uhura star trek images

Nyota Uhura

• View history

Nyota Uhura was a female Human Starfleet officer who served from the mid- 23rd through the early 24th century . Uhura had a distinguished career as a communications officer aboard the USS Enterprise and USS Enterprise -A and was later given command of the USS Leondegrance until her retirement . ( Star Trek: The Original Series ; Star Trek: The Animated Series ; Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ; Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country ; Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ; PIC : " The Star Gazer " commemorative plaque )

• 1 Childhood
• 2.1 USS Gallant
• 2.2.1 Captaincy of Christopher Pike
• 2.2.2.1 2266
• 2.2.2.2 2267
• 2.2.2.3 2268
• 2.2.2.4 2269
• 2.2.2.5 2270
• 2.2.3 Captaincy of Will Decker
• 2.2.4 Captaincy of Spock
• 2.3 USS Enterprise -A
• 2.4 USS Leondegrance
• 3.1 First Contact Day Party
• 3.2 Malfunctioning holoprogram
• 3.3 Jam session on the bridge
• 4.1 Interests
• 4.2 Talents
• 4.3.1 Dal R'El's Kobayashi Maru
• 5.2 Montgomery Scott
• 6.1 Romulans revealed in 2266
• 6.2 UEF Enterprise
• 7 Key dates
• 8.1 Appearances
• 8.2.1 Identifying appearances
• 8.2.2 Name and heritage
• 8.2.3 Establishing the role
• 8.2.4 Legacy
• 8.3 Apocrypha
• 8.4 Sources
• 8.5 External links

Childhood [ ]

Uhura appearing as she would as a child

Nyota Uhura was born in 2237 in Kenya on the continent of Africa on Earth , where she grew up in a village near Lake Simbi Nyaima . ( TOS : " The Savage Curtain "; SNW : " Children of the Comet ", " Those Old Scientists ") She had an aptitude for mathematics and languages. By 2259 , Uhura was fluent in 37 languages, including Andorian , Vulcan , and Swahili as well as 21 other languages spoken in Kenya. ( TOS : " The Man Trap ", " The Changeling ", " Spectre of the Gun "; SNW : " Children of the Comet ")

During her youth, she was able to run the hundred meter dash in record time . ( TAS : " The Slaver Weapon ")

Uhura's family photo

Uhura originally intended to attend the University of Nairobi , where both her parents were teachers . However, shortly before the beginning of her studies, her parents and brother were killed in a shuttle accident . She abandoned her original plans as attending the campus was too painful for her. Uhura went to live with her grandmother – who had herself served in Starfleet during her youth – and later followed in her grandmother's footsteps by attending Starfleet Academy . ( SNW : " Children of the Comet ", " Lost in Translation ")

Starfleet career [ ]

While at the Academy, Uhura wrote three papers about famed linguist Hoshi Sato of the Enterprise NX-01 . ( SNW : " Those Old Scientists ")

USS Gallant [ ]

Uhura would serve aboard the USS Gallant prior to her assignment to the USS Enterprise as a cadet . For Starfleet Remembrance Day in 2259 , she wore a pin memorializing the crewmates she had lost from this ship. ( SNW : " Memento Mori ")

USS Enterprise [ ]

Captaincy of christopher pike [ ].

Cadet Uhura's first Starfleet assignment on space duty began in 2259 when she was assigned to the USS Enterprise on communications rotation duty under Captain Christopher Pike , who described her as a " prodigy ". ( SNW : " Strange New Worlds ") In spite of this, she was concerned about whether Starfleet was the right choice for her and if she could handle the duties required of her. ( SNW : " Children of the Comet ")

Her first away mission occurred shortly thereafter, when she landed on the comet C/2260-Quentin along with Spock , La'an Noonien-Singh , and George Samuel Kirk , in an effort to prevent the comet's collision with the planet Persephone III . She was assigned to the away team due to the discovery of an artificial structure within the comet; it was hoped that her knowledge of linguistics , like Kirk's expertise in xenoanthropology , would assist in understanding its nature and averting the threat. After Kirk was severely injured and the away team was trapped, Uhura was called upon to decipher the markings on the surface of an egg-like object within the structure. Despite her misgivings and insecurity in the dangerous situation, she was inspired by a pep talk from Spock to rise to the occasion. When she hummed the Kenyan traditional song Vamuvamba as she worked, the away team realized that the structure was responding to her music . She then used her musical talent to attempt to communicate with it. After the mission, she analyzed the structure's musical response and discovered that it had precognitive ability. ( SNW : " Children of the Comet ")

The Enterprise 's chief engineer, Hemmer , would take Uhura under his wing and question her about her path in life – a question she didn't have an answer for. He reminded her of his late father, who had also pushed her to see things differently. ( SNW : " Memento Mori ", " All Those Who Wander ")

While assigned to Lieutenant La'an Noonien-Singh she impressed the strict chief of security with her diligence and ingenuity. ( SNW : , " Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach ")

When an alien consciousness from the Jonisian Nebula brought the fairy tale The Kingdom of Elysian to life on the Enterprise , Uhura was used for the character of Queen Neve . Uhura didn't remember the events after the ship was returned to normal. ( SNW : " The Elysian Kingdom ")

When Uhura's assignment on the Enterprise was nearing its end, she was still unsure if she should remain in Starfleet or not. She was then part of a mission to the USS Peregrine , which had made a crash landing on Valeo Beta V and was confronted by young Gorn who hunted the landing party. When Hemmer was infected by Gorn eggs and sacrificed himself for his comrades, he encouraged Uhura to open herself up to others and remain in Starfleet.

At his funeral, she acknowledged how much Hemmer meant to her and by guiding her, he had succeeded in his life goal of "fixing what was broken". ( SNW : " All Those Who Wander ")

Ensign Uhura

In the months that followed, Uhura graduated from the Academy and was commissioned as an ensign and continued to serve aboard the Enterprise . ( SNW : " The Broken Circle ")

During the Enterprise mission to the Brannon's Nebula , Uhura was contacted by a newly discovered species of extragalactic lifeform that lived there. ( SNW : " Lost in Translation ")

Sometime early in her career she once performed the delicate work of rigging a subspace bypass circuit , a fact she noted years later when she attempted to perform such a task aboard the Enterprise . ( TOS : " Who Mourns for Adonais? ")

Captaincy of James Kirk [ ]

After Pike's promotion to fleet captain , Captain James T. Kirk assumed command of the Enterprise in 2265 , with Uhura remaining for the transition. In the years that followed, she proved to be a proficient technician and was considered by Captain Kirk to be a capable and reliable bridge officer , manning the helm , navigation , and main science station when the need arose. ( TOS : " The Man Trap ", " The Naked Time ", " Balance of Terror ", " The Galileo Seven ", " Whom Gods Destroy ")

Lieutenant Uhura in 2266

In 2266 , Lieutenant Uhura was a command division staff officer aboard the USS Enterprise . She was the department head of the communications section . ( TOS : " The Corbomite Maneuver ", " Mudd's Women ")

Later that year, Uhura permanently transferred to the operations division .

On stardate 1672.1, before taking a brief on-board ship sabbatical, Uhura's voice was heard ship wide reminding her fellow crew members to file their accurate " time sheets via the communications department." ( TOS : " The Enemy Within ")

Uhura taken under the "protection" of Sulu in 2266

On stardate 1704.2, Enterprise navigator Lieutenant Kevin Riley , while under the influence of the Psi 2000 polywater intoxication , left his post at navigation and Commander Spock assigned her to the station until Lieutenant Brent relieved her from that duty later the same day.

On stardate 1704.3, Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu , also under the influence of the polywater intoxication, fantasizing himself a musketeer, took Uhura under his "protection" before first officer Spock subdued him with a Vulcan nerve pinch . ( TOS : " The Naked Time ")

Uhura loses her singing voice

On stardate 1533.7, Uhura was singing in the crew lounge with Spock's Vulcan lyre accompanying her for a song she made up about Charlie Evans , " Oh, On the Starship Enterprise ", when Charlie suddenly decided to literally take away Uhura's voice and stop Spock from playing the Vulcan lyre, because he wanted undivided attention from his love interest, Yeoman Janice Rand . Uhura then nearly choked on her own voice.

Uhura's communication console explodes

On stardate 1535.8, to keep Uhura from opening hailing frequencies to Starfleet Command to warn them about Charlie, Charlie caused electrical sparks to emit from the communications console, giving her second degree burns on her hands and causing her fall to the floor near her station. Fortunately, Dr. McCoy came with a medical bag and ointment for her hands. Charlie was ultimately taken from the Enterprise by the Thasians, who returned him to their homeworld. ( TOS : " Charlie X ")

On stardate 1709.1, Uhura also took over the navigation post when Lieutenant Stiles was needed elsewhere on the ship during the confrontation with the Romulans near the Neutral Zone . ( TOS : " Balance of Terror ")

Uhura, as acting science officer, discovers a Class M planet

In 2267 , from stardate 2821.5 to 2823.1, while the Enterprise shuttlecraft Galileo was studying the Murasaki 312 quasar , it was lost and then crashed on an uncharted planet . Because Spock was the commander of that mission and was not on the Enterprise , Uhura took lead in the search for the missing Galileo and took over at the bridge 's science station, as well as still helping at communications relieving Lieutenant Brent at sciences. Uhura discovered the planet Taurus II that the Galileo had crashed on. After Spock and the four other surviving crew members were found and rescued, Uhura was happy to allow Spock the science station back under his command. ( TOS : " The Galileo Seven ")

She was one of a few officers privileged to dine at a banquet arranged at the request of Lieutenant Marla McGivers for Khan Noonien Singh on stardate 3141.9.

When Khan later cut life support to the bridge, Kirk listed the names of bridge personnel to be recorded for commendations . Before Kirk ran out of air, he was able to include Uhura in that list.

Afterwards, Uhura was assembled along with several officers in the briefing room , when one of Khan's henchmen forcefully grabbed Uhura by the arm and shoved her into a chair located in front of a computer terminal. When Uhura resisted obeying Khan's orders, the henchman slapped Uhura across the face. ( TOS : " Space Seed ")

On stardate 3417.4, Uhura, under the influence of pod plant spores from the planet Omicron Ceti III , disobeyed direct orders from Captain Kirk, for the first and only time, and disabled the communications console aboard the Enterprise to only allow communications between the ship and the planet. She then left her post and her ship, to join other crew members on Omicron Ceti III. When Uhura was freed of the influence of the spores, she re-enabled the communications console to normal. ( TOS : " This Side of Paradise ")

Uhura as part of landing party that discovered the Guardian of Forever

Later that year, Uhura was part of the landing party that beamed down to the Guardian of Forever planet to find Dr. Leonard McCoy , who was in a wild state of mind due to an accidental overdose of cordrazine . Uhura was the first one of the landing party to notice that they had lost contact with the Enterprise . This was due to the fact that Dr. McCoy had run into the Guardian of Forever altering the timeline and erasing the Enterprise and everything the landing party knew becoming nonexistent. This was the only time where Uhura actually admitted to someone, specifically Captain Kirk, that she was truly frightened (without being under an influence of an alien force taking control of her mind). Fortunately after Kirk and Spock went through the Guardian of Forever and then came back from the past with Dr. McCoy they restored the time line and the existence of the Enterprise . ( TOS : " The City on the Edge of Forever ")

Uhura rewiring the communication circuits

Following a communications blackout caused by Apollo , jamming all communication frequencies between the Enterprise and her landing party on stardate 3468.1, Uhura attempted the delicate task of rewiring the entire communications system in an attempt to break through the interference. In conjunction with Sulu's rigging of all transmission circuits for maximum power generation, Uhura successfully connected the bypass circuit, a task she had not done in several years. Spock praised her work and could think of "no one better equipped" to handle the necessary repairs. ( TOS : " Who Mourns for Adonais? ")

Uhura having her memories erased by the probe Nomad

Perhaps Uhura's most traumatic experience during her time aboard the Enterprise occurred on stardate 3541.9. On this date, Uhura had her memory wiped out by the space probe Nomad , which misinterpreted her singing of " Beyond Antares " as a biological malfunction. This assault required Dr. McCoy to use advanced medical and educational techniques to restore her memories. ( TOS : " The Changeling ")

Uhura distracts the mirror universe Sulu

Later, Kirk, McCoy, and Montgomery Scott relied heavily on Uhura to help them after a transporter accident caused the four of them to be trapped in a violent and ruthless mirror universe run by the Terran Empire . They relied heavily on Uhura for her skills at communications and to distract the parallel universe's Lieutenant Sulu , the head of security on the ISS Enterprise , by spurning him, flirting with him and then spurning him, again, so he would not see what the four of them were doing to get back to their universe, which successfully they did. ( TOS : " Mirror, Mirror ")

Near the end of 2267, Uhura was reluctant to testify against Kirk, at an on-board hearing in the briefing room , but was forced to do so and could unfortunately only agree with Commodore Stocker that when Kirk was suffering from the rapid aging he was not anywhere near his best. This unfortunate incident for Uhura started on stardate 3479.4 when Kirk ordered Uhura to send a coded message to Starfleet and to use code 2 since the Enterprise in orbit around Gamma Hydra IV was close to the Romulan Neutral Zone. When Uhura reminded Kirk that the Romulans had already broken code 2, a befuddled Kirk ordered her to use code 3 and to relay the information about the rogue comet that Spock (also suffering the rapid aging) had discovered earlier and that was strongly suspected may have spread the radiation that started the rapid aging. Luckily for Uhura, the rest of the crew, and the Enterprise , McCoy (also suffering from the rapid aging) discovered an adrenaline based cure for the rapid aging before Stocker nearly got the ship destroyed by the Romulans. ( TOS : " The Deadly Years ")

Uhura with Harcourt Fenton Mudd

In 2268 , on stardate 4513.3, the ship was hijacked by Norman to a previously undiscovered planet, the Enterprise 's crew discovered that Harcourt Fenton Mudd had crashed on the planet. The planet was populated by androids , from the Andromeda Galaxy , who wished to use the Enterprise to visit other planets and strand the Enterprise crew there. The androids tempted Uhura with long life and to never grow old by having her consciousness transferred to an android body, offering her virtual immortality. In the end, the crew banded together and escaped the planet, leaving Mudd with five hundred android replicas of his overbearing wife, Stella . ( TOS : " I, Mudd ")

Uhura giving away tribbles

On stardate 4523.3, while on shore leave aboard Deep Space Station K-7 , Uhura met a dealer named Cyrano Jones , who tried to sell rare galactic items, among them, furry little creatures Jones called tribbles . In hopes of more sales, Jones gave one to Uhura, which subsequently, due to their high reproduction rate, threatened to overrun the Enterprise when Uhura took the creature with her on board. Fortunately, the crew was able to find a way to dispose of the tribbles in a humane way. ( TOS : " The Trouble with Tribbles "; DS9 : " Trials and Tribble-ations ")

From stardate 4040.7 to 4041.7, during the Enterprise 's mission to Planet 892-IV , Uhura monitored the radio broadcasts , she explained to Kirk and Spock what they had misheard as " sun worship " was actually "son worship", as in the " Son of God ", and what they were witnessing was the equivalent of that planet's birth of Christianity . ( TOS : " Bread and Circuses ")

On stardate 3211.8, Uhura was the victim of an attempted sexual assault . When she, Kirk, and Chekov were kidnapped and imprisoned by the Providers of the planet Triskelion , Uhura fought off the advances of the drill thrall Lars with a water pitcher. ( TOS : " The Gamesters of Triskelion ")

When the Enterprise encountered a giant space amoeba in 2268, Lt. Uhura was one of the officers named by Captain Kirk as deserving of "special citation", along with Cmdr. Spock, Montgomery Scott, Dr. Leonard McCoy, Pavel Chekov, and Lt. Kyle . ( TOS : " The Immunity Syndrome ")

