from Trek who broke out of racial type-casting.

"Investigations"

In a less focal but equally interesting role played by an Arab, Star Trek: Voyager cast the actual King of Jordan, King Abdullah II, as a science officer in the episode " Investigations ."

While the role was uncredited, it can be seen listed in King Abdullah II’s IMDB page. While a seemingly random casting, it is common knowledge that King Abdullah II is a well known fan of the franchise. So much so that since 2011, he has been the primary investor in a Star Trek theme park that is to be built along the Gulf of Aqaba in Jordan. While the project is currently on hold, they have not announced official plans for a cancellation.

Star Trek Shows Muslim Fans an Inclusive Future

Star Trek has also, on multiple occasions, given an in-universe nod to the Arab culture and community through both filming locale and starship epithet.

In 2016's Star Trek Beyond , the massive, spherical "snowglobe" of Yorktown, as Bones called it, was filmed in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Filming in Dubai allowed this beautiful sequence to be canonically characterized with images from a modern Arab society, normalizing the culture and environment rather than encouraging a stereotypical portrayal of its land.

In another modern example of influence from Arabian culture, Star Trek: Picard 's Cristóbal Rios, a former Starfleet officer, is mentioned to have served on a starship called the U.S.S. Ibn Majid . While easy to overlook, Ibn Majid is a reference to the name of a historically significant Arab navigator and cartographer. He was often titled the "Lion of the Sea," and some scholars claim that he is the navigator who aided in the journey of Vasco da Gama — the first European to sail to India.

Star Trek exists in a world where the Federation is a collaboration of all races, species and walks of life. It's significant to recognize that their namesake ships hail not after just Westernized fleets, but of important figures from around the world. U.S.S. Ibn Majid ’s existence amongst the Federation's history brings light to the accomplishments of Arab culture.

While, of course, there is a long road to traverse to achieve complete representation without misrepresentation when regarding both Arab-Americans and Arabs portrayed in American society, Star Trek has undeniably laid their own stone in that path. As the franchises continue, so will the notion that in Star Trek , the future looks like us.

Get Updates By Email

This article was originally published on April 21, 2020.

Alexa Carlucci (she/her) is the daughter of a Trekkie, an assistant at CBS, and is in no way connected to Amazon.