My wife (who is Black; I'm Metis) and I had to pause watching this at a couple of points because we were too choked up. Nichelle Nichols was larger than life and more impactful than most people ever even dream of being. I was fortunate enough to interact with her briefly (at a panel and again in the autograph line) at a convention back in the '80s when I was a kid, and she was so gracious and so talented -- hearing her sing in person is a memory I treasure. You did more than justice to her with this tribute, and packed an amazing amount of content into less than 30 minutes. Thank you!
Wonderful tribute video. I was a little girl when TOS debuted & I got to watch it with my mom every week. My dad didn't really like scifi, horror or fantasy so I would watch TOS, Outer Limits, One Step Beyond & Twilight Zone with her. I got to spend time with my mom all to myself & to stay up late so I was happy. If you were a girl growing up in the 60s there wasn't much female representation in action-adventure, sci-fi type genre, it was pretty male dominated & geared towards boys. Every classic YA scifi novel I read as a kid had a boy or a young man as a main character, not a girl. Same with most of the TV shows, at least the ones that were fantasy-adventure oriented. So Uhura's character was pretty important I think to even a little white girl like me because she was there on that ship, going out into the darkness to have adventures just like one of guys. And she could still be pretty & feminine & vulnerable but not have to worry about her male comrades disrespecting her for it. Nichelle Nichols is definitely a feminist icon in my book & a major contributing factor to what made me love TOS. I was very sad to hear of her passing 😪
In Star Trek VI, Uhura was supposed to be the one who says, "Guess who's coming to dinner," a reference to the movie of the same name starring Sidney Poitier. Nichelle Nichols felt it was in poor taste for this line to come out of Uhura's mouth, so it was given to Chekov instead. She also objected to the dictionary scene, since she believed Uhura would have enough knowledge of the Klingon language to communicate with them. While she couldn't convince anyone at the time, her interpretation of the character laid the foundation for the two modern versions of Uhura to be quite linguistically talented. Talk about breaking the transparent aluminum ceiling!
I have agree with her about Star Trek VI scene with Klingon outpost. Uhura has more than 20 years of interpretation languages like Klingons, Romulans and Vulcans. Why would have resort using a Dictionary? Why not use computer translate and give a display for them read, just like we use Google translate for different Earth languages.
Of all the surviving TOS actors, she was the one I wanted to meet the most. It was a privilege and honor to meet her at Emerald City Comicon in 2014. She was classy, witty, kind and knew how to command the audience at her panel. Meeting her was like meeting history. Also: if you can find the video of her at the 50th anniversary Star Trek of her and Whoopi Goldberg on the same panel, it will melt your heart.
Oh, I've got another Uhura scene for you. Picture the end of Undiscovered Country. General Chang is beating the ever-loving crap out of the Enterprise, and all seems lost, when the idea of gaseous emissions comes up. And it's Uhura, the communications officer, speaking outside her area of expertise when she mentions their equipment that catalogues gaseous anomalies. "The thing's gotta have a tailpipe." Simple enough line, but what happens without it? The Enterprise explodes over Khitomer, the Federation President is assassinated, and war most likely breaks out between the Federation and the Empire (since Colonel West was disguised as a Klingon when he attempted the assassination). So, in a very small but real way...Uhura saved countless lives and maintained peace throughout the Galaxy.
I recently did an edit of that battle minus the sounds in space, so I ended up watching it quite a few times. It did not escape my notice that Uhura was the one to think of the solution that saved their asses! th-cam.com/video/p8FllMfSaeo/w-d-xo.html
It's a shame that I had never given Lt. Uhura my full attention until she had passed away. When Nichelle Nichols passed away the local TV station played every episode of Star Trek that had Lt. Uhura with more lines of dialogue than usual. When I focused my attention directly on her, I couldn't help but notice how beautiful Lt. Uhura is! Her hands (finger nails), her eyes and smile. I had always been impressed with the backhand slap she used on Sulu. But the scene became enhanced exponentially when focusing solely on her.
I love that she chose Uhura's name, based on the name Uhuru, from a book she read, meaning Freedom. I also read that she insisted on speaking Swahili on The Changeling when Uhura lost her memories and not English, because while she herself didn't speak Swahili, it's Uhura's first language.
Thank you so much for such a thorough and definitive retrospective, and also for the recommendation of "Woman in Motion." I think she even lent a touch of dignity to the infamous "Let This Be Your Last Battlefield." The two aliens have beamed back to their world, presumably to die killing each other. Their mutual hatred is discussed, and Uhura, who has been conspicuously quiet throughout this story, asks "Is it all they ever had, sir?" This permits Kirk to give a pained "No ... but it's all they have ... now." It would have been stupid for her to be quiet all the way through, and I think she helped salvage it. Again, thank you.
Back in the 70s growing I had and still own many of my childhood toys my first early figures was Kenner's Six Million Doller Man and one of the figure was my first female toy I got was The Bionic Woman Jaime Sommers but my second female figure I gotten in the mid 70s was Mego's Star Trek figure Uhura and I can not imagine not having Uhura with my Mego's Star Trek USS Enterprise playset. She will be missed.
Thank you for this lovely tribute, Steve. I appreciate not just the discussion about her role as Uhura, but that you used a clip of Nichelle telling the MLK story, and that you discussed her work with NASA. She will be missed.
