Full Details
Nichelle Nichols
| Full Name: | Nichelle Nichols |
| Born: | December 28, 1932 Robbins, Illinois, USA |
| Occupation: | NASA Recruiter, Actress, Writer, Singer |
| Nationality: | American |
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Biography
Nichelle Nichols (born Grace Dell Nichols) is an American actress, singer and voice artist. She sang with Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton before turning to acting. Her most famous role is that of communications officer Lieutenant Uhura aboard the USS Enterprise in the popular Star Trek television series (1966–1969), as well as the succeeding motion pictures, where her character was eventually promoted in Starfleet to the rank of commander. Multiple novel series have stated that she rose to Captain and then Admiral.
Nichols' Star Trek character, one of the first African American female characters on American television not portrayed as a servant, was groundbreaking in U.S. society at the time. Civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. personally praised her work on the show, and asked her to remain when she considered leaving the series due to what she perceived as a lack of dialogue and development for her character.
Former NASA astronaut Mae Jemison has cited Nichols' role of Lieutenant Uhura as her inspiration for wanting to become an astronaut and Whoopi Goldberg has also spoken of Nichols' influence. Goldberg asked for a role on Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the character of Guinan was specially created for her, while Jemison appeared in an episode of the series. Robert A. Heinlein in part dedicated his 1982 novel Friday to her, and Asteroid 68410 Nichols is named in her honor.
After the cancellation of Star Trek, Nichols volunteered her time in a special project with NASA to recruit minority and female personnel for the space agency. She began this work by making an affiliation between NASA and a company which she helped to run, Women in Motion. The program was a success. Among those recruited were Dr. Sally Ride, the first American female astronaut, and United States Air Force Colonel Guion Bluford, the first African-American astronaut, as well as Dr. Judith Resnik and Dr. Ronald McNair, who both flew successful missions during the Space Shuttle program before their deaths in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986. Recruits also included Charles Bolden, the current NASA administrator, and Lori Garver, former Deputy Administrator.
On September 17, 2015, at the age of 82, Nichols flew on a mission with NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA).
Nichols lives in Los Angeles, and has one son, Kyle Johnson, who lives in San Diego.
Works in the WWEnd Database
Non Series Works |
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