CINEMA: Star Trek pioneer actress Nichelle Nichols dies at age 89

American actress Nichelle Nichols, known for her 1960s science fiction television series Star Trek, died at the age of 89
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Amer­i­can actress Nichelle Nichols, known for her 1960s sci­ence fic­tion tele­vi­sion series Star Trek, died at the age of 89.

Nichols broke the wall as Lieu­tenant Nyota Uhu­ra in the series and became one of the first black actress­es to play a pres­ti­gious fig­ure in the Unit­ed States.

Lat­er, she was hired by NASA to encour­age more women and African Amer­i­cans to become astronauts.

She died of nat­ur­al caus­es on Sat­ur­day night, her son Kyle John­son said.

In a state­ment post­ed on Face­book, John­son wrote, “It’s a shame to let you know that the great light that shines in the sky has­n’t shined for us for many years.”

“But that light will con­tin­ue to remain for us and future gen­er­a­tions to enjoy, learn, and impress, like the ancient galax­ies we see for the first time.”

The tele­vi­sion series “Star Trek” broke stereo­types by using black and minor­i­ty actors as a hot top­ic in the 1960s.

Nichols was appoint­ed as Lieu­tenant Uhu­ra and was por­trayed as a tal­ent­ed and cool telegraphist who broke stereotypes.

In 1968, he broke new ground with William Shat­ner, who played Cap­tain Kirk in the Star Trek series, for the first time in the tele­vi­sion world to kiss inter­ra­cial­ly, though not romantically.

How­ev­er, Nichols was ini­tial­ly think­ing of leav­ing the series.

How­ev­er, Rev. Mar­tin Luther King described her char­ac­ter as “the first non-stereo­typ­i­cal role played by a black woman in tele­vi­sion his­to­ry” and con­vinced her that it wasn’t.

After the end of the 1969 series, she starred in Star Trek’s first to sixth films.

While Nichols is an actress, she was the ambas­sador to the US space agency NASA, help­ing to recruit women and eth­nic minori­ties involved in the agen­cy’s space program.

In response to her obit­u­ary, Star Trek co-star George Takei said, “My heart is heavy and my eyes are shin­ing like the star you are sleep­ing on, my dear. I’m a friend of mine. ”

Lat­er on, the pio­neer­ing and unpar­al­leled Nichelle Nichols, who shared the bridge as Lieu­tenant Uhu­ra of USS Enter­prise and died today at the age of 89.

Today my heart is heavy and my eyes are shin­ing like the stars you are rest­ing on, my dear friend.

“The impor­tance of Nichel’s her­itage can­not be overem­pha­sized. Star Trek’s son Leonard Nimoy and tele­vi­sion direc­tor Adam Nimoy said,” She was so loved and she was lone­ly. You will think. ”

British actress Adjoa Andoh wrote, “We are stand­ing on the shoul­ders of a great pio­neer.” Nichelle Nichols, you have giv­en hope to many of us. Thank you.

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