In 2268 on stardate 4657.5, Uhura was on the bridge when the Kelvan Hanar suddenly transported himself on to the bridge. Uhura, along with the rest of the bridge crew, was put into temporary stasis by Hanar. This was when the Kelvan Milky Way Expedition attempted to hijack the Enterprise to return to their homeworld in the Andromeda Galaxy. On stardate 4658.9, Kelvan leader Rojan neutralized and reduced Uhura into a dehydrated porous cuboctahedron solid , the size of a Human fist, composed of Uhura's base minerals which represented the "distilled" essence of her being. Uhura was considered by the Kelvans as one of many non-essential members of personnel. Uhura was reconstituted after Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Scotty, the only four crew members not neutralized, regained control of the Enterprise . ( TOS : " By Any Other Name ")

On stardate 4770.3, the essence of the alien Henoch , in possession of Spock's body, terrorized the whole bridge crew, inflicting tremendous pain on Uhura with a flick of Spock's hand. Uhura managed to survive and rose above the pain inflicted by Henoch. ( TOS : " Return to Tomorrow ")

When the Enterprise was temporarily placed under the control of the M-5 multitronic unit as part of an experiment by Doctor Richard Daystrom on stardate 4729.4, Uhura was one of twenty officers selected by the computer to operate the starship during the series of M-5 drills . Most of her duties were accomplished by M-5, and when its became clear that the unit was becoming increasingly dangerous, she was unable to override the interference it caused, but was able to tap into the communiques between Starfleet Command and the USS Lexington . ( TOS : " The Ultimate Computer ")

On stardate 4372.5, the Enterprise was assigned to transport Elaan , Dohlman of Elas to the planet Troyius , Uhura offered Elaan her quarters to stay in while traveling on board the Enterprise . While the Dohlman was dissatisfied with them, Kirk appreciated her sacrifice in offering them. When Kirk confronted the Dohlman about her complaints, he explained that " my communications officer generously vacated the rooms hoping you would find it satisfactory, " which she did not, primarily due to it being too plush. After Kirk denied Elaan request for better quarters, noting that none better existed, he offered to "arrange to have the whole room filled from floor to ceiling with breakable objects ," as a means of getting her the gratification she sought. ( TOS : " Elaan of Troyius ")

An image planted by the Starnes Exploration Party children in Uhura's mind, of her seeing her own worst fear of being an old woman

On stardate 5029.5, the Starnes Exploration Party children, under the influence of Gorgan , terrorized the whole bridge crew with their telekinetic powers, including creating an illusion of Uhura's worst fear: a reflection of herself as a disfigured, diseased, dying, old woman. The illusion made it impossible for Uhura to perform her duties as communications officer. Once the children were freed of the influence of Gorgan, the image planted in her brain, making her see an illusion on the communications console, disappeared, freeing Uhura. ( TOS : " And the Children Shall Lead ")

Later in 2268, on stardate 5431.4, Uhura was rendered unconscious by the Eymorg Kara when she boarded the Enterprise and used her control bracelet in order to steal Spock's brain. Later, following her recovery, Kirk trusted Uhura's finding large, regular energy pulsations on the otherwise glaciated and pre-industrial Sigma Draconis VI as to the planet in that system to find Spock's missing brain over Sulu's and Ensign Pavel Chekov 's suggestions of which planet to search for Spock's brain. Uhura's guess proved to be the correct one. ( TOS : " Spock's Brain ")

Uhura ( first row, third from left ) attends Kirk's memorial service

Again in 2268, Uhura, after attending Kirk's memorial service , was the first one of the crew to see the ghost-like image of Kirk in a mirror in her quarters. Kirk was trapped in the interphase Tholian space aboard the USS Defiant . For a short time after, Uhura thought she might be suffering from the ill mental effects of the interphase as many of her fellow crew members were. But after Scotty, McCoy, Brent, and Spock saw the ghost-like image of the interphase trapped Kirk, McCoy determined that Uhura was completely sane. ( TOS : " The Tholian Web ")

Kirk and Uhura about to kiss

On stardate 5784.2, under the influence of powerful telepaths, Uhura was forced to kiss Captain Kirk; Kirk stopped the aliens from forcing him to torture Uhura. ( TOS : " Plato's Stepchildren ")

On stardate 5710.6, Uhura was the first one on the bridge to notice the "disappearance" of Kirk after he sipped some of the Scalosian water spiked coffee , courtesy of Deela , while hyper-accelerated Kirk up to the Scalosians speed. Later, she accidentally touched the tape button from the previous Scalosian distress call , which called up an image of Deela on the viewscreen , but Kirk inquired if it was indeed not a malfunction, which Uhura comfirmed. ( TOS : " Wink of an Eye ")

Also in 2268, Uhura had trouble making Spock comprehend that she was inquiring about what happened to the Enterprise from the turbulence caused by the image of Losira appearing in the transporter room to protect the Kalandan outpost planet. She had to laugh at Spock commenting about his head hitting the captain's chair when she made the inquiry and then she had to rephrase the question. ( TOS : " That Which Survives ")

Near the end of 2268, Uhura immediately ran to the bridge's main science station after an explosion on the far side of planet Elba II had Scotty and Sulu registering it as a 9.5 earthquake . Just as with Scotty and McCoy, Uhura was as concerned about whether life still remained on Elba II as Kirk and Spock were at the Elba II asylum penal colony. Fortunately Uhura, McCoy, and Scotty's fears about Kirk and Spock being dead turned out to be unfounded. ( TOS : " Whom Gods Destroy ")

On stardate 5423.6, Uhura agreed with McCoy and Scotty that Spock should stand his ground – with Spock starting to concur with them – that he wouldn't let the evasive answers of or behavior from Ambassador Hodin , of the planet Gideon 's Council , about what happened to the missing Kirk or Admiral Fitzgerald 's trying to get Spock from insisting on getting true answers about the whereabouts of Kirk . ( TOS : " The Mark of Gideon ")

On stardate 5725.3, Uhura temporarily lost her ability to move her hands and could not open hailing frequencies to contact the Memory Alpha library when the Enterprise encountered the "lights of Zetar " beings. ( TOS : " The Lights of Zetar ")

Later in 2269, on stardate 5843.8, Uhura was miniaturized and placed into temporary stasis by Flint . After Kirk's successful plea, she was restored to normal. ( TOS : " Requiem for Methuselah ")

On stardate 5221.3, Uhura picked up a strange radio signal from a long-abandoned insectoid race's ship orbiting the dead star Questar M-17 . After Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Scotty beamed back aboard the Enterprise from investigating the abandoned ship, the crew discovered they had also beamed aboard the same malevolent entity that had caused the insectoids' ship's abandonment. The crew, including Uhura, were temporarily taken hostage by the entity, until Kirk managed to trick it into leaving the ship and go live around Questar M-17's orbit. Scotty then used a slingshot effect to break the Enterprise free from Questar M-17's orbit. As they were leaving the stellar cluster that Questar M-17 was located in, Uhura, on stardate 5221.8, picked up one last signal from the entity, announcing it was "lonely, very lonely...." ( TAS : " Beyond the Farthest Star ")

Uhura takes charge on the planet

In 2269 on stardate 5483.7, the male Enterprise crew was incapacitated by the "siren's song" of the second planet of the Taurean system 's female population , necessitating Uhura to take command of the ship. She and Nurse Christine Chapel led an all female landing party to rescue Captain Kirk, first officer Spock and Dr. McCoy. ( TAS : " The Lorelei Signal ")

On stardate 1254.4, as the Enterprise was exploring the galactic core , the ship and its crew became caught in a matter-energy whirlwind and were thrown into an alternate universe . In that universe, the crew met a being who called himself " Lucien ". Lucien claimed that he had, at one-time, been on Earth and had met Humans before. Lucien also claimed that the Enterprise crew could perform magic in the alternate universe, with the crew being very surprised when they could. Unfortunately, Lucien's fellow Megans were not thrilled to discover that the Enterprise crew was doing just that. The Megans transported the whole crew to planet Megas-Tu and promptly put all of them, including Uhura, into 17th century style pillories, as punishment. The crew, including Uhura, were in the Megans' interpretation of 1691 Salem and were put on a similar Salem witch trial , nearly put to death courtesy of Megan Asmodeus ' prosecuting legal tactics. Fortunately, Spock, as a Vulcan defense counselor, pleaded successfully for the crew's release in that Humanity had grown away from the hatred, fear and bigotry of 1691. ( TAS : " The Magicks of Megas-Tu ")

Uhura held hostage by the Shore Leave Planet's master computer

On stardate 5591.2, Uhura suffered the first of two assaults by a computer. Kirk took the Enterprise and its crew to the " Shore Leave Planet " in the Omicron Delta region for much-needed rest and relaxation. But unaware to the crew, the planet's Keeper had died since their last visit and the planet's master computer suffered from what amounted to its version of a mental breakdown. One of the many violations of its original protocol the planet's master computer did was to kidnap Uhura. While being held hostage in the planet's computer core, Uhura found out that the master computer decided it was time to free the individuals on the fellow computer, the Enterprise , from their being a slave to their master. Uhura reasoned with the computer and convinced the master computer that the Humans on board the Enterprise did not have that kind of relationship and, with the Humans on board needing rest and relaxation, the planet's computer itself was not being taken advantage of – but that was useful and needed purpose for it. That worked, eventually, to get the master computer to go back to its protocols, and to cease its hostile actions against the Enterprise crew. That talk also made much easier Spock's later work with the master computer to make sure something like that did not happen again, on the "Shore Leave Planet". ( TAS : " Once Upon a Planet ")

On stardate 5577.7, Uhura and the rest of the Enterprise crew were paralyzed from a flash of light coming from a planet in the Cepheus star system, after Uhura received a distress signal using a 21st century intersat code with the word " terratin " attached. The flash of light ended up shrinking Uhura and the rest of the crew to fingernail length, at one-sixteenth of an inch high. Uhura and the rest of the crew were restored to normal size via the transporter as the mutated descendants of the lost Terra 10 colony were rescued and relocated from the unstable planet. ( TAS : " The Terratin Incident ")

On stardate 5267.2, when the Enterprise went through the " Delta Triangle " space-time warp, Uhura, along with the rest of the crew, suffered from temporary vertigo . ( TAS : " The Time Trap ")

In 2269, on stardate 4187.3, Uhura was on the Enterprise shuttlecraft Copernicus , traveling with Spock and Sulu, when the Slaver stasis box they had on-board indicated the existence of another stasis box on an uncharted icy planet in the Beta Lyrae system. Uhura, Spock and Sulu discovered, in the second box, a weapon of great power. When the Kzinti traveling on the Traitor's Claw found out that the three Enterprise crew members were on the planet with such a newly discovered Slaver stasis box, they twice kidnapped Uhura and the Chuft-Captain held her hostage . Spock and Sulu were able to free Uhura by discovering new settings on the weapon, settings that tricked the Kzinti. ( TAS : " The Slaver Weapon ")

In 2270 , Uhura was again temporarily in command of the bridge when the Enterprise lost contact with Kirk and Spock, half of the ships' contact party , while exploring the surface of Delta Theta III . Per Kirk's orders of avoiding unnecessary risks, she ordered Scotty and Sulu, the other half of the contact party, to re-board the ship, contrary to their attempt to locate Spock and the captain. ( TAS : " Bem ")

Uhura, McCoy, and Sulu caught in a vicious blizzard

In 2270, on stardate 3183.3, Uhura dealt with the second assault by a computer. This time, the assault came from the Enterprise computer. Captain Kirk, to hide the ship from an attacking Romulan ship, took the Enterprise into a space cloud, not realizing that this would turn the ship's computer into a practical joker, and there were several jokes played on many crew members. To get away from the practical jokes, not realizing that the computer was the cause of the jokes, Uhura, McCoy, and Sulu decided to get themselves away from the practical jokes in the holographic recreation room . The computer first played a "practical joke" on the three of them by trapping them in a deep hole in a forest. When a security search party could not find them, the Enterprise computer's practical joker went further and trapped Uhura, McCoy, and Sulu in a raging blizzard that none of the three asked for. Fortunately, all three were found and saved, before they froze to death, by a second successful security search party. Another trip through the cloud rid the Enterprise computer of the practical joker. ( TAS : " The Practical Joker ")

Later in 2270, on stardate 5275.6, Uhura collapsed on the bridge due to the effect of the Dramia II plague . Fortunately, Dr. McCoy was able to find a cure to rescue her and the rest of the infected crew. This was the final illness Uhura suffered from during the Enterprise 's historic five-year mission. ( TAS : " Albatross ")

On stardate 6770.3, upon entering an anti-matter universe , the Enterprise crew experienced the effects of accelerated reverse aging and Uhura also was reduced to infancy. After returning the ship to normal space, the crew was able to return to their normal age by using the transporters. ( TAS : " The Counter-Clock Incident ")

Captaincy of Will Decker [ ]

Lt. Commander Uhura in the 2270s

In the mid- 2270s , Lieutenant Commander Uhura served aboard the refitted Enterprise under the command of Captain Will Decker , and later during the V'ger crisis under the command of Rear Admiral Kirk. ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture )

Captaincy of Spock [ ]

During the mid- 2280s , Uhura remained aboard the Enterprise , which was then attached to Starfleet Training Command , where it served as a training vessel under the commander of Captain Spock.

In March 2285 , Uhura, who was by that time promoted to commander , was a participant in Saavik 's Kobayashi Maru scenario at Starfleet Training Command . After the scenario, she served aboard the Enterprise under the command of Captain Spock.

Later, she was one of the ship's communications officers for a three week training cruise. Upon receiving a call for help from Regula I , Starfleet Command ordered an investigation by the Enterprise . With Rear Admiral Kirk assuming command, the cruise was cut short. The Enterprise became involved with Project Genesis and Khan Noonien Singh's attempt to steal the Genesis Device . Eventually, Kirk was able to stop Khan, but not before the latter had wrought extensive damage upon the Enterprise , requiring Captain Spock to sacrifice his life to save the ship. Uhura attended the funeral of Spock. ( Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan )

Uhura performs her part in Kirk's theft of the Enterprise

Following the return of the Enterprise to Spacedock, Uhura had requested an assignment to the Old City Station transporter room . During the planned rescue attempt of Spock from the Genesis Planet , Uhura played an instrumental role of illegally transporting Admiral Kirk and company to the Enterprise prior to its theft. ( Star Trek III: The Search for Spock )

Kirk and his senior staff succeeded in saving Spock, and Uhura met up with her crewmates on Vulcan . Along with the rest of the crew she traveled back to the year 1986 aboard a Klingon Bird-of-Prey – which they named the HMS Bounty – to retrieve two humpback whales to save the planet Earth from an alien probe .

Uhura and Chekov extracting protons from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise

After arriving in the 20th century , Uhura quickly located whale song coming from San Francisco .

Upon landing, she and Chekov were assigned with resolving "the uranium problem" that impeded their return to the own time. From San Francisco the two questioned a number of passersby on how to find the naval base in Alameda . That night they beamed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise stationed there and acquired the required high-energy photons from its reactor core . Uhura narrowly escaped with the collector in hand, but Chekov was captured.

Uhura monitored the local comm channels, but displayed regret for leaving Chekov behind; Kirk assured her that she did what was necessary. She eventually located him at Mercy Hospital , and following his rescue and their departure, she directed the Bird-of-Prey towards George and Gracie , after locating their signal in the Bering Sea .

