Nichelle Nichols was one of 10 children born to parents Lishia and Samuel Nichols in Robbins, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. She was a singer and dancer before turning to acting and finding fame in her groundbreaking role of Lt. Nyota Uhura in the Star Trek (1966) series.

As long as she could remember, she wanted to do nothing but sing, dance, act and write despite no one else in her family following any of those tracks; although her father could tap dance. He not only became mayor of their town, Robbins, IL, but also a magistrate. On stage, Nichelle was twice nominated for the Sarah Siddons Award as Best Actress of the Year; while on film she danced with Sammy Davis, Jr. in Porgy and Bess, and opposite James Garner in Mister Budwing (1965). In a complete changearound soon after the Star Trek television series came to an end, she played a blousey madam, then co-starred with Lynn Redgrave n Antony and Cleopatra. She was been married twice and had a son, Kyle Johnson, from her first marriage to a tap dancer.

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William Shatner, Nichelle Nichols, and Robert Walker Jr. in Star Trek (1966)

Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, Paul Baxley, and Nichelle Nichols in Star Trek (1966)

Nichelle Nichols in TCM Remembers 2022 (2022)

Yaphet Kotto and Nichelle Nichols in Truck Turner (1974)

Nichelle Nichols in Sharknado 5: Global Swarming (2017)

Walter Koenig, Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley, and Nichelle Nichols in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, DeForest Kelley, and Nichelle Nichols in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, and DeForest Kelley in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

Kirstie Alley, Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, and Ricardo Montalban in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

Nichelle Nichols(I)

Nichelle Nichols(I)

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