The groundbreaking actor, Nichelle Nichols, who passed away on July 31 at the age of 89, will be honored by Paramount+. The gatekeeper to the majority of all things modern Star Trek, the streamer will air a “special video to honor the impact and influence” she had during their Star Trek Day event next month.
Nichols broke barriers with her depiction of Lt. Nyota Uhura, the communications officer on the USS Enterprise, in the original Star Trek series which launched in 1966, by being a black woman on television that wasn’t domestic help. She even met with civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who encouraged her to carry on in the role at a time when Nichols was considering leaving the show, due to lack of consistent usage. On the original show, she also shared one of the first interracial kisses ever aired on television with William Shatner (Captain Kirk).
Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock) refused to lend his voice to the 1973 Star Trek animated series unless Nichols and Japanese-American co-star George Takei (Sulu) were invited back to reprise their roles. (Studio Filmation planned to have their roles taken over by in-house voice actors.) Nichols reprised the role of Uhura in the first six Star Trek theatrical movies. In the first, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Uhura was promoted to lieutenant commander, and in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, she became a full commander.
In recent years, Nichelle Nichols remained active by attending various fan conventions to sign autographs and take pictures with fans.
This year’s Star Trek Day will be Paramount+’s third. In addition to the tribute to Nichols, the event will feature conversations with the casts and creators of Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Star Trek: Prodigy, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and more.
This globally-streamed event will take place on Thursday, September 8, at L.A.’s Skirball Cultural Center.