Upon their return to the 23rd century, she was among the crew charged with her involvement – specifically conspiracy – in the theft of the Enterprise . However, all charges against them were dropped because they had saved the planet. She and her crew were subsequently reassigned to the USS Enterprise -A . ( Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home )

USS Enterprise -A [ ]

Uhura seduces the Paradise City Guards in the desert on Nimbus III

In 2287 , the Enterprise was dispatched to resolve a hostage situation on Nimbus III , the Planet of Galactic Peace. Under the influence of the rebel leader Sybok , Uhura, and many other crew members cooperated to divert the Enterprise to the galactic core where Sybok convinced them they would find the mythical Sha Ka Ree . In an initial attack on the rebel-held Paradise City , Uhura played a vital part by performing an erotic, moonlit fan dance on a sand dune to distract a lookout party of rebels. Her dance seduced the entire party and they were captured by Kirk and his team in order to steal their horses which they used to enter Paradise City. ( Star Trek V: The Final Frontier )

Uhura with Chekov in 2293

In 2293 , Uhura was three months from standing down as the communications officer of the Enterprise-A . Before the Camp Khitomer crisis, she had expected to chair a seminar at Starfleet Academy . During the crisis, Uhura served as communications officer of the Enterprise -A. The Enterprise crew played a vital role in the success of the Khitomer Conference by exposing a conspiracy that sought to sabotage the peace process. ( Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country )

USS Leondegrance [ ]

Sometime after the Enterprise -A was decommissioned, Uhura was promoted to Captain and given command of the USS Leondegrance . From 2301 to 2305 , Uhura and the Leondegrance carried out a five-year mission to the Lesser Magellanic Cloud , and participated in over one hundred first contact missions with the civilizations encountered there. Following the five-year mission, the Leondegrance became an Academy training ship in 2317 , with Uhura retaining command until her retirement in 2333 . During that time, many Academy cadets experienced faster-than-light travel for the first time under Uhura's command; one of these was a young Jean-Luc Picard . ( PIC : " Remembrance " Speed of Light Club certificate ; PIC : " The Star Gazer " commemorative plaque )

By the 25th century , Uhura would be honored by having a ship named after her, the USS Uhura . ( PIC : " The Star Gazer ")

Anything but canon scenarios [ ]

First contact day party.

Uhura at the First Contact Day party

According to an anything but canon account, Uhura was present along with Hemmer , Spock , Una Chin-Riley , Christine Chapel and others at a First Contact Day celebration on the Enterprise.

Although the captain originally assigned Hemmer to emcee this event, he turned it over to Spock , who might have a better idea of what to do since he's technically both Human and Vulcan . After all, First Contact day was all about first contact between those two species .

Spock then begins by playing a variety of bloopers from a blooper reel that he compiled together. These bloopers were very much offensive, since they resulted in the deaths of various Starfleet officers . This was upsetting to the other crewmembers . Uhura even told him that bloopers shouldn't have an in memoriam .

She goes onto explain that a blooper should be about a person walking into a door and slamming into it because it failed to open automatically like it's designed to do, or someone accidentally mispronouncing " Spock " as " Spork ." Inspired by her words , he decides to try one last clip, which featured an ensign who had space diarrhea running through the corridor along a freshly mopped floor . He slips and and rams his genitals into the mop and then farts . Uhura then tells Spock that this clip was perfect. ( VST : " Holiday Party ")

Malfunctioning holoprogram

Uhura hologram 1

Uhura hologram 2

According to an unreliable and unverified account, two different holograms of Uhura were present in the narrative of a nonsensical or malfunctioning holoprogram .

The first version of Nyota Uhura to appear in this program appeared alongside her fellow crewmate , Hikaru Sulu . They were shown to be in the rec room in Area 39 of the USS Enterprise . They were running a program about Gwyndala , Zero and Rok-Tahk . Sulu was annoyed with the nonsensical nature of the program, and he stopped the program, saying that he was sick of the nonsense. He and Uhura then began to leave the rec room, but the were frozen in place when Saru called out to the computer , saying: "Computer, end simulation ."

Uhura appeared in the same malfunctioning holoprogram later on during the program. This time it began on as a scene on the USS Voyager , where Neelix was watching a holonovel on his PADD . He finally decides that he's seen enough silly stories for one night , and so he puts his PADD down, and lies down, going to sleep . The scene turns quiet for a second, until the voice of Charles Tucker III could be heard trying to pause the playback .

Then the shocking reveal, was that he wasn't really Tucker at all, but just a head on a holographic five-headed monster . The other four heads were holographic images of the heads of William T. Riker , T'Pol and Spock . Uhura's head was likewise part of the holo-monster. This time the computer itself calls out to pause the program, and the holographic monster was frozen in place. ( VST : " Holograms All the Way Down ")

Jam session on the bridge

Uhura on the viewscreen

In another anything but canon account, there was a party on the bridge of the Enterprise in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the TOS era crew 's cartoon show .

To celebrate, William T. Riker brought his trombone and Hikaru Sulu brought his keyboard , so that they could play some Post Mainframe Acid-Cardassian Ten Forwardcore music . As they began their song , other band members joined in. Scotty played the drums , Arex was on the double guitar , M'Ress played the tambourine and D'Vana Tendi provided backup vocals .

Clips from the animated series were shown on screen during their song . Uhura could be seen at her communications station at one point. Eventually, the song ends when a fleet of D7 class Klingon battle cruisers attack the ship , causing an explosion on the bridge . ( VST : " Walk, Don't Run ")

Personal life [ ]

Interests [ ].

Uhura off-duty in her quarters

Uhura was proud of her African heritage. In fact, she decorated her personal living quarters aboard the Enterprise with a zebra -skin bedspread, some African sculptures and masks, and wall panels containing African images. ( TOS : " The Tholian Web ")

After Uhura offered her quarters for Elaan in 2268, the offended Dohlman referenced her treatment by being placed in Uhura's quarters, complaining " am I a soft Troyian fawn to need pillows to sit on? " Her review of Uhura's decor was, " and these ridiculous female trappings. They are an offense to my eyes . " When Elaan later questioned if Kirk was going to fulfill her request for new quarters, Kirk replied, " There are none better. I suggest you make do with these. " ( TOS : " Elaan of Troyius ")

Talents [ ]

Uhura was also talented in music , and had a " bad habit " of humming . In 2259 , however, her humming of the Kenyan folk song " Vamuvamba " led to the serendipitous discovery that the M'hanit communicated through music. On this occasion she also used her knowledge of musical theory to benefit the mission. ( SNW : " Children of the Comet ")

She was well-known among her fellow Enterprise colleagues for entertaining them with her singing talent, including her own renditions of songs, such as " Oh, On the Starship Enterprise ". ( TOS : " Charlie X ")

One of Uhura's favorite love songs to sing was the song " Beyond Antares ". She chose the song in response to a request made by Kevin Riley, who was on duty alone in engineering , and who wanted to be reassured that he was not the only living thing left in the universe. ( TOS : " The Conscience of the King ") She also sang it while on bridge duty the following year. Her performance led to the incident that triggering Nomad 's assault on her. ( TOS : " The Changeling ")

She also hummed a tune while she relaxed planet-side during the Enterprise ' second visit to the Shore Leave Planet. ( TAS : " Once Upon a Planet ")

Holograms [ ]

Dal r'el's kobayashi maru [ ].

A holographic Uhura

During Dal 's setup of the Kobayashi Maru scenario aboard the USS Protostar in 2383 , he requested that the computer select the best officers on his behalf, which included a holographic version of Communications Officer Uhura, from the TOS era , as a member of his command crew. ( PRO : " Kobayashi ")

Relationships [ ]

Spock reunited with his shipmates

Throughout their years of serving together, Uhura developed a strong friendship with the other members of the Enterprise senior staff. In 2285 , she helped Kirk without hesitation in his quest to find peace for Spock 's katra . When the other crew members had recovered Spock's body from the Genesis Planet, Uhura had been waiting for them on Vulcan and witnessed the fal-tor-pan ritual being performed on Spock. ( Star Trek III: The Search for Spock )

Spock and Uhura make music together in the recreation room

Near the beginning of her service aboard the Enterprise , Uhura attempted to reach the Human side of Spock.

On stardate 1513.1, she tried to start a conversation with a sardonic Spock and asked him how Vulcan looked when its moon was full. When Spock mentioned to her that Vulcan has no moon, she expressed little surprise at his lack of romanticism. She was also amazed that Spock lacked any curiosity with regard to the identity of a dead officer on planet M-113 . ( TOS : " The Man Trap ")

Soon afterward, when Charles Evans was aboard the Enterprise , Uhura and Spock entertained the crew together in the recreation room on stardate 1533.6. With Spock on the Vulcan harp , Uhura sang two versions of the improvised song Oh, On the Starship Enterprise , one about Spock, the second about Evans (which caused Evans to make her temporarily lose her voice). ( TOS : " Charlie X ")

In the alternate reality , Uhura and Spock became romantically involved. ( Star Trek )

Montgomery Scott [ ]

Scotty and Uhura (2267)

In 2287 , Uhura and Montgomery Scott were to take shore leave together. As Scott was unable to leave the Enterprise -A, she brought him dinner . Later, she began to show some romantic interest in Scott while being under the influence of Sybok. Scott, nevertheless, politely declined the advance, mindful of her "condition" and realizing that she was in fact a "convert". ( Star Trek V: The Final Frontier )

Uhura and Scott (2287)

Scott helped Uhura and Chekov look up Klingon phrases in antique books in 2293 while trying to cross the border into Klingon space to rescue their jailed colleagues. ( Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country )

Alternate timelines [ ]

Romulans revealed in 2266 [ ].

Lt. Uhura in an alternate 2266

In an alternate 2266 where Captain Pike prevented his exposure to delta radiation and saved the lives of several cadets that were due to die during that accident, Nyota Uhura had reached the rank of lieutenant and was still serving as communications officer aboard the Enterprise under Pike. ( SNW : " A Quality of Mercy ")

UEF Enterprise [ ]

Nyota Uhura aboard the UEF Enterprise in alternate 2259

In an alternate timeline created where Khan Noonien Singh was killed by the Romulan Sera and United Earth was at war with the Romulan Star Empire , Uhura joined the United Earth Fleet and by 2259 was assigned as communications officer aboard the UEF Enterprise under the command of Captain James T. Kirk . ( SNW : " Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow ")

Key dates [ ]

• Assigned to the USS Enterprise
• Graduates from Starfleet Academy and commissioned as an Ensign
• Between 2259 and 2266 : Promoted to Lieutenant
• 2270s : Promoted to lieutenant commander
• 2285 : As a commander , whilst remaining attached to the Enterprise , is assigned to Starfleet Training Command
• 2285: Requested assignment at Old City Station
• 2287 – 2293 : Communications officer of the USS Enterprise -A
• Between 2293 and 2301 : Promoted to Captain
• 2301– 2333 : Commanding officer of the USS Leondegrance
• 2301– 2305 : Explores the Lesser Magellanic Cloud and participates in over one hundred first contact missions
• 2333: Retires from Starfleet

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• " The Corbomite Maneuver "
• " Mudd's Women "
• " The Enemy Within " (voice only)
• " The Man Trap "
• " The Naked Time "
• " Charlie X "
• " Balance of Terror "
• " What Are Little Girls Made Of? "
• " Dagger of the Mind "
• " The Conscience of the King "
• " The Galileo Seven "
• " Court Martial "
• " The Menagerie, Part I "
• " The Menagerie, Part II " (voice only)
• " Shore Leave "
• " The Squire of Gothos "
• " The Alternative Factor "
• " Tomorrow is Yesterday "
• " The Return of the Archons "
• " A Taste of Armageddon "
• " Space Seed "
• " This Side of Paradise "
• " Errand of Mercy "
• " The City on the Edge of Forever "
• " Operation -- Annihilate! "
• " Catspaw "
• " Metamorphosis "
• " Friday's Child "
• " Who Mourns for Adonais? "
• " Amok Time "
• " The Changeling "
• " Mirror, Mirror "
• " The Deadly Years "
• " I, Mudd "
• " The Trouble with Tribbles "
• " Bread and Circuses "
• " Journey to Babel "
• " A Private Little War "
• " The Gamesters of Triskelion "
• " Obsession "
• " The Immunity Syndrome "
• " A Piece of the Action "
• " By Any Other Name "
• " Return to Tomorrow "
• " Patterns of Force "
• " The Ultimate Computer "
• " The Omega Glory "
• " Assignment: Earth "
• " Spectre of the Gun "
• " Elaan of Troyius "
• " The Enterprise Incident "
• " And the Children Shall Lead "
• " Spock's Brain "
• " Is There in Truth No Beauty? "
• " The Empath "
• " The Tholian Web "
• " For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky "
• " Day of the Dove "
• " Plato's Stepchildren "
• " Wink of an Eye "
• " That Which Survives "
• " Let That Be Your Last Battlefield "
• " Whom Gods Destroy "
• " The Mark of Gideon "
• " The Lights of Zetar "
• " The Cloud Minders "
• " Requiem for Methuselah "
• " The Savage Curtain "
• " Beyond the Farthest Star "
• " One of Our Planets Is Missing "
• " The Lorelei Signal "
• " More Tribbles, More Troubles "
• " The Infinite Vulcan "
• " The Magicks of Megas-Tu "
• " Once Upon a Planet "
• " The Terratin Incident "
• " The Time Trap "
• " The Slaver Weapon "
• " The Pirates of Orion "
• " The Practical Joker "
• " Albatross "
• " How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth "
• " The Counter-Clock Incident "
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
• Star Trek Generations (picture only)
• Star Trek Beyond (picture only)
• DS9 : " Trials and Tribble-ations " (archive footage)
• PRO : " Kobayashi " ( hologram ; archive audio)
• " Strange New Worlds "
• " Children of the Comet "
• " Ghosts of Illyria "
• " Memento Mori "
• " Spock Amok "
• " Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach "
• " The Elysian Kingdom "
• " All Those Who Wander "
• " A Quality of Mercy "
• " The Broken Circle "
• " Ad Astra per Aspera "
• " Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow "
• " Among the Lotus Eaters "
• " Charades "
• " Lost in Translation "
• " Those Old Scientists "
• " Under the Cloak of War "
• " Subspace Rhapsody "
• " Hegemony "
• " Holiday Party "
• " Holograms All the Way Down " (background hologram)
• " Walk, Don't Run " (archive footage)

Background information [ ]

Identifying appearances [ ].

Uhura was played by Nichelle Nichols , who appeared in sixty-six episodes. The character was voiced by her in two additional episodes, "The Enemy Within" and "The Menagerie, Part II", and appeared in stock footage in "The Paradise Syndrome". [3] For Star Trek 's 30th anniversary , Uhura reappeared in archive footage from "The Trouble with Tribbles" and "Mirror, Mirror" that was used in the Deep Space Nine episode "Trials and Tribble-ations". Twenty-six year later, Uhura was portrayed by Celia Rose Gooding for her inclusion in the TOS prequel, Strange New Worlds .

In addition to her physical appearances, Nichols also provided Uhura's voice for The Animated Series , in which Uhura appears in all but three episodes . Forty-eight years later, archive audio of Uhura from in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , "The Gamesters of Triskelion", "The Enterprise Incident", "The Mark of Gideon", "Space Seed", and "The Trouble with Tribbles" were later used for her appearance in the Prodigy episode "Kobayashi".

Name and heritage [ ]

According to an anecdote told by Nichelle Nichols at Shore Leave 29 , she and Gene Roddenberry decided on the name "Uhura" because, before Nichols' audition, she and several others involved in casting had been reading the 1962 novel Uhuru by American author Robert Ruark. The story was verified by Robert H. Justman and Herb Solow in Inside Star Trek: The Real Story .

"Uhuru" is the Swahili word for "freedom". Spock, after making a mind meld with Kollos in " Is There in Truth No Beauty? ", says that Uhura's name means "freedom" and recites a line of poetry about beauty from Lord Byron . In Star Trek VI , her name is misspelled "Uhuru" in the credits.

In the non- canon Star Trek RPG published by FASA in the 1980s, the full name given for the character was "Samara Uhura". In the RPG adaptation, the USS Samara Uhura was included as one of several Decker -class starships that were named for the Enterprise crew. Another first name suggested by a non-canon source was included in a character index in an issue of the fan publication Trek (later included in an edition of The Best of Trek published by Signet Books): Penda Uhura.

Nichelle Nichols herself has said that an author writing about the history of Star Trek had asked Gene Roddenberry what Uhura's first name was and was told that one had never been decided. The author then recommended the name "Nyota". Roddenberry liked it, but said to ask Nichols before he allowed the name to be used. Nichols thought the name was perfect. ( TOS Season 2 DVD commentary) Alternatively, in the video William Shatner's Star Trek Memories , Nichols also said that she and Roddenberry came up with the name in initial discussions about the character, just after her casting.

The name Nyota ("star" in Swahili) was first publicly used for the character by William Rotsler , in his 1982 book Star Trek II: Biographies . ( Enterprise NX-01 communications officer Hoshi Sato 's given name, "Hoshi", also means "Star", in Japanese.) Uhura's given name was finally canonically established as Nyota in the 2009 film Star Trek . (In the movie, the revelation playfully paralleled the long-time real-life ambiguity; starting with their first meeting in an Iowa bar , for three years Kirk tries unsuccessfully to learn her first name, only to learn it when her lover – Spock – assures her that he will return alive from a particular mission he and Kirk are about to embark on.)

