Nichelle Nichols passed away over the weekend. She was 89. She was best known for her role as Lieutenant Uhura of Star Trek.
As a longtime Trek fan, having watched all 79 episodes of the original series more times than I can count, it is safe to say I know a lot about Nichelle Nichols roll as Uhura on this show. Unlike a lot of my friends and my Bonnie Bride (pre-becoming my Bonnie Bride), who are also long time Trek fans, I never got to meet Nichols, despite being at the same convention in the mid-90s (I was helping my girlfriend at the time run security for the con, which kept me quite busy, and gave me many stories to tell). All of my friends who had had the opportunity to meet and talk with Nichols all said the same thing: She was a kind and gracious woman who loved the fans every bit as much as we loved her.
Uhura in "Mirror, Mirror" - IMDB
Some of the outstanding Star Trek episodes that featured Uhura and showed Nichols’ talent to the world included “Charlie X”, where Uhura sang a little ditty teasing Charlie, who didn’t know how to handle it; “Plato’s Stepchildren” with the famous kiss with Captain Kirk; “The Gamesters of Triskelion” where she got to do some armed combat; “Bread and Circuses” where Uhura enlightened Kirk and Spock that the runaway slaves were not worshiping “the sun up in the sky”, but “The Son of God”, Jesus; “The Trouble with Tribbles”, which is a humorous episode with Tribbles and Klingons; and one of her most memorable episodes, “Mirror, Mirror” where Uhura plays a vital role in their (Kirk, Scotty, McCoy, and Uhura) return to their own parallel universe, and showed that she is as sassy as she is good looking.
Nichols was also a major inspiration to many young girls, especially minorities (minorities as defined here in the US) to enter sciences, technology and other career fields, and that there is a place for all of us on, as I recall Roddenberry referred to it as, Starship Earth.
Snow Dogs - IMDB
One could go on and on with all of the work Nichols did on Trek, but there is more to her than just Trek. Although I am not as familiar with Nichols’ work outside of Trek as I would like (there are a few non-Trek films that I am adding to my list for future viewing), there is one film that I am not only very familiar with, but have also written about before – Snow Dogs, where she plays Amelia Brooks, Ted Brooks’ (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) adoptive mother.
Nichelle Nichols has entered us for years, and although she has beamed up to the Great Star Trek Convention in the Sky, her memory, and her many films and television episodes will continue to entertain us for many years to come, Yes, we’re going to miss her, but we’ll always remember her, and be able to continue to celebrate her life for decades to come,
