Star Trek’s original Lt. Uhura, Nichelle Nichols, dead at 89

It is with a sad heart to announce that on Saturday, July 31, Star Trek “TOS”  (The Original Series) Lt. Uhura, Nichelle Nichols, passed away in New Mexico of heart failure.

Beauty and Brains–Lt. Uhura taking control in the “Mirror, Mirror” alternate universe.

Ms. Nichols became an inspiration to millions of African Americans and young women aspiring to pursue white male-dominated careers, as Lt. Nyota Uhura. Star Trek was the first U.S. TV series had a black character in a recurring role portraying a serious professional role, paving the way for Diana Carroll to have the lead role of R.N. for the show Julia a few years later.

The New York Times has an excellent comprehensive article on Ms. Nichols, https://web.archive.org/web/20220801113838/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/31/obituaries/nichelle-nichols-dead.html.

Lt. Uhura was one of the elite “junior officers” of the USS Enterprise bridge crew, which comprised of Lt. Sulu (played by George Takei), and Ensign Chekov (Walter Koenig). Gene Roddenberry broke traditional Hollywood and US norms with a revolutionary, show based on a hopeful future with a multi-racial, multi-national, cross-generational cast and writers.

These are the Junior officers of the original USS Enterprise:

• George Takei is 85
• Walter Koenig is 85
• Nichelle Nichols was 89

Of the Senior bridge officers (Capt. Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, Sr. Lt. Scott) William Shatner is the sole survivor, alive at 91.

~ The Computer Cat