Uhura's date and location of birth were also never established on screen. Her date of birth ( 2239 ) was derived from the Star Trek Chronology and the Star Trek Encyclopedia . The original Star Trek writer's guide and the Star Trek Concordance established that she was born in the United States of Africa . Her familiarity with the Swahili language implied – but did not require – an East African origin or heritage. The Concordance also states the intended information from deleted material regarding her mother, M'Umbha .

Establishing the role [ ]

Uhura was the last main character to be cast for the Original Series (except Walter Koenig as Pavel Chekov , since that character didn't debut until the second season of the show ). The casting of Uhura took place only a few weeks before production began on " The Corbomite Maneuver ", the first regular episode. In the original script of that installment, the communications officer was named " Dave Bailey ". When Nichelle Nichols (a former lover of Gene Roddenberry) was cast as the new comm officer, Bailey (played by Anthony Call ) was "transferred" to navigation. ( Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , pp. 153–154) Other than Nichelle Nichols, three additional candidates for the role were Ena Hartman , Mittie Lawrence and Gloria Calomee . ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One )

Uhura was included in the final draft script of " Miri ", given multiple lines of dialogue. Her part in the story, however, was ultimately rewritten for relief communications officer John Farrell .

Nichelle Nichols has stated on many occasions during the years (including in the video William Shatner's Star Trek Memories ) that, during the first year of the series, she was tempted to leave the show as she felt her role lacked significance, but a conversation with Martin Luther King, Jr. changed her mind. King personally encouraged her to stay on the show, telling her that he was a big fan of the series and told her she "could not give up" as she was playing a vital role model for young black children and women across the country. After the first season, Uhura's role on the series was expanded beyond merely manning her console.

The 1967 Writers' Guide for Star Trek 's second season described the character thus:

Communications officer Uhura was born in the United States of Africa. Quick and intelligent, she is a highly efficient officer and expert in all ships' systems related to communications. Uhura is also a warm, highly female female off duty. She is something of a favorite in the Recreation Room during off-duty hours too, because she sings – old ballads as well as the newer space ballads – and she can do an impersonation at the drop of a communicator.

Uhura was to have appeared in Star Trek: Phase II , an aborted second Star Trek series. A character description of her was included in a 1977 Writers'/Directors' Guide for that series, a document written by Gene Roddenberry and Jon Povill . Uhura's description was as follows:

Rank of Lieutenant Commander, Communications Officer, played by attractive young actress Nichelle Nichols. Uhura was born in the African Confederacy. Quick and intelligent, she is a highly efficient officer. Her understanding of the ship's computer systems is second only to the Vulcan Science Officer , and expert in all ships systems relating to communications. Uhura is also a warm, highly female female off duty. She is a favorite in the Recreation Room during off duty hours, too, because she sings – old ballads as well as the newer space ballads – and she can do impersonations at the drop of a communicator.

Nichelle Nichols was slated to make a cameo as Uhura in the Star Trek: Voyager episode " Flashback ", but was cut from that episode after requesting more lines for her role. ( Star Trek: Communicator  issue 108 )

Former NASA astronaut Mae Jemison has cited Nichols' role of Uhura as her inspiration for wanting to become an astronaut. [4]

Whoopi Goldberg also found Nichols's portrayal of Uhura inspiring as a child. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., p. 64)) Goldberg recalled that when she saw Uhura on-screen for the first time, she ran out of the room, telling everyone in her house, " I just saw a black woman on television; and she ain't no maid! " ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 56 )

Deanna Troi actress Marina Sirtis has stated about Uhura, " It was great that a black woman was on the bridge, but she really wasn't involved in many storylines. She was just there and that was enough for the times, it seems. " ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 27 , p. 18)

The idea that a young Jean-Luc Picard served under Captain Uhura has its roots in a story proposed for Star Trek: Short Treks , in which a young Picard would have been mentored by an elderly Uhura. Although the proposed Short Treks episode never came to fruition, two pieces of set dressing for Star Trek: Picard (the Speed of Light Club certificate in Picard's quantum archive, seen in " Remembrance ", and the commemorative plaque for the USS Leondegrance seen in " The Star Gazer ") establish the relationship canonically. [5]

Apocrypha [ ]

In the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (p. 49), Uhura was described as having a "fine-boned Bantu face". Likewise, in the novelization of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , Pavel Chekov said Uhura was from the Bantu Nation. James Blish referred to Uhura as "a beautiful Bantu girl" in his adaptations of the original Star Trek episodes.

According to Star Trek II: Biographies , Uhura was born on October 24th, 2240 in Nairobi , United States of Africa to parents Damu Pua and M'Umbha Makia. She has two siblings named Malcolm Marien Uhura and Uaekundu Uhura.

According to the novel Living Memory , Uhura's father was named Alhamisi (Damu Pua was a childhood nickname meaning " bloody nose "). She has a brother named Malcolm and a younger sister named Samara, as well as an uncle Raheem.

In the novel The Fire and the Rose , set shortly after "Mudd's Women", Uhura went to Captain Kirk and requested to be reassigned from the command division to the engineering and services division. Kirk was not happy with this decision and grilled her about throwing away her command abilities and leadership potential, however, despite his disappointment, he approved her transfer and explaining why she switched from a red uniform to a gold uniform.

In the novel Vulcan's Forge , Commander Uhura served as first officer of the USS Intrepid II under Captain Spock. She and Dr. McCoy were the only members of Captain Kirk's bridge crew to join Spock in his new command (Captain Sulu commanded the Excelsior and took Commander Chekov along as his first officer, and Captain Scott retired and headed off to the Norpin colony ). Uhura turned down a captaincy before becoming Spock's first officer, commenting that she'd never married or had children, and didn't want to take on the similar commitment to a ship that a promotion to captain would entail. This story took place a year after Captain Kirk was lost to the Nexus . Following a mission to the planet Obsidian, Spock resigned his Starfleet commission, and Uhura was promoted to captain and given command of the Intrepid II .

Uhura was depicted in the novels The Art of the Impossible , Catalyst of Sorrows , and Vulcan's Soul : Exodus as later going on to achieve the rank of admiral and becoming the head of Starfleet Intelligence in the 24th century , serving into 2377 .

According to The Autobiography of Jean-Luc Picard , Uhura was the President of the United Federation of Planets in the year 2327.

The Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Manual mentions a ship named the USS Samara Uhura , which is presumably named after Uhura, as her first name "Nyota" didn't become canon until Star Trek .

In Star Trek Cats , Uhura is depicted as a Burmese cat .

Sources [ ]

• Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens ; Star Trek: Phase II - The Making of the Lost Series ; Pocket Books , ISBN 0671568396 (softcover, 1997)
• Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens ; Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Continuing Mission ; Pocket Books, ISBN 0671025597 (softcover 1998)

External links [ ]

• Nyota Uhura at StarTrek.com
• Nyota Uhura at Wikipedia
• Nyota Uhura at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Nyota Uhura at the Star Trek Online Wiki
• 2 USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-G)
• 3 Star Trek: The Next Generation

Den of Geek

Star Trek: Nichelle Nichols’ Best Uhura Moments

The legendary Nichelle Nichols boldly went where no woman had gone before on Star Trek. Here are the moments where Lt. Uhura got to shine.

• Share on Facebook (opens in a new tab)
• Share on Twitter (opens in a new tab)
• Share on Linkedin (opens in a new tab)
• Share on email (opens in a new tab)

A true icon and legend to generations of fans, actor, singer, dancer and activist Nichelle Nichols left this plane of existence on July 30, 2022. Nichols, of course, was best known for her portrayal of Lt. Nyota Uhura in all three seasons of Star Trek: The Original Series , the short-lived 1973 animated series, plus six feature films featuring the original show’s crew members.

Uhura’s station on the bridge of the Enterprise as communications officer was a breakthrough in American television for both women and African-Americans. A woman, let alone a woman of color, had never been situated in such a high-ranking position before, one of several ways in which Star Trek and Nichols broke new ground.

When Nichols decided to leave after the first season after getting an offer to do a Broadway play, she was convinced to stay on the show by no less than Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In an interview with the Archive of American Television , she recalled King saying, “For the first time on television, we will be seen as we should be seen every day, as intelligent, quality, beautiful, people who can sing, dance, and can go to space, who are professors, lawyers … If you leave, that door can be closed.”

Nichols did stay, and while Star Trek perhaps remained the crowning professional achievement of her life, she continued to act, sing, write and appear at conventions well into her later years. She also worked with NASA on a successful program to recruit minorities and women into the space program.

Ad – content continues below

Uhura was undeniably an inspiration to millions and a beloved fixture in Star Trek lore. But the character was underused on The Original Series , often relegated to simply opening the hailing frequencies, occasionally screaming, and often reporting on communications failures. On the rare occasions she did get to do something more, her presence and grace was like a beam of pure light on a show that already lit up the imagination every week. Here are 10 examples of Uhura getting that chance to shine, and we’ll treasure them forever as her wonderful spirit heads into the undiscovered country.

“Charlie X” (Season 1, Episode 2)

While Uhura did get some brief business of her own in the first broadcast episode (“The Man Trap”), with a monstrous shapeshifter appearing to her as a member of her own nation, she got a chance to really stand out in this classic episode about a teenage boy who is unable to handle both his developing emotions and his massive reality-warping powers.

In one memorable sequence, Spock and Uhura entertain crew members in the recreation room, with Uhura singing along as Spock plays his Vulcan lute. Not only did the scene let Nichols show off her singing voice, but it established the respectful, playful – and slightly flirty – relationship between Uhura and Spock that was later developed as a full-blown romance in the Star Trek reboot movies.

“The Squire of Gothos” (Season 1, Episode 17)

Uhura doesn’t get a whole lot to do in this episode – in which a petulant superbeing toys with the crew of the Enterprise until his parents show up and scold him – but it at least gets her off the bridge for a few minutes. At one point, Trelane (William Campbell) transports the entire bridge crew down to his castle on the planet Gothos, where he gives Uhura the ability to play the harpsichord so that Trelane can dance with a female yeoman.

Uhura seems to actually having this newfound ability – cementing the character’s longstanding relationship with music – but she’s all business once Kirk (briefly) gets the upper hand on Trelane and manages to get the crew back to the ship.

“The Changeling” (Season 2, Episode 3)

When the psychopathic space probe Nomad comes aboard the Enterprise (a plot later reused in Star Trek: The Motion Picture ), it hears Uhura singing and does not understand it, so it zaps her brain looking for information – wiping her memory and reverting her mind back to that of a child.

Since her mind has been erased, Uhura’s only memory is of speaking Swahili – and a linguist was reportedly brought to the set to write a few lines in the language for Nichols to say. She is shown recovering slowly in Sickbay, and we’re happy to report that she’s back to college level by the end of the episode – and apparently back to normal in time for the next episode and her big role there.

Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!

“Mirror, Mirror” (Season 2, Episode 4)

Regarded as one of the very best episodes of The Original Series , “Mirror, Mirror” finds Kirk, Scott, Uhura, and McCoy trapped in an alternate universe where the Federation is a savage tyranny and Starfleet officers move up in ran through brutality, genocide, assassination, and torture.

Uhura gets lots to do in this episode: she’s involved throughout with the plans to get back to “our” universe, she seduces and then spurns Sulu – on the bridge, no less – in an attempt to distract him at a crucial moment, and even gets a brief fight scene of her own against the “Captain’s Woman” (yeah, we know). As with other episodes that get her out of that damn chair, it’s great to see this trained officer in action.

“The Trouble with Tribbles” (Season 2, Episode 15)

Uhura had perhaps her biggest role ever in this classic episode about a species of furry little animals that breed like crazy and overrun the Enterprise . It is actually the communications officer who brings the first tribble on board the ship: she and Chekov are enjoying a little shore leave in a space station bar when she is presented with one by a traveling salesman who wants to promote his wares.

Uhura’s little pet subsequently begins to breed, and what happens from there is the basis of one of Trek ’s most popular and iconic segments. Uhura is involved throughout, and in her foray to the space station, we actually get to see her act like a woman and a human being – not just a futuristic switchboard operator.

“The Gamesters of Triskelion” (Season 2, Episode 16)

Another (somewhat inexplicably) popular episode, this one finds Kirk, Uhura, and Chekov captured by a group of disembodied aliens called the Providers, who stage gladiatorial contests among various humanoid “Thralls” on their planet as a way to amuse themselves. Our three Starfleet officers of course resist their confinement and training, although they must eventually fight for their lives.

This one found Uhura again in the heart of the action, although both she and Chekov get to do considerably less fighting than good old Kirk (we wonder if Shatner counted the fight scenes). Uhura also must fend off an attempted rape by another Thrall, which fortunately occurs offscreen and which she is able to successfully beat back.

“The Tholian Web” (Season 3, Episode 9)

One of the better third season episodes finds Kirk trapped aboard a starship that has slipped into an interdimensional void, while the Enterprise must fend off an attack from an aggressive race called the Tholians as they wait for Kirk to re-emerge.

Not a lot of Uhura in this one besides her usual duties, but there is one striking scene late in the episode in which we see her in her quarters for the first time in civilian clothing – in this case, a long, flowing gown and ceremonial necklace. Nichols told author David Gerrold in his book The World of Star Trek that this was one of her favorite episodes: “I enjoyed anything that I was able to get out of uniform.”

“Plato’s Stepchildren” (Season 3, Episode 10)

It’s widely regarded as one of the worst Star Trek episodes , yet it contains a moment that stands tall in the history of television. A small band of depraved aliens with vast mental powers, who embrace classical Greek culture, submit Kirk and Spock to various forms of humiliation in order to keep Dr. McCoy from leaving after he saves their leader’s life.

At one point, Uhura and Nurse Chapel are transported down for further entertainment, resulting in a scene in which Kirk and Uhura kiss. The kiss is mentally imposed upon them by the aliens, but that doesn’t change the fact that it was one of the first kisses between a Black person and a white person on television (it was thought to be the first for some time, but that is not in fact the case ; it was also not the first interracial kiss, as long stated, since other shows, even Star Trek itself, had featured kisses between whites and people of Asian or Latino ancestry).

In any case, it was almost certainly the first kiss of its kind (between Black and white) on American network television, a brave move indeed during the turbulent late ‘60s and a moment in which Nichelle Nichols played an essential part.

“The Lorelei Signal” (The Animated Series, Season 1, Episode 4)

Although Uhura was supposed to be fourth in command of the Enterprise , after Kirk, Spock, and Scotty, she was never shown doing so in the live-action show (indeed, Sulu and recurring redshirt Lt. Leslie even got to sit in the chair, but not Uhura!). That changed, however, in this animated series episode, in which a race of beautiful alien women lures the male members of the Enterprise crew to their planet, in order to drain their life force.

With the entire male crew incapacitated by the alien women, Uhura assumes command of the ship for the first time in its televised history as she and Nurse Chapel search for a way to free the men. According to Andy Mangels’ Star Trek: The Animated Series , Nichols reportedly exclaimed during the script’s table read, “What, you’re kidding? I actually get to run the Enterprise ? Really?” Long overdue, madam.

“Once Upon a Planet” (The Animated Series, Season 1, Episode 9)

The animated series returns to the “amusement park” planet from the classic TOS entry “Shore Leave,” in which anything you desire can be made real for your entertainment. This time, however, the planet’s alien caretaker has died, and the planet’s massive computer is running things – and not doing a good job of it.

Uhura gets kidnapped by the computer at one point, and it’s up to her to try and talk some sense into it, albeit unsuccessfully. Not a great episode overall, but hey! It gets Nyota off the bridge again.

Star Trek: The Motion Pictures

In keeping with the TV series, Nichelle Nichols didn’t get a whole lot to do in the first three Star Trek feature films (she was even insultingly left behind as the others took off to save Spock in Star Trek III : The Search for Spock ). But things got a little better in the back three of the original cast’s six films.

