Illinois Hall of Fame: Nichelle Nichols

By Mark Rhoads

On Dec. 5, 1991, Nichelle Nichols from Robbins, Illinois became the first African-American to put her hand prints in cement in front of the famous Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood. The next year she also earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Nichelle once told a story about meeting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1967 when her role as "Lt. Uhura" on Star Trek was becoming a very popular character.  She was discouraged with problems on the show, doubted that her small part was of any significance, and wanted to quit the show. Dr. King begged her not to.  He said she did not realize how rare it was in the 1960s to see a black woman portray the role of a very smart character where race was not a key factor in the part and that was not a black sterotype.

Dr. King went on to say that he personally was a fan of Star Trek and that her character could do much good as a new kind of role model for black children by suggesting new possibilities.  She took his advice and stayed with the show until it went off the air in 1969 and then came back years later to reprise the role of Uhura for all of the movies using the same cast.

Nichelle was born with the name Grace Nichols in Robbins, Illinois on Dec. 28, 1933.  Her father was the mayor and police magistrate of Robbins at the time who sometimes had to deal with harrassment from the Capone gang.  One of her early acting roles for a Chicago stock company in the 1950s was the part of Carmen in Carmen Jones.  She had a beautiful singing voice and sang with the bands of Lionel Hampton and Duke Ellington in the late 1940s and early 1950s starting when she was still only a teen.  Nichelle was married very briefly to a dance band leader in 1951 at the age of 18 and had her only child.  A second marriage in 1968 was also short.

Nichelle's big break came in late 1965 when Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry cast her as Uhura for the three-season run of the original show.  Art immitated life when Nichelle Nichols went to work for NASA in the 1970s and 1980s to help work on recruiting women and minorities into the astronaut training program. She was a role model for Dr. Mae Jemsion of Chicago who did become the first African-American woman in real life to orbit the Earth in Space in 1992 (See previous Illinois Hall of Fame post on Dr. Jemison).

One of Nicnelle's fellow cast members from Star Trek, Walter Koenig who played "Chekov," was also born in Cook County in 1937.  Walter' family, the Koenisbergs, were Russian Jews who lived in Lithuania until 1915 when they sailed to America and settled in Chicago.  But Walter's family moved to a small town near Coney Island, New York when he was only two. 

Nichelle Nichols is now 72 years old and is still working in films on camera and doing voice over work for animated films in recent years.  For a complete list of her movies and TV roles, see her page on the Internet Movie Data Base.

By Mark Rhoads

On Dec. 5, 1991, Nichelle Nichols from Robbins, Illinois became the first African-American to put her hand prints in cement in front of the famous Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood. The next year she also earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Nichelle once told a story about meeting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1967 when her role as "Lt. Uhura" on Star Trek was becoming a very popular character.  She was discouraged with problems on the show, doubted that her small part was of any significance, and wanted to quit the show. Dr. King begged her not to.  He said she did not realize how rare it was in the 1960s to see a black woman portray the role of a very smart character where race was not a key factor in the part and that was not a black sterotype.

Dr. King went on to say that he personally was a fan of Star Trek and that her character could do much good as a new kind of role model for black children by suggesting new possibilities.  She took his advice and stayed with the show until it went off the air in 1969 and then came back years later to reprise the role of Uhura for all of the movies using the same cast.

Nichelle was born with the name Grace Nichols in Robbins, Illinois on Dec. 28, 1933.  Her father was the mayor and police magistrate of Robbins at the time who sometimes had to deal with harrassment from the Capone gang.  One of her early acting roles for a Chicago stock company in the 1950s was the part of Carmen in Carmen Jones.  She had a beautiful singing voice and sang with the bands of Lionel Hampton and Duke Ellington in the late 1940s and early 1950s starting when she was still only a teen.  Nichelle was married very briefly to a dance band leader in 1951 at the age of 18 and had her only child.  A second marriage in 1968 was also short.

Nichelle's big break came in late 1965 when Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry cast her as Uhura for the three-season run of the original show.  Art immitated life when Nichelle Nichols went to work for NASA in the 1970s and 1980s to help work on recruiting women and minorities into the astronaut training program. She was a role model for Dr. Mae Jemsion of Chicago who did become the first African-American woman in real life to orbit the Earth in Space in 1992 (See previous Illinois Hall of Fame post on Dr. Jemison).

One of Nicnelle's fellow cast members from Star Trek, Walter Koenig who played "Chekov," was also born in Cook County in 1937.  Walter' family, the Koenisbergs, were Russian Jews who lived in Lithuania until 1915 when they sailed to America and settled in Chicago.  But Walter's family moved to a small town near Coney Island, New York when he was only two. 

Nichelle Nichols is now 72 years old and is still working in films on camera and doing voice over work for animated films in recent years.  For a complete list of her movies and TV roles, see her page on the Internet Movie Data Base.