Star Trek’s Nichelle Nichols: a life in pictures

The American actor has died at the age of 89. Loved for her inspirational, groundbreaking role as Lt Uhura on Star Trek, here we look back at her life and career

Main image: Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Uhura on the bridge of Starship Enterprise. Photograph: CBS via Getty Images

  • Grace Dell Nichols was born in Robbins, Illinois on 28 December 1932. She didn’t like her first name and her parents changed it to Nichelle.
    Nichelle Nichols photographed in 1979

  • Mister Buddwing, 1966

    Before Star Trek, Nichols sang with Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton and appeared in bit parts, like here, credited as Dice Player in the James Garner vehicle
    Nichelle Nichols in Mister Buddwing, 1966

  • Star Trek, 1966-1969

    Nichols as Lt Nyota Uhura, Communications Officer of the Starship Enterprise.
    Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, Communications Officer of the Starship Enterprise

  • Nichols on the January 1967 cover of Ebony magazine. Nichols had wanted to leave Star Trek but was persuaded not to by Dr Martin Luther King, who described her as a role model
    Star Trek’s Nichelle Nichols on the January 1967 cover of Ebony magazine

  • Star Trek, 1968

    Nichols’ Uhura shares a kiss with William Shatner’s Captain James T Kirk in Plato’s Stepchildren. Although not the first onscreen interracial kiss, it was, in 1968, the most significant
    Star Trek, 1968Nichols’ Uhura shares a kiss with William Shatner’s Captain James T Kirk in Plato’s Stepchildren. Although not the first onscreen interracial kiss, it was, in 1968, the most significant

  • Star Trek: The Animated Series, 1973-74

    Nichols had to wait for the animated show to take centre stage. The live action series always centred around Kirk and Spock, but in The Lorelei Signal, Uhura leads the women of the Enterprise to rescue Captain Kirk and his landing party
    Star Trek: The Animated Series, 1973-74

  • Truck Turner, 1974

    Nichols, pictured with Isaac Hayes, in the only Blaxploitation film she appeared in
    Nichelle Nichols in Truck Turner, 1974

  • The cast of Star Trek, including Nichelle Nichols, attend the unveiling of the Space Shuttle Enterprise at the NASA/Rockwell International Space Division assembly plant at Palmdale, California on 17 September 1976
    The cast of Star Trek, including Nichelle Nichols, attend the unveiling of the Space Shuttle Enterprise at the NASA/Rockwell International Space Division assembly plant at Palmdale, California on 17 September 1976

  • Nichols using a treadmill at NASA in 1977 during her time working with the agency to encourage more women and people of colour into the space programme
    Nichols using a treadmill at NASA in 1977 during her time working with the agency to encourage more women and people of colour into the space programme

  • Star Trek: The Motion Picture, 1979

    A publicity shot of Nichelle Nichols as the newly promoted Lt Commander Uhura
    Nichelle Nichols in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, 1979

  • Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, 1982

    George Takai as Sulu, Walter Koenig as Chekov, James Doohan as Scotty, William Shatner as Kirk, DeForest Kelley as McCoy, Nichelle Nichols as Uhura and Kirstie Allie as Saavik attend the space burial of Leonard Nimoy’s Spock
    Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, 1982

  • Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, 1984

    As Commander Uhura
    Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, 1984

  • Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, 1986

    DeForest Kelley as McCoy, James Doohan as Scotty, Nichelle Nichols as Uhura, Walter Koenig as Chekov and William Shatner as Kirk
    Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, 1986

  • Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, 1989

    Nichols looks on as director and star William Shatner talks through a scene with Walter Koenig and Laurence Luckinbill
    Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, 1989

  • Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, 1991

    Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, 1991

  • Nichols promoting her book Beyond Uhura: Star Trek and Other Memories in June 1995
    Nichelle Nichols promoting her book Beyond Uhura: Star Trek and Other Memories in June 1995

  • DeForest Kelley, William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols at Shatner’s annual Hollywood Horse Show in Los Angeles on 1 April 1996. The event raised money for children’s charities
    DeForest Kelley, William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols at Shatner’s annual Hollywood Horse Show in Los Angeles on 1 April 1996. The event raised money for children’s charities

  • Steven Spielberg, Wolfgang Petersen, Nichelle Nichols and Joan Collins at the Golden Camera Awards in Germany on 9 February 1999. Nichols picked up the Millennium Award for cult star of the last century
    Steven Spielberg, Wolfgang Petersen, Nichelle Nichols and Joan Collins at the Golden Camera Awards in Germany on 9 February 1999. Nichols picked up the Millennium Award for cult star of the last century.

  • Snow Dogs, 2002

    Nichols with Cuba Gooding Jr in the Hollywood comedy
    Nichelle Nichols and Cuba Gooding Jr. in v

  • Heroes, 2007

    Nichols appeared in five episodes of the hit sci-fi television series playing Nana Dawson, pictured with Dana Davis as Monica Dawson and Noah Gray-Cabey as Micah Sanders
    Nichelle Nichols in Heroes, 2007

  • Nichols expresses her support for striking members of the Writers Guild of America outside the gates of Paramount Pictures studios in Los Angeles
    Nichelle Nichols expresses her support for striking members of the Writers Guild of America outside the gates of Paramount Pictures studios in Los Angeles

  • US President Barack Obama gives the Vulcan salute with Nichelle Nichols in the Oval Office of the White House on 29 February 2012
    U.S. President Barack Obama gives the Vulcan salute with Nichelle Nichols in the Oval Office of the White House on 29 February 2012

  • Nichols photographed on 30 September 2016. The year that she was given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, she spoke to the Guardian about her life
    Nichelle Nichols photographed on 30 September 2016

  • Nichols with Sonequa Martin-Green at the premiere of the new television series Star Trek: Discovery in Los Angeles on 19 September 2017
    Nichelle Nichols with Sonequa Martin-Green at the premiere of the new television series Star Trek: Discovery in Los Angeles on 19 September 2017

  • Nichols with her son Kyle Johnson at the 2019 Official Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas on 31 July 2019
    Nichelle Nichols with her son Kyle Johnson at the 2019 Official Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas on 31 July 2019
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