In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , she and Chekov must go on a mission to covertly board an aircraft carrier parked in San Francisco (and also called Enterprise ) and borrow some energy from its nuclear reactor to recharge their stolen Klingon ship. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier finds Uhura – Nichelle Nichols not giving a shit and still bringing it in her mid-50s – doing a fan dance to distract some local morons on a backwater planet. That makes Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country – Nichols’ final appearance as Uhura – a bit of a letdown, since she’s back at mostly communications, although she has a generally more primary presence on the bridge (and is at the awkward dinner with the Klingons).

Latest TV reviews

The walking dead: the ones who live episode 6 review – the last time, renegade nell review: a boisterous british fairy tale, the walking dead: the ones who live episode 5 review – become.

Safe travels, dear lady, as you reach the final frontier.

Don Kaye | @donkaye

Don Kaye is an entertainment journalist by trade and geek by natural design. Born in New York City, currently ensconced in Los Angeles, his earliest childhood memory is…

• Skip to main content
• Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

Nichelle Nichols, Lt. Uhura on 'Star Trek,' dies at 89

Mandalit del Barco

Nichelle Nichols made history for her role as communications officer Lt. Uhura on Star Trek. CBS via Getty Images hide caption

Nichelle Nichols made history for her role as communications officer Lt. Uhura on Star Trek.

Actress and singer Nichelle Nichols, best known as Star Trek 's communications officer Lieutenant Uhura, died Saturday night in Silver City, New Mexico. She was 89 years old.

"I regret to inform you that a great light in the firmament no longer shines for us as it has for so many years," her son Kyle Johnson wrote on the website Uhura.com . "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 one of the first Black women featured in a major television series, and her role as Lt. Nyota Uhura on the original TV series was groundbreaking: an African American woman whose name came from Uhuru, the Swahili word for "freedom."

"Here I was projecting in the 23rd century what should have been quite simple," Nichols told NPR in 2011 . "We're on a starship. I was head communications officer. Fourth in command on a starship. They didn't see this as being, oh, it doesn't happen til the 23rd century. Young people and adults saw it as now."

In 1968, Nichols made headlines when Uhura shared an intimate kiss with Captain James T. Kirk (played by William Shatner) in an episode called "Plato's Stepchildren." Their interracial kiss on the lips was revolutionary, one of the first such moments on TV.

Nichelle Nichols shared one of the first interracial kisses in TV history with William Shatner.

Nichols was born Grace Dell Nichols in a Chicago suburb where her father was the mayor. She grew up singing and dancing, aspiring to star in musical theater. She got her first break in the 1961 musical Kicks and Co ., a thinly veiled satire of Playboy magazine. She was the star of the Chicago stock company production of Carmen Jones, and in New York performed in Porgy and Bess .

'To me, the highlight and the epitome of my life as a singer and actor and a dancer/choreographer was to star on Broadway," she told NPR in 2011, adding that as her popularity on Star Trek grew, she was beginning to get other offers. "I decided I was going to leave, go to New York and make my way on the Broadway stage."

Nichols said she went to Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek , and announced she was quitting. "He was very upset about it. And he said, take the weekend and think about what I am trying to achieve here in this show. You're an integral part and very important to it."

The Two-Way

For mlk day: 'lt. uhura' on how rev. king told her to stay on 'star trek'.

So that weekend, she went to an NAACP fundraiser in Beverly Hills and was asked to meet a man who said he was her number one fan: Martin Luther King, Jr.

"He complimented me on the manner in which I'd created the character. I thanked him, and 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.' So, I said to him, 'thank you so much. And I'm going to miss my co-stars.'"

"His face got very, very serious," she recalled. "And he said, 'what are you talking about?' And I said, 'well, I told Gene just yesterday that I'm going to leave the show after the first year because I've been offered... And he stopped me and said: 'You cannot do that.' I was stunned. He said, 'don't you understand what this man has achieved? For the first time, we are being seen the world over as we should be seen. He says, do you understand that this is the only show that my wife Coretta and I will allow our little children to stay up and watch.' I was speechless."

Nichols returned to the series, which lasted until 1969. She also reprised her famous role in six subsequent feature films, including Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , where Uhura was promoted to commander .

Much More Than A 5-Year Mission: 'Star Trek' Turns 50

For years, Nichols also helped diversify the real-life space program, helping to recruit astronauts Sally Ride, Judith Resnik, Guion Bluford, and others. And she had her own science foundation, Women in Motion .

"Many actors become stars, but few stars can move a nation," tweeted actress Lynda Carter, who played Wonder Woman on TV in the 1970s. "Nichelle Nichols showed us the extraordinary power of Black women and paved the way for a better future for all women in media. Thank you, Nichelle. We will miss you."

George Takei, who costarred on Star Trek as helmsman Hikaru Sulu tweeted: "I shall have more to say about the trailblazing, incomparable Nichelle Nichols, who shared the bridge with us as Lt. Uhura of the USS Enterprise," her wrote. "For today, my heart is heavy, my eyes shining like the stars you now rest among, my dearest friend."

He also posted a photo of his longtime friend, both of them flashing the Vulcan greeting, and these words: "We lived long and prospered together."

We lived long and prospered together. pic.twitter.com/MgLjOeZ98X — George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) July 31, 2022

Official Site of Nichelle Nichols

Nichelle in Public

View these wonderful images of Nichelle Nichols at conventions with fans, and other public appearances. (click for larger image)

Nichelle Artwork

Artwork of Nichelle Nichols from professional artists and her very talented fanbase! (click for larger image)

Nichelle in Star Trek

Images of Nichelle Nichols as Uhura on Star Trek TV and films! (click for larger image) *Star Trek is owned by CBS and Viacom, all rights reserved. Images not for commercial use.

Nichelle in TV and Films

Nichelle has had many roles on television and films, see them here. (click for larger image)

Nichelle Through the Years

See Nichelle in various images throughout her long career. (click for larger image)

• More to Explore
• Series & Movies

Published Dec 28, 2023

Nyota Uhura’s Most Iconic Star Trek Moments

It’s time to celebrate the Enterprise’s communications officer.

StarTrek.com

Nyota Uhura remains a groundbreaking character even to this day. Originated by Nichelle Nichols, the communications officer of the starship Enterprise was not only a courageous and clever addition to the crew, but represented a better future for viewers. Nichols herself was asked to remain on the show by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. , as he said it was one of the few shows he allowed his children to watch due to its depiction of Black characters as an equal leading character. Nichols also inspired legions of others, such as Sonequa Martin-Green, who blazed a trail as Michael Burnham in Star Trek: Discovery .

In 2009, Zoe Saldana stepped into the role in Star Trek (2009) . She delivered an equally powerful performance, setting the stage for Celia Rose Gooding to play the role in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds . While Gooding’s Uhura is a cadet, she is ready to prove herself and find her place among the cosmos.

To celebrate the beginnings of Uhura’s journey, we collected a few of Uhura’s most iconic moments from across the franchise to highlight her courage, her cleverness, and her leadership.

" Charlie X ," Star Trek: The Original Series

While this episode is full of dated views on gender, it does feature a scene highlighting Uhura’s friendship with the crew, particularly Spock. In the recreation room, Spock plays the Vulcan lute as Uhura sings “Oh, On the Starship Enterprise ” for the delight of the crew. While their performance ends abruptly due to Charlie’s powers, it’s a sweet scene that not only highlights Nichols’ gifted voice but shows that Uhura is a character with multiple sides to her beyond being a gifted officer.

"Mirror, Mirror," Star Trek: The Original Series

What do you do when trapped in an alternate universe? Uhura, along with Kirk, Scotty, and McCoy, finds the answer to that question in “Mirror, Mirror.” Uhura plays a key role in getting everyone home by distracting Sulu long enough for Scotty to divert warp power to the transporters. Even though she’s nervous, Uhura still proves herself to be as capable as the other officers on the mission, and without her bravery, Kirk and his crew would still be trapped in the Mirror Universe.

"The Lorelei Signal," Star Trek: The Animated Series

When Kirk and several male officers have their life forces drained on a planet full of siren-like women, Uhura steps up to take charge. Leading an all-women landing party, she convinces the women to free her captain and crew and to stop luring men to their deaths every 27 years. She even arranges for a ship — crewed only by women Starfleet officers — to come to pick up the women and take them to a more habitable planet. This is one of the few original episodes to allow Uhura to take full command, and of course she more than rises to the occasion, resolving the problem peacefully and without losing a single crewmember.

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

When she has the opportunity to help Spock come back to life, Uhura joins the rest of the crew in taking action. While her role is smaller in the film compared to her colleagues, she still gets one key and memorable scene. Uhura easily disarms and stops a young, brash Starfleet officer who’s guarding the Transporter room. “I’m glad you’re on our side,” McCoy says, and he’s right. Any side with Uhura on it? That’s clearly the winning team.

Star Trek Beyond

In the Kelvin universe, Uhura gets many opportunities to shine, but one key moment is her face-off with Krall in Star Trek Beyond . Uhura never gives up the faith that Kirk and her fellow crew members will save the day, and never displays fear or worry when Krall is threatening her. Once rescued and aboard the Franklin , it’s Uhura who is able to figure out that Krall is actually Captain Edison via the video logs left on the ship. Without her, the mystery behind Krall would have never been solved. She showcases her quick thinking to help save the day.

" Children of the Comet ," Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

"Children of the Comet"

Uhura lands an invitation to dinner at the captain's cabin where the crew gets to learn more about the cadet, with Pike noting how impressive she must be to land one of the few postings aboard the flagship Enterprise . She surprises the crew with her fluency in 37 languages, as well as her belief that she's doesn't consider herself "all that Starfleet."

Knowing Uhura's desire to study alien languages, Pike orders the cadet to join her first landing party as they survey a comet. On the comet's surface, they end up cut off from the ship's comms as they're near a volatile ancient egg-shaped relic. With time against them and a crewmember in critical condition, the away team relies on Uhura's specialty as a linguistics expert to help them out of their current predicament. As this was the first time her life was in danger; Uhura questions her presence there. When she defaults to her trait of humming when distressed, they noticed that the relic and the chamber reacting to Uhura's melody — the comet's form of communicating. As Uhura matches the comet's melodies, it lowers its force field allowing them to beam back aboard the Enterprise to save not only Sam Kirk's life as well as the lives of a neighboring planet in the comet's range.

" Subspace Rhapsody ," Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - Keep Us Connected

In another music-based moment, Ensign Uhura truly shines in her solo musical number, "Keep Us Connected," as performed by the Grammy Award-winning Gooding. She details the tragedies of her life — losing her family as well as her friend and mentor, Hemmer — at such a young age, and how that grief is woven into her fabric.

Despite all this, it's her experiences that has guided her here, and towards understanding the subspace anomaly. Armed with her strengths, she inspires the entire crew into a full-blown musical ensemble, " We Are One ," saving not only the Enterprise , but all others in the surrounding area.

What’s your favorite Uhura moment? Let us know on social!

Get Updates By Email

This article was originally published on May 16, 2022.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Latin America, Brazil, South Korea, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. In addition, the series airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave in Canada and on SkyShowtime in the Nordics, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Central and Eastern Europe. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

Appreciation: ‘Star Trek’ underutilized Nichelle Nichols. She was its heart and soul anyway

• Show more sharing options
• Copy Link URL Copied!

The original “Star Trek” may have been canceled in 1969, but it is still with us . That three seasons of a television series could in those days produce 79 episodes led to a healthy life in syndication, which brought the voyagers of the starship Enterprise new generations of viewers and led to the creation of a dedicated fandom, multiple ongoing conventions and the eventual creation of a franchise that continues to pay respect to the original .

As communications officer Lt. Uhura (the first name Nyota was a later addition), Nichelle Nichols, who died Saturday at the age of 89 , was with the show from first to last, including the subsequent “Star Trek: The Animated Series” and six feature films built around the original cast. Nichols was an elegant, poised performer — she was a trained dancer who held herself like one, just sitting at her console, one leg forward, one leg back, one hand to her earpiece — and in a series in which overacting can sometimes seem like the baseline, she never did too much. But Uhura was far more than a character in a television show, just as Nichols was something more than an actor: They were inspirational figures of historical import, both the player and the part, models of dignity who pointed to a better future simply by doing their jobs.

While racism was a recurring theme on “Star Trek,” Earth in the 23rd century is portrayed as having moved beyond prejudice, and so within the context of the series there is nothing extraordinary about a Black woman in a position of responsibility — Nichols has described Uhura as “fourth in command” — which is exactly what made it extraordinary in the context of late-1960s television.

Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt. Uhura on ‘Star Trek,’ dies at 89

Nichols died of heart failure Saturday night at a hospital in Silver City, N.M.

July 31, 2022

“Where I come from, size, shape or color make no difference,” William Shatner’s Kirk tells little person Michael Dunn in “Plato’s Stepchildren,” the third-season episode in which Kirk and Uhura have their famous kiss — not television’s first interracial kiss, it has been pointed out, but as far as I can tell, the first between a Black woman and a white man. The fact that they’re forced into it by telekinetic aliens, robbing them of agency, makes the scene no less groundbreaking, and Uhura’s speech to Kirk just beforehand puts a deeper slant on things: “I’m thinking of all the times on the Enterprise when I was scared to death. And I would see you so busy at your command. And I would hear your voice from all parts of the ship. And my fears would fade. And now [the aliens] are making me tremble. But I’m not afraid.“

Kiss aside, there’s no question Nichols was underused in the series; in the hierarchy of the show, in terms of screen time, there are Kirk and Spock, and then McCoy and Scott, and then Uhura (and Sulu and Chekhov). A lot of dudes. (Majel Barrett’s recurring Nurse Chapel was the only other female element, notwithstanding various guest aliens, often scantily clad.) Uhura rarely joins a landing party. But even when she’s not the focus of a scene, she is regularly onscreen, even if just visible at her post on the bridge, completing the picture, contributing to the emotional tenor. (And when she isn’t there, you notice it.) As the communications officer, everything runs through Uhura: She’s the voice of what’s happening elsewhere on the ship, and what’s happening outside the ship, whether announcing the presence of some other spacecraft or relating what’s up with Planet X. Even reciting lines like “I’m receiving Class Two signals from the Romulan vessel” or “Revised estimate on cloud visual contact 3.7 minutes,” she is the picture of the professional. She builds exposition, asks important questions; wordlessly reacting to some bit of business on the viewing screen, she brings an emotion and energy into the scene different from that of her sometimes blustery male colleagues.

Still, in the series’ first episode, Uhura confesses that she’s “beginning to feel too much a part of that communications console.” And whenever she’s liberated from her post for a minute and allowed to do anything else at all, you notice and remember. Whether she’s in a crawl space rigging up a subspace bypass circuit, or speaking teasingly with Spock (“Why don’t you tell me I’m an attractive young lady or ask me if I’ve ever been in love? Tell me how your planet Vulcan looks on a lazy evening when the moon is full”), or pretending to be an evil mirror-universe version of herself, these excursions leave you wanting more. For all it accomplished, the series missed a few tricks when it came to Nichols.

There was more to her than “Star Trek,” before, after and during. A performer since her teens, Nichols had toured as a dancer (and at least one night as a replacement singer) with Duke Ellington and made her screen debut in the 1959 film of “Porgy and Bess.” She had originally set her sights on a career in musical theater. You get a glimpse of that performer in the series’ second episode, when, as Spock plays on his Vulcan lyre, Uhura begins to mischievously sing and move catlike through the ship’s lounge: “Oh, on the Starship Enterprise / There’s someone who’s in Satan’s guise / Whose devil ears and devil eyes / Could rip your heart from you.” (Nichols got a couple more chances to sing in the series and performed a fan dance in “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.”) It was to take a part in a Broadway-bound play that Nichols decided to leave the series after its first season, only to be persuaded to stay after an oft-recounted chance meeting with self-professed huge fan Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who, she later recalled, told her: “For the first time on television, we will be seen as we should be seen every day, as intelligent, quality, beautiful people who can sing, dance and can go to space.”

‘Star Trek’ is the greatest sci-fi franchise of all. Why it’s stood the test of time

Full of ideas and emotions, the ever-expanding ‘Star Trek’ canon is still finding new ways to go where no TV show has gone before, 55 years on.

