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

[oldbrownhat]

Story here.

Updated July 31, 2022 1:50 p.m. PDT
ublished July 31, 2022 12:57 p.m. PDT

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 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."...​

 

[LVSteve]

Dang, another one lost from my childhood.

 

[ACORN]

Sad to hear.

I have to confess to having an adolescent crush on her.

 

[ralph7]

Damnit it, Jim..

 

[Puller]

She's dead Jim.

 

[JohnRippert]

First interracial kiss on TV, between her and Bill Shatner. She was definitely a huge inspiration for women over the decades. So long, Nichelle.

 

[oldbrownhat]

...I have to confess to having an adolescent crush on her.

You were not alone...

 

[Rustyt1953]

I was 13 when she made her debut on the bridge. Steve Miller was right..."time keeps on slippin', slippin'..."

 

[THE PILGRIM]

It's reported that she passed in Silver City , NM.
That's a 10,000 pop town, small college - NM Western , County Seat , mountain town in like Western NM.
A very nice kind of remote place.
It's got that combo of Altitude - 6,000 ft and Latitude that yields excellent weather.
It has been recognized as a Retirement Town.
Didn't know she lived there!

 

[Golddollar]

I admit to being a confirmed Star Trek fan, even though I never went to any of the conventions or anything like that. I still have my Star Trek nylon jacket that is modeled after the Science/Medical division of Star Fleet uniforms (and no, there is no way I can fit into it now).

Please correct me if I'm wrong, as I am working from very long ago memories, but I beieve that the character of Lt. Uhura was the 5th in the chain of command on the Enterprise, after Captain Kirk, Commander Spock, Lt. Commander Scott and Lt. Sulu. I do remember an episode in the cartoon series where Lt. Uhura had to take command of the Enterprise when the male officers of the ship were incapacitated.

Another piece of my misspent youth is gone.

 

[quikdraw67]

I'm surprised no one has posted this yet..

"Uhura to Enterprise. One to beam up"

RIP Ms. Nichols. You were a ground breaker.

 

[quikdraw67]

I admit to being a confirmed Star Trek fan, even though I never went to any of the conventions or anything like that. I still have my Star Trek nylon jacket that is modeled after the Science/Medical division of Star Fleet uniforms (and no, there is no way I can fit into it now).

Please correct me if I'm wrong, as I am working from very long ago memories, but I beieve that the character of Lt. Uhura was the 5th in the chain of command on the Enterprise, after Captain Kirk, Commander Spock, Lt. Commander Scott and Lt. Sulu. I do remember an episode in the cartoon series where Lt. Uhura had to take command of the Enterprise when the male officers of the ship were incapacitated.

Another piece of my misspent youth is gone.

IIRC that was 1973 when the cartoons were on?

I remember them, but no specific episode.

Except that Chekov was replaced by an alien with a 3rd arm.

 

[smoothshooter]

She jump-started a lot of young boys of all races into puberty.
And I mean that in a good way.

 

[The Last Standing Knight]

Quickdraw, that episode was titled "The Lorelei Signal" and was broadcast back in 73.

It showed that Uhura was not only a quite capable commander, but was a total bad *** who wasn't the least afraid to throw down with the rest of them. I wished it would've shown both her and Chapel being meritoriously promoted to Lt. Commander in that episode.

I wished that Uhura's command abilities would've been shown in the Star Trek series. She seemed to be the most level headed of the whole bunch.

IIRC the character of Uhura is mentioned in Star Trek: Picard of having made Captain and had command of her own starship.

Nichelle Nichols...the world is poorer for her loss. We shall never see her like again.

2022....you've made your point. You can stop now.

 

[Doug M.]

Being male and post adolescent I probably had a bad thought or two about her.

 

[Beemerguy53]

Star Trek is on every Saturday night in my area on MeTV. I was watching it last night and thinking to myself how beautiful she was...

May Ms. Nichols rest in peace, and may her memory be a blessing to her loved ones... :-(

 

[CH4]

Add me to the looong list of those who had a crush on Lt Uhura

 

[Golddollar]

Quickdraw, that episode was titled "The Lorelei Signal" and was broadcast back in 73.

It showed that Uhura was not only a quite capable commander, but was a total bad *** who wasn't the least afraid to throw down with the rest of them. I wished it would've shown both her and Chapel being meritoriously promoted to Lt. Commander in that episode.

I wished that Uhura's command abilities would've been shown in the Star Trek series. She seemed to be the most level headed of the whole bunch.

Thanks for flagging that episode of the Star Trek Animated Series. I just pulled it up on You Tube to watch.

 

[oldbrownhat]

Add me the looong list of those who had a crush on Lt Uhura

LOL. Bring a bag lunch and hydration if you want to sign the list. You're going to be there a while...

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Got to meet her at Chiller Theatre 15 years ago or so.
In the episode "Mirror, Mirror" she got to show some skin. She did justice to that costume.