Star Trek Mourns the Loss of Nichelle Nichols

By Jamie Lovett

 Nichelle Nichols, best known for playing Lt. Uhura in Star Trek: The Original Series, has died at age 89.  Nichols' role as Uhura in Star Trek, a Black woman serving on the bridge crew of the USS Enterprise, inspired countless people, including many actors who later follow in her footsteps. She broke down barriers with her kiss with William Shatner's Capt. Kirk in the episode "Plato's Stepchildren," which is widely recognized as the first interracial kiss on American television. She became iconic enough through her role as Uhura on Star Trek that NASA later turned to her for help in recruiting women and minorities into its space program, covered in the recent documentary film Woman in Motion about Nichols' life.

Several of those who have worked on Star Trek in the past, or who have are inspired by Nichols and working on Star Trek today, have taken to social media to share tributes to the actor. These include current Star Trek head Alex Kurtzman, NIchols' former co-star George Takei, several current stars of Paramount+'s Star Trek streaming franchise, and even politician Stacey Abrams.

We've collected those tributes here. We'll continue to update this story as more people share their thoughts.

Alex Kurtzman

Alex Kurtzman is the producer currently in charge of the Star Trek franchise. He co-created Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. He also co-wrote 2009's Star Trek movie and its sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness.

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J.J. Abrams

J.J. Abrams rebooted the Star Trek film series by directing 2009's Star Trek. He returned ot helm the sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness.

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George Takei

Takei co-starred with Nichols in Star Trek: The Original Series. He played Sulu in the series and its six films.

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Kate Mulgrew

Kate Mulgrew followed in NIchols' footsteps, becoming the first woman to lead a Star Trek series as Capt. Kathryn Janeway in Star Trek: Voyager. She has since returned to the franchise to voice the same character in the animated series Star Trek: Prodigy.

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Celia Rose Gooding

Celia Rose Gooding is the third actor to play Uhura in live-action. She stars as Cadet Uhura in the Star Trek prequel series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

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Wilson Cruz

Wilson Cruz plays Dr. Hugh Culber in Star Trek: Discovery. He's one-half of the first gay couple to be part of the regular cast of a Star Trek series.

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Anthony Rapp

Anthony Rapp plays Paul Stamets in Star Trek: Discovery. The character is married to Dr. Hugh Culber.

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Stacey Abrams

Stacey Abrams is a politician, activist, and avowed Star Trek superfan. She had a cameo appearance in Star Trek: Discovery Season 4's season finale as the president of Earth.

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Melissa Navia

Melissa Navia plays Erica Ortegas on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Aaron J. Watke is a writer and producer on Star Trek: Prodigy, which featured Uhura in a surprise guest role using archival audio from Nichols' previous appearances.

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