Oct. 28, 2021

Apart from “Star Trek” films, which commenced in 1979, a decade after the series was canceled, Nichols continued sporadically to act, including episodes of “Heroes,” “Downward Dog” and “The Young and the Restless,” and movies of varying budget and quality, including Disney’s “Snow Dogs” and the zombie film “The Supernaturals”; perhaps her least Uhura-esque role is in the 1974 Isaac Hayes blaxploitation film “Truck Turner,” in which she plays an ice-cold, highly profane madam. (In 2008, she’d play another madam, a friendly one, in “Lady Magdalene’s,” a ridiculous low-budget action comedy.) Whatever the vehicle, her work always feels committed and self-assured.

But “Star Trek” remains her legacy, and her gift, and it shaped her life, leading Nichols to work with NASA, recruiting women and people of color to the space program (as recounted in the 2019 documentary “Woman in Motion”). Finally, it was home. In the 2007 feature-length fan film “Star Trek: Of Men and Gods,” directed by “Star Trek: Voyager” actor Tim Russ and also starring Nichols’ old castmate Walter “Chekhov” Koenig, Nichols played Uhura one final time, in a part that — with no Kirk, no Spock in the way — at last brought her to center stage. Currently available on YouTube , the film definitely feels homemade, but it is clearly a labor of love, and Nichols, white-haired and still beautiful, is wonderful in it. And Uhura still lives, in the person of Celia Rose Gooding, who plays the character’s younger self in “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.” These days, “Trek” women get a lot to do. And often they are women of color.

“I believe it was fated,” Nichols said in a Television Academy interview of the encounter with Dr. King that sent her back to “Star Trek.” ”And I’ve never looked back, I never regretted it. Because I understood the universe had somehow, that universal mind had somehow put me there. And we have choices — are we going to walk down this road or are we going to walk down the other? And it was the right road for me.”

More to Read

Joe Flaherty will always remain dear to comedy fans, thanks to ‘SCTV’ and ‘Freaks and Geeks’

April 2, 2024

Barbara Rush, ‘It Came From Outer Space’ and ‘Peyton Place’ actor, dies at 97

April 3, 2024

William Shatner has performed for decades, but he also loves horses and is designing a watch

March 12, 2024

The complete guide to home viewing

Get Screen Gab for everything about the TV shows and streaming movies everyone’s talking about.

You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.

Robert Lloyd has been a Los Angeles Times television critic since 2003.

More From the Los Angeles Times

Hunter Schafer is over being cast in transgender roles: ‘I find it ultimately demeaning’

Entertainment & Arts

Column: Bob Iger, you beat Nelson Peltz. Don’t let Disney give in to his agenda on diversity

Anya Taylor-Joy reveals she married Malcolm McRae two years ago — on April Fools’ Day

I spent 24 hours on Trump’s Truth Social so you don’t have to. No wonder it’s tanking

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

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

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 will be remembered chiefly for her role in the sci-fi adventure series, but she began her career as a dancer and nightclub singer.

US president Joe Biden paid tribute to Nichols, saying she “shattered stereotypes”. “Our nation has lost a trailblazer of stage and screen who redefined what is possible for Black Americans and women”.

“Our nation is forever indebted to inspiring artists like Nichelle Nichols, who show us a future where unity, dignity, and respect are cornerstones of every society.”

Co-star George Takei tweeted that his heart was heavy, “my eyes shining like the stars you now rest among, my dearest friend” and he would have more to say soon on the “incomparable” trailblazer.

I shall have more to say about the trailblazing, incomparable Nichelle Nichols, who shared the bridge with us as Lt. Uhura of the USS Enterprise, and who passed today at age 89. For today, my heart is heavy, my eyes shining like the stars you now rest among, my dearest friend. — George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) July 31, 2022

Prominent Georgia Democrat and voting rights organizer Stacey Abrams , who is running again for the state governorship and is a longtime Star Trek fan, tweeted a picture of herself with Nichols.

“One of my most treasured photos – Godspeed to Nichelle Nichols, champion, warrior and tremendous actor. Her kindness and bravery lit the path for many,” she wrote. “May she forever dwell among the stars.”

One of my most treasured photos - Godspeed to Nichelle Nichols, champion, warrior and tremendous actor. Her kindness and bravery lit the path for many. May she forever dwell among the stars. #RIPNichelle #Uhura pic.twitter.com/nFXHif8HEC — Stacey Abrams (@staceyabrams) July 31, 2022

Star Trek brought Nichols enduring recognition and helped to break down some racial barriers in the television business, as they were rampant elsewhere.

She shared one of the first lip-to-lip interracial kisses on television – with co-star William Shatner, aka Captain Kirk. The kiss at the time was considered a forward-looking move on the part of the actors, as well as Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and the network that broadcast the show, NBC.

The episode in question, titled Plato’s Stepchildren, aired in 1968 and was fashioned in a way that gave those involved something of an out from any potential discriminatory backlash: Uhura and Kirk did not choose to kiss but were instead made to do so after being inhabited by aliens.

Roddenberry had reportedly insisted on an integrated crew for Starship Enterprise – a bold move given that interracial marriage was still illegal in 17 US states. Only a year earlier, Variety reported, Sammy Davis Jr had gone no further than kiss Nancy Sinatra on the cheek on Movin’ With Nancy.

The original Star Trek premiered on NBC on 8 September 1966. Its multicultural, multiracial cast was creator Gene Roddenberry’s message to viewers that in the far-off future, the 23rd century, human diversity would be fully accepted.

“I think many people took it into their hearts … that what was being said on TV at that time was a reason to celebrate,” Nichols said in 1992 when a Star Trek exhibit was on view at the Smithsonian Institution.

She often recalled how civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr was a fan of the show and praised her role.

She met him at a civil rights gathering in 1967, at a time when she had decided not to return for the show’s second season.

“When I told him I was going to miss my co-stars and I was leaving the show, he became very serious and said ‘You cannot do that’,” she told The Tulsa World in a 2008 interview.

“‘You’ve changed the face of television forever, and therefore, you’ve changed the minds of people’,” she said the civil rights leader told her.

Nichols said: “That foresight Dr King had was a lightning bolt in my life.”

More recently, she had a recurring role on television’s Heroes, playing the great-aunt of a young boy with mystical powers.

Nichols, trained as a dancer and also worked as a nightclub chanteuse, with the Washington Post reporting that she thought being cast in Star Trek would be a “nice stepping stone” to Broadway stage fame, not realizing that the TV show and her character would be an iconic and enduring smash hit.

Actor Wilson Cruz wrote on Twitter that “representation matters”.

Nichols “modeled it for us. With her very presence and her grace she shone a light on who we as people of color are and inspired us to reach for our potential,” he wrote . “Rest well, glittering diamond in the sky.”

Before we understood how much #RepresentationMatters #NichelleNichols modeled it for us. With her very presence & her grace she shone a light on who we as people of color are & inspired us to reach for our potential. Rest well glittering diamond in the sky https://t.co/DmeLFbg825 — Wilson Cruz (@wcruz73) July 31, 2022

The Smithsonian tweeted a picture of Lt Uhura’s iconic red mini-dress and noted that Nichols made “history for African American women in TV and film. Nichols also volunteered to recruit women and people of color for Nasa.”

Today we remember Nichelle Nichols. She starred as Lieutenant Uhura on "Star Trek" wearing this uniform now in our @NMAAHC , making history for African American women in TV and film. Nichols also volunteered to recruit women and people of color for NASA. #BecauseOfHerStory pic.twitter.com/fZZqfGlomz — Smithsonian (@smithsonian) July 31, 2022

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.

Her big break in the 1961 Chicago musical Kicks and Co. Nichols later appeared in the title role in Carmen Jones and in a New York staging of Porgy and Bess as well as in Jean Genet’s The Blacks, and landed small film roles.

Nichols was married and divorced twice, and is survived by her son, Kyle Johnson.

• US television

Most viewed

• AI Generator

Star Trek: The Original Series

• Standard editorial rights
• Custom rights
• Nichelle Nichols ,
• Star Trek ,
• 1960-1969 ,
• Arts Culture and Entertainment ,
• California ,
• Celebrities ,
• City Of Los Angeles ,
• Star Trek - The Original Series ,
• Television Show ,

Nichelle Nichols (1932-2022)

Additional crew.

IMDbPro Starmeter See rank

• 7 wins & 7 nominations

• Lieutenant Nyota Uhura
• 1966–1969 • 68 eps

• Michelle McHalls
• Pre-production

• Octavia Butler

• Nyota Uhura

• Mystic Woman

• Teresa Suskin

• Secretary General Starr

• Adm. Grace Jemison
• Admiral Jemison

• Deejay Devine

• Admiral Grace Jemison

• Lucinda Winters

• Captain Nyota Uhura

• co-producer

• executive producer

• choreographer
• In-development projects at IMDbPro

Personal details

• Duke & Nichelle
• 5′ 3½″ (1.61 m)
• December 28 , 1932
• Robbins, Illinois, USA
• July 30 , 2022
• Silver City, New Mexico, USA (heart failure)
• Spouses Duke Mondy December 20, 1967 - March 1972 (divorced)
• Kyle Johnson
• Parents Samuel Earl Nichols
• Other works TV commercial: Psychic Encounters
• 1 Print Biography
• 12 Interviews
• 6 Pictorials
• 2 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

• Trivia Frustrated with the racist harassment, culminating with her learning that the studio was withholding her fan mail, she submitted her resignation from Star Trek (1966) after consulting with series creator Gene Roddenberry . She stated in several interviews that the harassment made her go back to work in theater until attending an NAACP fundraiser. The fundraiser was where a Star Trek fan was about to meet her for the first time and, to her astonishment, the fan turned out to be Dr. Martin Luther King . King stated that his wife and children had seen Star Trek on TV and it was the only television series that he had approved of. He said that her role as the fourth in command of the USS Enterprise became a positive role model for African-Americans. She withdrew her resignation from the series when King personally convinced her that her role was too important as a breakthrough to leave.
• Quotes [on the Star Trek (1966) fans] I'm a fan of the fans. I love them. They're fabulous. I love being around them. I love their madness and their caring. I love watching them take off for a weekend, don the costumes, and become characters from the 23rd century and beyond. I thank the fans for giving us--me--so much support and love. I want them to know I love them. They will always be my friends. I'll see the fans, always. They can rest assured of that.
• Trademarks Lieutenant Nyota Uhura on Star Trek (1966) and six of the Star Trek films
• When did Nichelle Nichols die?
• How did Nichelle Nichols die?
• How old was Nichelle Nichols when she died?

Related news

Contribute to this page.

• Learn more about contributing

More to explore

Add demo reel with IMDbPro

How much have you seen?

Recently viewed

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Nichelle Nichols, Lieutenant Uhura on ‘Star Trek,’ Dies at 89

She was among the first Black women to have a leading role in a TV series. She later worked with NASA to recruit minorities for the space program.

By Bruce Weber

Nichelle Nichols, the actress revered by “Star Trek” fans for her role as Lieutenant Uhura, the communications officer on the starship U.S.S. Enterprise, died on Saturday in Silver City, N.M. She was 89.

The cause was heart failure, said Sky Conway, a writer and a film producer who said he had been asked by Kyle Johnson, Ms. Nichols’s son, to speak for the family.

Ms. Nichols had a long career as an entertainer, beginning as a teenage supper-club singer and dancer in Chicago, her hometown, and later appearing on television.

But she will forever be best remembered for her work on “Star Trek,” the cult-inspiring space adventure series that aired from 1966 to 1969 and starred William Shatner as Captain Kirk, the heroic leader of the starship crew; Leonard Nimoy as his science officer and adviser, Mr. Spock, an ultralogical humanoid from the planet Vulcan; and DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy, a.k.a. Bones, the ship’s physician.

A striking beauty, Ms. Nichols provided a frisson of sexiness on the bridge of the Enterprise. She was generally clad in a snug red doublet and black tights; Ebony magazine called her the “most heavenly body in ‘Star Trek’” on its 1967 cover. Her role, however, was both substantial and historically significant.

Uhura was an officer and a highly educated and well-trained technician who maintained a businesslike demeanor while performing her high-minded duties. Ms. Nichols was among the first Black women to have a leading role on a network television series, making her an anomaly on the small screen, which until that time had rarely depicted Black women in anything other than subservient roles.

In a November 1968 episode, during the show’s third and final season, Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Uhura are forced to embrace by the inhabitants of a strange planet, resulting in what is widely thought to be the first interracial kiss in television history.

Ms. Nichols’s first appearances on “Star Trek” predated the 1968 sitcom “Julia,” in which Diahann Carroll, playing a widowed mother who works as a nurse, became the first Black woman to star in a non-stereotypical role in a network series.

(A series called “Beulah,” also called “The Beulah Show,” starring Ethel Waters — and later Louise Beavers and Hattie McDaniel — as the maid for a white family, was broadcast on ABC in the early 1950s and subsequently cited by civil rights activists for its demeaning portraits of Black people.)

But Uhura’s influence reached far beyond television. In 1977, Ms. Nichols began an association with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, contracting as a representative and speaker to help recruit female and minority candidates for spaceflight training; the following year’s class of astronaut candidates was the first to include women and members of minority groups.

In subsequent years, Ms. Nichols made public appearances and recorded public service announcements on behalf of the agency. In 2012, after she was the keynote speaker at the Goddard Space Center during a celebration of African American History Month, a NASA news release about the event lauded her help for the cause of diversity in space exploration.

“Nichols’s role as one of television’s first Black characters to be more than just a stereotype and one of the first women in a position of authority (she was fourth in command of the Enterprise) inspired thousands of applications from women and minorities,” the release said. “Among them: Ronald McNair, Frederick Gregory, Judith Resnik, first American woman in space Sally Ride and current NASA administrator Charlie Bolden.”

Grace Dell Nichols was born in Robbins, Ill., on Dec. 28, 1932 (some sources give a later year), and grew up in Chicago. Her father, a chemist, was the mayor of Robbins for a time. At 13 or 14, tired of being called Gracie by her friends, she requested a different name from her mother, who liked Michelle but suggested Nichelle for the alliteration.

Ms. Nichols was a ballet dancer as a child and had a singing voice with a naturally wide range — more than four octaves, she later said. While attending Englewood High School in Chicago she landed her first professional gig, in a revue at the College Inn, a well-known nightspot in the city.

There she was seen by Duke Ellington, who employed her a year or two later with his touring orchestra as a dancer in one of his jazz suites.

Ms. Nichols appeared in several musical theater productions around the country during the 1950s. In an interview with the Archive of American Television, she recalled performing at the Playboy Club in New York City while serving as an understudy for Ms. Carroll in the Broadway musical “No Strings” (though she never went on).

In 1959, she was a dancer in Otto Preminger’s film version of “Porgy and Bess.” She made her television debut in 1963 in an episode of “The Lieutenant,” a short-lived dramatic series, created by Gene Roddenberry, about Marines at Camp Pendleton. Mr. Roddenberry went on to create “Star Trek.”

Ms. Nichols appeared on other television shows over the years — among them “Peyton Place” (1966), “Head of the Class” (1988) and “Heroes” (2007). She also appeared onstage in Los Angeles, including in a one-woman show in which she did impressions of, and paid homage to, Black female entertainers who preceded her, including Lena Horne, Pearl Bailey and Eartha Kitt.

But Uhura was to be her legacy. A decade after “Star Trek” went off the air, Ms. Nichols reprised the role in “Star Trek: The Motion Picture,” and she appeared as Uhura, by then a commander, in five subsequent movie sequels through 1991.

Besides her son, her survivors include two sisters, Marian Smothers and Diane Robinson.

Ms. Nichols was married and divorced twice. In her 1995 autobiography, “Beyond Uhura: Star Trek and Other Memories,” she disclosed that she and Mr. Roddenberry, who died in 1991, had been romantically involved for a time. In an interview in 2010 for the Archive of American Television, she said that he had little to do with her casting in “Star Trek” but that he defended her when studio executives wanted to replace her.

