American actress Nichelle Nichols, best known for her role as Nyota Uhura in Star Trek: The Original Series, has sadly passed away at the age of 89, The Wrap reports.
The news was confirmed yesterday (31 July) in a statement posted to Facebook by Nichols’ son, Kyle Johnson.
“I regret to inform you that a great light in the firmament no longer shines for us as it has for so many years,” Johnson’s statement reads. “Last night, my mother, Nichelle Nichols, succumbed to natural causes and passed away. Her light however, like the ancient galaxies now being seen for the first time, will remain for us and future generations to enjoy, learn from, and draw inspiration.
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“Hers was a life well lived and as such a model for us all,” he continued. “I, and the rest of our family, would appreciate your patience and forbearance as we grieve her loss until we can recover sufficiently to speak further. Her services will be for family members and the closest of her friends and we request that her and our privacy be respected.”
As The Wrap writes, Nichols was one of the first Black women to star in a main role on a TV series, since the creator of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry, wanted the USS Enterprise’s crew to come from diverse backgrounds. She originally planned to leave the show after the first season concluded in 1966, but had a change of heart after speaking to Martin Luther King Jr, who persuaded her to stay.
“‘You cannot, you cannot […], for the first time on television, we will be seen as we should be seen every day, as intelligent, quality, beautiful, people who can sing, dance, who can go into space, who can be lawyers, who can be teachers, who can be professors, who are, in this day, and yet you don’t see it on television, until now,’” Nichols recalled him telling her, during an interview. “‘If you leave, that door can be closed because you see, your role is not a black role, and it’s not a female role, he [Gene Roddenberry] can fill it with anything including an alien.’”
Our thoughts go out to Nichols’ friends and family at this difficult time - may she rest in peace.
Featured Image Credit: Desilu Productions/Paramount Television/Norway Corporation, NBCTopics: TV And Film, no article matching