One of the greatest quotes from Whoopi Goldberg is not a joke. When she was a child, the first time see saw Nichelle Nichols as LT Uhura, she screamed to her parents, "Mom and dad, come quick, there's a black woman on TV, and she's not a maid!"
Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future included strong women, and it was going to be multi-racial. In spite of her initial misgivings to her relatively limited roll in the show, Dr. Martin Luthur King encouraged her to stay on the show. No where but in Star Trek-TOS did you see a black female as an equal to others on the set. And she did make history in another fashion. In the episode Plato's Stepchildren, she and Captain Kirk (William Shatner) engaged in the first bi-racial kiss on American TV.
NICHELLE NICHOLS PREPARES FOR RETIREMENT
Nichelle Nichols, the first lady of Star Trek, is preparing for her retirement tour. Ms. Nichols, who played Lt. Uhura, the communications officer of Jim Kirk’s Enterprise, is 86 now and her health is not what it was. She suffered a stroke in 2015.
Her son, Kyle Johmson, filed for a conservatorship to protect her interests, fearing she was being cheated by those who wanted her money. However, her friend Angelique Fawcett claimed that Ms. Nichols did not have dementia, and that it was her son who was after her money. Those who have seen her recently claim that Ms. Nichols is not doing well and that she failed to recognize an old friend at WonderCon in Anaheim, CA this spring.
Ms. Nichols is planning a farewell tour, with a series of convention appearances during the summer of 2020. Sky Conway, the producer behind the Trek-alike web series Renegades, is working with her to crowdfund a documentary about her life.
The website TrekMovie.com announced that Ms. Nichols “has announced she will be making her final public appearances over the next 12 months, with her last being a special ‘Hailing Frequencies Open…One Last Time!’ convention on the first weekend of May 2020. It was revealed last year that Nichols was diagnosed with moderate progressive dementia and she plans on moving in with her son Kyle, who has been acting as her proxy and is joining her on her farewell tour.”
For her final appearances, Nichelle is doing photo opportunities and signings, but not panels...
She was a good looking bad ass in the series, and lived a great life afterwards. Hell of a shame, eventually everyone has to bow out.
LLAP LT Uhura, and I wish you the best in your golden years. Hopefully I can arrange to visit on your tour.
Inspired Dr. Mae Jamison, too. Was told she couldn't quit Star Trek by Dr. King himself!
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