When she took the role of Uhura, Ms. Nichols said, she thought of it as a mere job at the time, valuable as a résumé enhancer; she fully intended to return to the stage, as she wanted a career on Broadway. Indeed, she threatened to leave the show after its first season and submitted her resignation to Mr. Roddenberry. He told her to think it over for a few days.

In a story she often told, she was a guest that Saturday night at an event in Beverly Hills, Calif. — “I believe it was an N.A.A.C.P. fund-raiser,” she recalled in the Archive interview — where the organizer introduced her to someone he described as “your biggest fan.”

“He’s desperate to meet you,” she recalled the organizer saying.

The fan, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., introduced himself.

“He said, ‘We admire you greatly, you know,’ ” Ms. Nichols said, and she thanked him and told him that she was about to leave the show. “He said, ‘You cannot. You cannot.’”

Dr. King told her that her role as a dignified, authoritative figure in a popular show was too important to the cause of civil rights for her to forgo. As Ms. Nichols recalled it, he said, “For the first time, we will be seen on television the way we should be seen every day.”

On Monday morning, she returned to Mr. Roddenberry’s office and told him what had happened.

“And I said, ‘If you still want me to stay, I’ll stay. I have to.’”

Eduardo Medina contributed reporting.

An earlier version of this obituary misspelled the surname of one of the astronauts NASA said were inspired to join the American space program by Ms. Nichols’s role on “Star Trek.” She was Judith Resnik, not Resnick.

How we handle corrections

• Bridge Crew
• Alien Series 1
• Aliens Series 2
• Other Trek Toys
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture
• Accessory Check
• CREW SERIES
• Captain Kirk
• CLOSE MENU •
• ALIENS SERIES 1
• ALIENS SERIES 2
• Enterprise Gift Set
• Mission to Gamma VI
• Telescreen Console
• Transporter Room
• Command Console
• Communicators
• Phaser Game
• STAR TREK THE MOTION PICTURE
• 12 Inch Figures
• 3 3/4 Inch Figures
• 3 3/4 Prototype

Lt. Uhura (Item No. 51200/4) , communications officer of the Starship Enterprise, as portrayed by Nichelle Nichols. The head sculpt on this figure is, regrettably, kind of "blah," reflecting more of a generic female face than the character itself. It's serviceable, but it wins no awards for modeling. However, it is to Mego's credit that this figure exists at all. The manufacture of this figure flies in the face of all the frugality and economy that Mego traditionally holds dear. They could have easily made Chekov or Sulu as a sixth edition to the first series, since they already wear practically the same uniform as Kirk. However, the toymaker took the higher and rockier road, patterning an entirely new uniform top for this lone, female, African-American figure.

The figure came outfitted in a red tunic, brown tights and black boots. The tunic was detailed with a black neckband, one gold foil rank stripe on each arm, and a silver foil insignia. (This insignia is particularly problematic for loose collectors, as it consists of a stiff adhesive gray backing and a whisper-thin sheet of silver foil. This backing is almost always found on the tunic, as it is well-glued onto the fabric. However, the foil is delicate and typically curls, tears, and/or falls off after even five minutes of play time.)

A blue tricorder served to complete the ensemble.

Lt Uhura on a "6-face" card with the name in white lettering.

Mego Lt Uhura on a "6-face" card with the name inpurple lettering.(the backer is the same)

‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Star Sonequa Martin-Green on the Show’s Unexpected Final Season, the ‘Pressure’ of Representation and Taking the ‘Trek’ Cruise

By Adam B. Vary

Adam B. Vary

Senior Entertainment Writer

• ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Star Sonequa Martin-Green on the Show’s Unexpected Final Season, the ‘Pressure’ of Representation and Taking the ‘Trek’ Cruise 6 hours ago
• Jerrod Carmichael Was Terrified of Being Seen, So He Made a Reality Show: ‘This May Be Unhealthy. It Is a Little Dangerous’ 6 days ago
• ‘Star Trek 4’ Beams Up New Screenwriter: ‘The Flight Attendant’ Creator Steve Yockey (EXCLUSIVE) 1 week ago

Sonequa Martin-Green ’s first memories of “ Star Trek ” are of her parents watching it on TV — but really, they’re of Nichelle Nichols.

“I don’t even know as a child if I knew her real name, but I knew, here’s this beautiful Black woman,” Martin-Green says. “This is Uhura.”

When Martin-Green and her castmates shot Season 5, they didn’t know that it would be the final mission for “Discovery”; the show was well into post-production on the season when Paramount+ made the announcement. But in an uncommon show of goodwill, the streamer and CBS Studios carved out an additional three-day shoot for the series finale so “Discovery” could have a proper send off.

“We wanted to conclude on a high note, and it was so important to honor the series’ incredible legacy and to give it the final season it deserves,” says Jeff Grossman, EVP of Paramount+ programming. “We’re so grateful to the producers for developing an extraordinary coda to bring ‘Discovery’ to a close.”

Remarkably, even though they weren’t designed to be this way, the first four episodes of the season, which Variety has screened, have a striking finality to them. Several characters make momentous life choices while the crew of the USS Discovery embark on a season-long adventure that feels like a culmination of sorts for everything they’ve experienced to that point. 

“I think it will feel like we had baked it from the beginning,” says executive producer and showrunner Michelle Paradise.

What was your very first exposure to “Star Trek”?

I can remember seeing it on the television when I was a kid. I can remember watching my parents watch it. I never sat down to watch it, but I knew what it was. I knew that’s “Star Trek,” that’s Nichelle Nichols. I don’t even know as a child if I knew her real name, but I knew here’s this beautiful Black woman. This is Uhura. I remember LeVar Burton. It’s interesting — I have flashes of a few people, but the two of them are the most prevalent in my memory.

Recently, Paramount+ posted a fascinating conversation between you and “Lower Decks” star Tawny Newsome , and one thing you discussed was how you’ve realized that, early on in the show, you took on too much responsibility. How did that manifest for you?

It was present when we were all establishing this culture of family on the set. I knew that that was exceedingly important, invaluable even, and everyone agreed with me. So I was mindful of that as we were going along.

But also it affected me in my work between action and cut, honestly. I felt so much pressure. Most of it I had put on myself. It needed to be perfect, and it needed to be right, and I needed to do it justice, and I needed to, I needed to, I needed to. It was very much, I must, I must, I must.

You can’t stay in the place that I was in because it is stagnating, and it does stifle your creativity. Thankfully, it was able to pass through me. It took time, longer than I thought it would take, but it did eventually get to where I finally could be authentic without that pressure.

Was part of that pressure because of this franchise’s history of breaking ground in representation with Nichelle Nichols and George Takei?

Oh, yeah. George Takei, Avery Brooks, Kate Mulgrew. That’s exactly why. We knew that [“Star Trek”] was an heirloom, and to me it was heavy at first. At the time, I was still dealing with a great deal of internalized racism as well, so there was the imposter syndrome. There was the idea that I needed to prove that I deserve to be there, that I needed to make those who came before me proud, that I needed to prove my worth to them because of what had already been accomplished, because I knew that I was there largely because of them.

Of course, I knew that God had placed me there as well. I was always very clear about that, but I knew that they had paved the path that I was walking on. It was very much that I need to be perfect because of who came before me and what they accomplished.

How often are you meeting fans for whom “Discovery” is their first “Star Trek”?

What do they say to you?

They’ll say, “You’re my ‘Trek.’” And that could bring a tear to my eye, because that’s the whole point of this.

How do they say they came to the show?

There’s a little bit of everything. I get people saying, “I watched you on ‘Walking Dead,’ and then when I saw that you were on this, I decided to watch this, and now I’m watching other ‘Treks.’” Some people will say, “My sibling or parent or spouse or best friend was watching it and encouraged me to watch it.” I’ve heard, “I was there from the very beginning. I watched the original series when it was on television.” Of course, these people are typically in their early seventies, and they’ll say, “But I love ‘Discovery.’ Thank you for bringing ‘Trek’ back.”

I’ve been in tears with people before, because they’ll say, “This was what me and my dad shared,” or, “This is what me and my grandmother shared before they left.” Or they’ll say, “‘Discovery’ actually brought my family back together. There’s not very many things that we agree on, but we come together every week as a family to watch ‘Discovery.’” I’ve had more than one person say that to me.

You were just on the official “Star Trek” cruise — were you having those kinds of interactions often with fans?

Oh, yes. The thing about the cruise is that everybody’s there for the same reason. Usually, when I meet people at conventions, they could be there for lots of things. But on the cruise, it’s pointed. It is about this .

What are you doing on the cruise? What is your day like?

Oh, you’re doing all kinds of things. You’re playing a lot of games. There’s karaoke, there’s interviews. You’re also doing things like sushi making, wine tasting. There are variety shows at night. There’s sketch shows, there’s performances, there’s music, there’s concerts. Anthony Rapp did a concert. Tawny and Eugene [Cordero] did some improv. It’s all kinds of everything. 

How much interaction do you have with “Star Trek” alumni who you’d not met before?

More than I was expecting and more than I typically have. We see each other at events here and there. But I was really moved by being able to be with other people from the iterations. What really struck me was, man, I talk a lot about the family of “Star Trek: Discovery.”

But I realized on the cruise how every iteration was its own family. We learned a lot about the “Next Gen” family through Jonathan Frakes, who’s one of our most beloved directors of “Discovery.” He took us under his wing, and he would talk to us about how they were such a family. But being able to see it, it’s different.

There’s an intimacy between “Star Trek” actors and the fandom that isn’t nearly as present for other franchises — like, Ewan McGregor isn’t going on a “Star Wars” cruise. What has it been like stepping into that aspect of it? 

The fans would yell out to us at press events, at panels, “Welcome to the family!” I just met a group of ladies just a couple of months ago at a convention who said, “We only know each other because of ‘Discovery,’ but we are now like family.” That happens a lot. But it is overwhelming, too. It makes you feel that much more responsible for the story.

There are also fans who are the opposite, who’ve said, “You’re not my ‘Star Trek,’” or “This isn’t how ‘Star Trek’ should be.” What has that experience been like for you?

It is something that we have to contend with, especially in the beginning. We never allowed it to discourage us, because we understood their point of view. We would discuss these things on set all the time, because we felt as if we were caught in a kind of whirlwind. But this is an intelligent group of people. They are loyal, and they’re speaking from their hearts. They had issues, and rightfully so. They were justified to have their points of view.

It’s always hard for a new iteration of “Trek.” Apparently, this is a sort of rite of passage, to have a little bit of a rocky beginning. This is what we’ve heard from other iterations, that it took a second for the audience to grab ahold of them. That was the case for us as well. 

They did not like how futuristic we were — that’s a broad term. They didn’t like that I was at the helm. They didn’t like all the representation. They didn’t like the look of the Klingons. They didn’t like how advanced our tech was. But we had to say, “Well, but this isn’t 1966.” I remember hearing one person say that “Trek” is supposed to make you look forward, and that’s what we were doing. But it was hard for people at first to wrap their brains around it — or, really, I guess I should say, wrap their hearts around it.

You finished shooting Season 5 before Paramount+ decided it was going to be the final season — how did it feel when that announcement was made?

I kept thinking about how culminating the story seemed. It is so conclusive in a way, is it not?

It really is.

But we just thought, “Hey, see you for Season 6, and we will go even bigger.” So when I got the news, it was bittersweet and shocking. But I always felt a great sense of peace about it, and just gratitude and accomplishment and achievement.

I’m so happy we were able to go back for the coda, that Michelle Paradise and [executive producer] Alex Kurtzman really fought for that and CBS said yes. We were able to have that real experience of, “Oh, this is the last time we’ll ever do that.” It felt like a gift. I don’t know if we needed it, but man, we really appreciated it.

The next series, “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy,” is set in the 32nd Century, contemporaneous to “Discovery.” Are you anticipating Michael Burnham making an appearance on that show?

Finally, while I was visiting the “Section 31” set for the cover story, I saw the cast and crew participate in what they called the Crew Appreciation Award — at the start of each day, everyone gathered around, and one member of the crew gave the award to someone else on the crew, and the following day, that person passed the award on to a new crew member. When I asked Alex Kurtzman how it started, he said I should ask you about it. What is it?

Aw! That almost makes me want to cry! That’s great to hear. I didn’t know that. OK, so, Crew Appreciation started in Season 1. A director came in — I don’t want to get his name wrong, so I won’t even say — and he said that this was something that he had come across in his travels. At the time, it was this neon construction vest, and you would pass it crew to crew. And I thought, “What a lovely thing. Let’s do that here. But it can’t be a vest because that’s cumbersome. So it’ll be a medal.” I bought some clay, and shaped it into a medal, and then I painted it gold and put a strap on it. 

And then what was so endearing is everybody added something to that medal. Costumes put a fabric backing on it, and then lighting put a lighting strip around the edge. Everybody just kept adding little pieces to it. We would do it every single day. It was a big part of our show’s culture. Some people would be embarrassed and they would say, “Thank you guys so much. Can you please just not clap for me?” So we would be like, “Got it, we will appreciate you in silence today.” But it was always so fun. One of my favorite things.

Where’s that medal now?

We don’t know! The last time somebody saw it, we hung it up in Stage 4, and we were like, “It’ll be waiting for us [for Season 5].” When we went back, it wasn’t there anymore. So it’s somewhere at Pinewood Studios. As we were shooting Season 5, we ended up 3D printing another one. Maybe we’ll have to have a scavenger hunt reunion one day.

This interview has been edited and condensed .

More From Our Brands

Meet the singer who replaced scott weiland and chester bennington in stone temple pilots, a beverage maven’s groovy palm springs midcentury hits the market again for $5.2 million, diamond bolsters post-chapter 11 viability with new charter deal, the best loofahs and body scrubbers, according to dermatologists, ratings: the rookie and will trent tick up, fbi tops tuesday, verify it's you, please log in.

Who Plays Nyota Uhura On Star Trek: Strange New Worlds?

In the "Star Trek" timeline, few space-faring females stand quite as tall as Nyota Uhura . The Kenyan-born communications officer is one of the series' most iconic characters and one of the best examples of how "Star Trek" shattered the social norms of its time. When the original series aired in the late 1960s, TV audiences were not entirely used to seeing Black women portrayed with as much competence and skill as Uhura (originally played by Nichelle Nichols). The character is a genius, a prodigy of languages, a high-ranking Federation officer and ship commander, and one-half of one of the first interracial kisses to ever air on television (via CNN ).

That legacy remains strong even now, over half a century after Uhura and "Star Trek" initially debuted. Thanks to "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," which tells the story of the USS Enterprise crew before James T. Kirk (William Shatner) took command, a whole new generation is being introduced to Uhura. More specifically, they're being introduced to Uhura as portrayed by actor Celia Rose Gooding. While this is the first time that many "Star Trek" fans have been introduced to Gooding, "Strange New Worlds" is far from her only influential role.

Celia Rose Gooding is an award-winning thespian

If you haven't heard of Celia Rose Gooding before now, then we won't blame you. She hasn't been acting quite as long as others. However, Gooding has accomplished quite a lot, possibly because the talent is in her blood. Her mother is Tony Award-winning actor LaChanze, who identified Gooding's talent from a very young age (via Playbill ). As a child, Gooding grew up seeing her mother succeed in theater, even helping her as a reader for auditions at times. This, in no small way, prepared Gooding for her own theater career, where she has made swift progress.

Aside from "Strange New Worlds," Gooding is likely best known for her role in the Broadway play "Jagged Little Pill," where she plays Frankie Healy, the adopted Black bisexual daughter of a white family. In 2021, "Jagged Little Pill" won a Grammy for best musical theater album (via IMDb ), making it Gooding's first award as a professional actor. That's a strong start if ever there was one.

Now that this star has made a trek over to the strange new world of television, however, we look forward to seeing what Celia Rose Gooding can accomplish when she's offstage and on-screen. Who knows? She just might win an Emmy as her second award.

Uhura’s Abandoned Star Trek: Voyager Cameo Explained By George Takei

• Nichelle Nichols refused to cameo as Uhura in Star Trek: Voyager due to role size concerns, despite urging from George Takei.
• Although disappointing, Nichols' refusal is justified given her status as a Star Trek icon.
• Despite missing Uhura, Voyager successfully incorporated classic TOS characters like Sulu and Janice Rand in the season 3 episode "Flashback."

Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) almost appeared in Star Trek: Voyager , but fellow Star Trek: The Original Series actor George Takei explained why Uhura's cameo was abandoned. Nichols' portrayal of Lt. Uhura on TOS was a landmark representation of Black women on television at a time when Black female characters had very few positive portrayals , especially in science fiction. Although Uhura has gone on to be depicted by other actors in the franchise, Nichols never returned to play her in other projects after her tenure in TOS and the TOS portion of Star Trek 's movie series .

One chance Nichols did have to portray Uhura later on was in Star Trek: Voyager 's season 3 episode "Flashback," a tribute to TOS for Star Trek 's 30th anniversary. "Flashback" featured Lt. Commander Tuvok (Tim Russ) and Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) experiencing Tuvok's time serving on the USS Excelsior under Captain Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) after Tuvok mind-melded with Janeway in an attempt to heal a repressed memory. The Excelsior scenes took place during the events of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , with Takei reprising Sulu as a special guest star.

How To Watch All Star Trek TV Shows In Timeline Order

George takei explains nichelle nichols’ refusal to play uhura on star trek: voyager, nichols wouldn't do voyager despite takei's urging.

In an interview with The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine , issue 9, around the time of "Flashback's" release, George Takei revealed that he had begged Nichelle Nichols to accept a cameo on Voyager, to no avail. Voyager 's creative team was set on having Nichols appear as Uhura in Tuvok's memories during the episode, but Nichols had objections to the size of the role that ultimately led to her turning it down . Takei clearly wanted to work with Nichols again, but his persuasion wasn't enough to convince her to join "Flashback's" cast. Read Takei's full quote below:

"She would have communicated with me, as Uhura to Tuvok, over the viewscreen. I pleaded with her on the phone to do it because it would have been wonderful to have her back as well. She felt the part did not do her justice, so she passed on doing it."

Despite the disappointment of not seeing Uhura during Voyager 's run, Nichols' refusal of the part shows how much she cared about the character. As the originator of such a legendary role as Uhura, Nichols certainly had the right to choose when and how she returned to Star Trek . Additionally, Takei's role as Sulu in "Flashback" was much more expansive than Nichols' would have been, which hardly seems fair given how important both of them are to Star Trek history . Ultimately, Nichols turning Voyager down shows the strength of character she was known for as a performer and a person.

Voyager’s “Flashback” Still Brought Back Another Important Star Trek: TOS Character

"flashback" still managed to get another tos cast member as a guest star.

Although Uhura didn't appear in "Flashback," Voyager still managed to snag another iconic TOS actor for the episode: Grace Lee Whitney as Janice Rand. Whitney played Captain Kirk's Yeoman during the first season of TOS. Although Janice Rand was tragically fired after TOS season 1 , the character has become just as important as other classic Star Trek characters thanks in part to Whitney's popularity with the fanbase. This resulted in Rand being brought back for several cameos throughout the TOS film series and again, much later, "Flashback."

Rand was in Star Trek VI during the events that "Flashback" covered, so bringing Whitney back to reprise her role only made sense. However, "Flashback" offered the pleasure of seeing Rand in her role as Commander onboard the Excelsior, and her interactions with Tuvok were highly enjoyable. Given the controversy around Whitney's firing from TOS , giving her the chance to portray more of Rand's Starfleet career was certainly deserved . Although Rand and Uhura could have easily been in Star Trek: Voyager together, having at least one other TOS character besides Sulu was still an achievement.

Source: The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine , issue 9

Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: The Original Series are available to stream on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Voyager

The fifth entry in the Star Trek franchise, Star Trek: Voyager, is a sci-fi series that sees the crew of the USS Voyager on a long journey back to their home after finding themselves stranded at the far ends of the Milky Way Galaxy. Led by Captain Kathryn Janeway, the series follows the crew as they embark through truly uncharted areas of space, with new species, friends, foes, and mysteries to solve as they wrestle with the politics of a crew in a situation they've never faced before. 

Cast Jennifer Lien, Garrett Wang, Tim Russ, Robert Duncan McNeill, Roxann Dawson, Robert Beltran, Kate Mulgrew, Jeri Ryan, Ethan Phillips, Robert Picardo

Release Date

Streaming Service(s)

Franchise(s)

Writers Kenneth Biller, Jeri Taylor, Michael Piller, Brannon Braga

Showrunner Kenneth Biller, Jeri Taylor, Michael Piller, Brannon Braga

Where To Watch Paramount+

Star Trek: The Original Series

Star Trek: The Original Series follows the exploits of the crew of the USS Enterprise. On a five-year mission to explore uncharted space, Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) must trust his crew - Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (Forest DeKelley), Montgomery "Scotty" Scott (James Doohan), Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Chekov (Walter Koenig) and Sulu (George Takei) - with his life. Facing previously undiscovered life forms and civilizations and representing humanity among the stars on behalf of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets, the Enterprise regularly comes up against impossible odds and diplomatic dilemmas.

Cast Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig, William Shatner, George Takei, Leonard Nimoy, Deforest Kelley, James Doohan

Network NBC

Writers Gene Roddenberry

Showrunner Gene Roddenberry

• The Original Series
• The Animated Series
• The Next Generation
• Deep Space Nine
• Strange New Worlds
• Lower Decks
• Star Trek Movies
• TrekCore on Twitter
• TrekCore on Facebook

The now-tossed Star Trek 4 went through many iterations since the first announcement in July 2016 , including a story by legendary Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino, a surprise 2022 Kelvin cast announcement that apparently Chris Pine and company only learned about through the press, and prequel story set “decades before the 2009 film.”

Following the new Star Trek 5 announcement, star Chris Pine reportedly reacted “with a deep sigh” according to Deadline . “Chris is excited learn about this new film through today’s studio announcement,” said a representative for the actor, “because it went really well the last time this happened, right?”

Also expected for the Trek 5 reunion are co-stars Zachary Quinto (Spock), Zoe Saldana (Uhura), Simon Pegg (Scotty), Karl Urban (“Bones” McCoy), and John Cho (Sulu). Actor Anton Yelchin, who portrayed Chekov in the first three films, passed away in 2016.

While little is known about the planned story of this new film, sources close to Trek 5 development hear that Paramount is pursuing  Dune and  Wonka star Timothée Chalamet for the role of “Sybok,” half-brother of Spock, originated by actor Laurence Luckinbill in 1989.

• Behind The Scenes
• paramount pictures
• Star Trek 5

Related Stories

Interview — sonequa martin-green on her star trek: discovery producer role, proudest moments, and more, vice press celebrates star trek: the original series with a new poster from artist lyndon willoughby, new star trek: discovery season premiere photos — “red directive” and “under the twin moons”, search news archives, new & upcoming releases, featured stories, our star trek: discovery season 5 spoiler-free review, star trek: discovery’s final adventure begins in april 2024, interview — star trek: lower decks’ mike mcmahan on moopsy, creating the orion homeworld, tuvix, and much more.

TrekCore.com is not endorsed, sponsored or affiliated with Paramount, CBS Studios, or the Star Trek franchise. All Star Trek images, trademarks and logos are owned by CBS Studios Inc. and/or Paramount. All original TrekCore.com content and the WeeklyTrek podcast (c) 2024 Trapezoid Media, LLC. · Terms & Conditions

Screen Rant

Ds9 actor nana visitor's book about women in star trek releases first look images.

The amazing women of Star Trek are explored in Open A Channel, a new, upcoming book by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Nana Visitor.

• Nana Visitor's new book celebrates women of Star Trek, inspired by Lt. Uhura, features interviews with numerous female stars.
• Open A Channel: A Woman's Trek showcases luminous women who portray iconic Star Trek characters, now available for pre-order.
• The book includes interviews with stars like Kate Mulgrew, Terry Farrell, Denise Crosby, Rebecca Romijn, and others from Star Trek.

Open A Channel: A Woman's Trek , a new book celebrating the women of Star Trek by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine actor Nana Visitor has released first-look images. Inspired by Nichelle Nichols' Lt. Nyota Uhura of Star Trek: The Original Series , Nana Visitor, who plays Colonel Kira Nerys on DS9 , interviewed almost every woman who has starred in Star Trek , including Star Trek: Voyager 's Kate Mulgrew, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's Terry Farrell, Star Trek: The Next Generation 's Denise Crosby, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ' Rebecca Romijn, Melissa Navia, and Christina Chong.

Now available for pre-order, new images of Nana Visitor's book, Open A Channel: A Woman's Trek , showcases many of the luminous women who portray some of Star Trek 's greatest characters . Open A Channel: A Woman's Trek releases on October 1, 2024. Check out the preview images below:

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Cast & Character Guide

Star trek boasts amazing female characters, there is no lack of great women in the final frontier.

Starting with Nichelle Nichols' Lt. Uhura, the Star Trek franchise boasts one of the greatest rosters of female characters in pop culture . Today, Star Trek features Starfleet admirals like Kate Mulgrew's Kathryn Janeway , starship captains like Sonequa Martin-Green's Michael Burnham and Jeri Ryan's Seven of Nine, doctors like Gates McFadden's Dr. Beverly Crusher, and nurses like Jess Bush's Christine Chapel, pilots like Melissa Navia's Erica Ortegas, scientists like Terry Farrell's Jadzia Dax, and heroic survivors like Christina Chong's La'an Noonien-Singh.

Star Trek 's iconic female characters have inspired countless women to pursue careers in science, medicine, engineering, technology, and the arts. Beyond the actors and creative visionaries of Star Trek , in Open A Channel, Nana Visitor also interviews many real-life women who have been inspired by Star Trek to become soldiers, doctors, scientists, and astronauts, including astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti while she was in orbit around Earth on the International Space Station. Open A Channel: A Women's Trek is a celebration of Star Trek 's women whose time has come.

Open A Channel: A Woman's Trek is available for pre-order at Amazon.com

Source: Amazon.com

Zoe Saldaña Is Holding Out Hope For 'Star Trek 4'

Gamora may be gone, but the same can't be said for Uhura.

The Big Picture

• Zoe Saldaña still has hope for a Star Trek sequel and believes there is room for multiple projects to coexist in the franchise.
• With Paramount+ expanding the Star Trek universe, the future of Star Trek 4 remains uncertain but possibilities are endless.
• The alternate timeline in Abrams' universe allows for creative storytelling and potential crossovers with Paramount+ characters.

Zoe Saldaña has lent her name to many franchises in her time but still has an appreciation for one in particular. On “The Discourse” podcast, the actor maintained support for the Star Trek sequel that has been in development for some time . The origins of Captain Kirk were rebooted in the 2009 film by J.J. Abrams with Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto in the roles of Kirk and Spock. Subsequent films varied in critical reception, but the desire for a fourth film in the franchise has not waned.

“I still have hope,” Saldaña stated, who played Uhura in the reboot films. “I had a wonderful experience through and through and through the three times that I was a part of that team.”

The rise of Paramount+ has paved a path for many Star Trek projects outside of feature films. As Saldaña notes, this could complicate Star Trek 4 , going forward. Must-watch Trek shows such as Strange New Worlds have cast their own versions of Kirk ( Paul Wesley ) and Spock ( Ethan Peck ), as they traverse the stars in the Enterprise. But the Guardians of the Galaxy actor believes there is room for everyone in the Star Trek galaxy.

“I know that they’re always trying to sort of aim to wrangle everybody together, but I also know that Paramount is working on a new sort of fresh take on ‘Star Trek,’ which I think is such a wonderful franchise that should live for a very long time, whether or not us as the original remake cast can come back. I don’t know, but I certainly hope so.”

Star Trek 4 is still up in the air, but there could be a timeline where all Trek projects could co-exist in harmony. Just like the United Federation would want.

'Star Trek 4' Can Still Operate In An Alternate Universe

It has been almost a decade since the third film in the franchise, Star Trek Beyond , premiered. The movie could have been a satisfying conclusion to the series as all the characters come together in unity. The film would also be the final entry for Anton Yelchin , who died at 27 after an auto incident at his home. Preserving without Chekov would undoubtedly be a sad undertaking.

But if the principal actors want to reunite with the great Captain Kirk and honor their former co-star, there are ways to implement that reality. Abrams’ universe has the benefit of operating under an alternate timeline. This decision was a clever way for the new film to be unafraid to disrupt canonical events of the past half-century. With a new timeline, films can make any decision as well as explain the potential absence of Chekov.

This is also how the franchise can operate in conjunction with the Paramount+ universe of characters. And who knows? Maybe more films can make way for a Trek crossover in the future. While viewers wait for news on Stark Trek 4 , they can watch the previous reboot films streaming on Paramount+.

The brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful Romulan from the future creates black holes to destroy the Federation one planet at a time.

WATCH ON PARAMOUNT+

We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article.

Star Trek 4 gets a promising update

The film has landed a new screenwriter.

The follow-up to 2016's Star Trek Beyond has faced numerous setbacks in recent years, including director Matt Shakman's departure in August 2022 to direct Fantastic Four for Marvel , leading Paramount to remove the film from its release calendar the following month.

Meanwhile, screenwriter Lindsay Anderson Beer revealed in September 2023 that she had to "hop off" the project to direct Pet Sematary: Bloodlines , though she did also promise that the JJ Abrams-produced film was "still on the tracks".

It looks like this is now finally the case as The Flight Attendant creator Steve Yockey has been brought on board as the new screenwriter, according to Variety .

Related: New Star Trek movie confirmed – but not the one you expected

While specifics of the storyline remain under wraps, the publication has reported that Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot still intend to deliver this final chapter for the crew first introduced in the franchise's 2009 reboot.

This includes Chris Pine as Captain Kirk, alongside Zachary Quinto as Spock, Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Simon Pegg as Scotty, Karl Urban as Bones and John Cho as Sulu.

Pine himself seemed a little less optimistic about returning to the USS Enterprise when asked for an update last year, though, having called the franchise "cursed" .

Related: Star Trek confirms new Starfleet spinoff show from Discovery boss

"After the last one came out and didn't do the $1 billion that everyone wanted it to do, and then Anton (Yelchin) passed away , I don't know," he told Esquire . "It just... feels like it's cursed."

Elsewhere in the Star Trek universe, it was announced earlier this year that JJ Abrams is producing a new prequel movie set decades before the 2009 reboot.

Andor and Doctor Who director Toby Haynes will helm the project, while The Lego Batman Movie 's Seth Grahame-Smith is writing the script.

April 2024 gift ideas and deals

Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition – Steam Key (PC)

PS5 Slim Disc Console

Sign up for Disney+

Apple TV+ 7-day free trial

Buy Cat Deeley's This Morning outfits

PlayStation Portal

Xbox Series X

Shop Sky TV, broadband and mobile

Batman: The Animated Series Gotham City

New Star Wars Millennium Falcon set

Helldivers 2 - PS5 and PC

PS Plus Discount With Gift Cards

Content Production Intern, Digital Spy

After completing her joint honours degree in Journalism and English Literature at Cardiff University, Iona joined Digital Spy as a Content Production Intern in 2022. In this role, Iona writes across both news and features, specialising in TV and movies. During her time at Digital Spy , she has interviewed multiple Love Island stars, reported from the Black Adam red carpet and, most recently, interviewed the cast of Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid .

.css-15yqwdi:before{top:0;width:100%;height:0.25rem;content:'';position:absolute;background-image:linear-gradient(to right,#51B3E0,#51B3E0 2.5rem,#E5ADAE 2.5rem,#E5ADAE 5rem,#E5E54F 5rem,#E5E54F 7.5rem,black 7.5rem,black);} Star Trek

Whoopi Goldberg on why she joined Star Trek: TNG

Star Trek Discovery sets final season release date

Star Trek: Discovery star opens up on show's end

New Star Trek movie adds Ted Lasso and Power stars

Star Trek getting prequel movie from JJ Abrams

Star Trek spin-off saved from cancellation

Patrick Stewart surprised by Tom Hardy's success

Patrick Stewart was advised not to do Star Trek

First trailer for AHS star's R-rated gay comedy

Star Trek advent calendar available to pre-order