merelygifted:

Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt Uhura in original Star Trek, dies aged 89 | Star Trek | The Guardian

Actor achieved worldwide fame and broke ground for Black women while playing Nyota Uhura in the original TV hit

Nichelle Nichols, who played communications officer Lt Nyota Uhura on the original Star Trek series and helped to create a new era for television in the 1960s, has died in New Mexico at the age of 89.

Nichols’ son, Kyle Johnson, announced her death on Sunday via Facebook, saying: “I regret to inform you that a great light in the firmament no longer shines for us as it has for so many years.” Nichols’s death, on Saturday night in Silver City, was later confirmed by her agent.

Johnson said his mother had succumbed to natural causes, seven years after suffered a stroke.

“Her light however, like the ancient galaxies now being seen for the first time, will remain for us and future generations to enjoy, learn from and draw inspiration.”  …

…  Nichols was born Grace Dell Nichols in Robbins, Illinois, on December 28 1932. According to the National Space Society, she sang as a 16-year-old with jazz great Duke Ellington – her career getting under way at an early age – in a ballet she created, and later joined his band.  …

She told her parents she didn’t like her name, so they changed it to Nichelle.