Nichelle Nichols

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Nichelle Nichols (2019)

Grace Dell "Nichelle" Nichols (born December 28, 1932 in Robbins , Illinois ) is an American actress and singer .

Career

Nichols as Lieutenant Uhura

Nichelle Nichols has set two milestones in US television. On the one hand, she was the first black woman in a space series, the Nyota Uhura in Star Trek ( Spaceship Enterprise ), who was not only allowed to play the typical "black" roles of that time such as housemaid or the like, on the other hand she was also the first black woman who kissed a white man in the US media: Captain Kirk (played by William Shatner ) in the episode Plato's Stepchildren . However, the kiss itself was not shown, but only indicated by the choice of the camera perspective, which only showed the position of the head. "Our lips never touched," said Nichols in Shatner's recollections . Because of this kiss, some southern television stations refused to show this episode.

When Nichols wanted to get out of the series at the end of season one to pursue a career on Broadway, civil rights activist Martin Luther King persuaded her to continue acting as a role model on the series.

She was also the first African-American actress to have her handprints in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood. In 1992 she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . Until 1987 she was employed by the US space agency NASA , where, in addition to occasional representative activities, she was active in recruiting young astronauts . Her recruits included Guion Bluford , Sally Ride , Judith Resnik and Ronald McNair . Resnik and McNair were killed in the Challenger disaster in 1986 .

In 1999 she - or Uhura - had some "appearances" in the satirical cartoon series Futurama . Nichelle Nichols spoke the role in the US version. In 2007, she played the role of Nana Dawson in the series Heroes (2nd season).

The asteroid (68410) Nichols , discovered in 2001, is named after Nichelle Nichols .

Life & family

Nichols was married from 1951 to the dancer Foster Johnson and from 1968 to the musician Duke Mondy. Both marriages ended in divorce. She has a son from her first marriage. She had a younger brother, Thomas, who committed suicide at Heaven's Gate in Rancho Santa Fe, California in March 1997 .

On June 4, 2015, Nichols suffered a minor stroke.

Filmography (selection)

Nichelle Nichols (2009)

Awards

Web links

Commons : Nichelle Nichols  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. Data on (68410) Nichols (English)
  2. Entry at filmreference.com
  3. Loryn Pörschke: Star Trek: Nichelle Nichols suffers a stroke. Serienjunkies.de , June 5, 2015, accessed June 8, 2015 .