Nichelle Nichols (person)

(b. 1933) Nichelle Nichols played the communications officer Commander Nyota Uhura on Star Trek: The Original Series. Nichols' role was fairly minor, especially in the early episodes, and she considered quitting until Martin Luther King himself told her that she was an model for black people--and everyone else, for that matter. Whoopi Goldberg likewise said that Nichols in part inspired her career as an actress. Both believed that Star Trek and Nichols represented the embodiment of King's dream, because they depicted a future in which black people were treated just like anyone else. The crew respected her; they relied on her just as they relied on every other crewperson, and they didn't even make a particularly big deal of the fact that she was a black woman. She was also involved in the famous first interracial kiss on television (between Uhura and Captain Kirk.)

Nichols has been in the following films and TV shows:

The Lieutenant (TV series)
Mister Buddwing (1965) -- dice player
Star Trek: The Original Series (1966-1969) -- Lt. Uhura
Doctor, You've Got to Be Kidding (1967) -- as Jenny Ribbock
Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973-1975) -- voice of Lt. Uhura
Truck Turner (1974) -- Dorinda
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) -- as Uhura
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) -- as Uhura
Antony and Cleopatra (1983) -- Charmain
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) -- as Uhura
Supernaturals, The (1986) -- as Sergeant Leona Hawkins
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) -- as Uhura
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) -- as Uhura
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) -- as Uhura
Gargoyles (animated TV series: 1994) -- special Guest appearance as Diane Maza
Last Angel of History (TV film - 1995) -- as herself
The Adventures of Captain Zoom (MCA-TV film - 1995) -- as the rebel seer Sagan

She's also released two albums--Out of this World and Down to Earth--and has written two books: Beyond Uhura and Saturn Child (the latter was written with Margaret Wander Bonnano).