A MARTINEZ, HOST:
Actress Nichelle Nichols, best known as Lieutenant Uhura on "Star Trek," has died at the age of 89. NPR's Mandalit del Barco reports.
MANDALIT DEL BARCO, BYLINE: Nichelle Nichols was one of the first Black women to star on a TV series.
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NICHELLE NICHOLS: (As Nyota Uhura) Hailing frequencies open, sir.
DEL BARCO: Her character, Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, whose last name derived from the Swahili word for freedom, was groundbreaking. Here's Nichols on NPR in 2011.
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NICHOLS: We were on a starship. I was head communications officer (laughter), fourth in command on a starship. Here I was projecting in the 23rd century what should have been quite simple. Young people and adults saw it as now.
DEL BARCO: Lieutenant Uhura made headlines for an intimate moment she shared with Captain Kirk - one of the first interracial kisses on TV.
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NICHOLS: (As Nyota Uhura) I am not afraid.
DEL BARCO: She was born Grace Dell Nichols and grew up singing and dancing in Chicago musicals and in "Porgy And Bess" in New York. She was a model for Ebony magazine and went on to tour as a singer with the Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton bands. Nichols told NPR that she almost quit after the first season of "Star Trek" to pursue her dreams on Broadway. Then she met Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was a big fan.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
NICHOLS: I think I said something like, Dr. King, I wish I could be out there marching with you. He said, no, no, no. No, you don't understand. We don't need you to march. You are marching. You are reflecting what we are fighting for.
DEL BARCO: So she continued on the original "Star Trek" series, and she reprised the role in six subsequent films. In fact, she became a commander in "Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan." Nichols also helped diversify and recruit women to be real-life astronauts in NASA's space program.
Mandalit del Barco, NPR News.
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