I like to believe that Nichelle injected some of her own frustration from having to do the translation scene from Undiscovered Country into the scene itself - she'd gone to the screenwriters and said that she felt that Uhura would've known Klingon without needing the translator, but they wanted to keep the script as-written. That's another reason she was great. She'd stand up for her character when it was needed, but also knew when to diplomatically withdraw. :)
It seems like they could have kept the scene as written but just justified it differently, like their ship indicated they were some sort of provincial, non-standard Klingon dialect. So yeah, obviously Uhura knows standard Klingon, but it would be like speaking a Middle American dialect when your ship says you’re from the Highlands of Scotland. So they have to scramble to get all the differences in vocabulary and pronunciation but also it explains why other Klingons who weren’t provincial might not catch it and why Uhura wouldn’t just have it in her back pocket. The point is: it’s Star Trek. You can make anything work, and they should have listened to her.
You don't have to just believe it...that is why she was frustrated. She thought it was extremely out of character for Uhura, and said that Uhura would be able to speak not only fluent Klingon but many other languages, since that was her job. This scene inspired the Uhura scene in Into Darkness where the character is shown to speak fluent Klingon.
Damn, Steve. You really went into another gear in the second half. Thank you for that moving and thoughtful remembrance. It wasn't lost on many of us that her character wasn't always being given the most interesting or earth shattering storylines. Nonetheless we were grateful and proud that she was on the screen, representing the belief that we would all be a part of this imagined future. I'll always appreciate her work in the real world and her willingness to carry the hope of her people on her narrow shoulders.
I met Nichelle here in the UK some years back, she was wonderful and charming. My favourite Uhura moment is when she gives the Boys the idea to use scanning equipment to detect the exhaust plasma from the Bird of Prey in ST6, the line "Well, the things gotta have a tailpipe!"is brilliant. She effectively takes out Chang!
I am currently taking a ‘practice for diversity in social work’ course right now and I just shared this video with my professor. I think this is such an important piece of history and I hope that he appreciates the value of her career the way weal should.
As a preschooler in the late 70s I watched TOS pretty much everyday with my brother. Seeing a woman on a team and respected set a baseline expectation of workplaces for me. As a programmer I went on to work in a male dominated industry (and had the courage to) and because of that baseline I was able to stand up for myself and others when people behaved misogynistically, or racistly, or ablelistically. It rankles me when people say diversity and representation don’t matter. They do. They really, really do.
I also remember Nichelle Nichols promoting NASA. Her role in Star Trek led directly to that, both of which subsequently encouraged women and people of color to get into STEM. Thank you Mrs. Nichols!
The moments that get me is when they flesh out Uhura through the other actors. The racial social man that didn't like interracial kiss or anything but liked that kiss and said he take the place of Kirk was a good story. Nichelle Nichols inspiring Whoopi Goldberg and then worked with NASA to get Black Women and all Women into NASA was so emotional to me. Just about everyone knew about the MLK story
Dr King has convinced Nichelle because she felt under utilized in Star Trek. She didn't recognize how powerful a role model Uhura had become in era of social inequality.
I dear say the huge importance of Lt Uhura seen on TV screens not only in America but across the world was incredibly important not only to me as a young black girl during that time but also today as her screen presents had opened the door for young female black actresses. However, let me just say. Thank you ❤️ Steve what a lovely tribute to Michelle. Not only does your passion for creating TH-cam content is seen here but your passion for all thinks trek is bloody fantastic mate👏🏽 👏🏽 love watching this channel 👍🏽
It's one thing to play a character on a TV show about an idealized, integrated future in space - it's another thing to be the one to _actually_ lead the integration of the US Space Program, making that idealized future a reality in the now. The fact that Nichelle Nichols did that is never not mindblowing. The First Lady of Science-Fiction. Well done tribute.
Uhura vs Mirror Sulu and that scene where she teases that guy guarding the Enterprise in The Search for Spock are probably my favorite involving her. She can be quite a badass if you push her enough.
My Uhura moment comes from a book: The Making of Star Trek, by the late Stephen E. Whitfield. He described a time during filming of the series when a lighting technician pointed out that she needed more illumination on her to get her on film properly. "No, man, she's black!" he was explaining to someone. He said it several times, IIRC. Then he realized the other meaning of what he was saying, turned around and started apologizing to Nichelle. She defused the situation by smiling and saying, "...but comely." This is in the first edition of Whitfield's book. I recently read the 25th-anniversary edition and didn't find it there.
another memorable moment of Uhura from ST6 was during the battle against Chang. when she essentially comes up with the idea to modify a torpedo to find his cloaked ship
@@The_Frozen_1 It's my head canon that since Uhura used the term 'tailpipe' in the 2290s, she's a gearhead. Gives us a peek into her interests with the use of a single word.
@@rudylikestowatch Sub-light propulsion requires ejecta - in the case of Star Trek's impulse engines, it is the ejected plasma which gives the ship its pep. Really, the big mystery is why the hell cloaked ships have ever been particularly dangerous in combat, when this plasma trick should have always worked.
@@LordMarcus You can handwave that away by saying that the Enterprise was equipped with special and new gas analysis equipment, which it was at the time, (specifically mentioned in the movie) and a regular equipment loadout couldn't modify the torpedoes like they did in ST6.
Even when I was young, I always felt Uhura was one of the most critical officers on the show. I imagined she was the best communications officer in the fleet and a woman Kirk couldn't charm. She was too intelligent and saw right through him.
That scene of the crew hanging out in the rec area and Spock starts playing the thing, and Uhura starts singing and dancing was great. I loved Star Trek for that.
I felt that the fan dance in ST5 was important simply BECAUSE she was a "woman of a certain age." She showed that middle-aged women could be beautiful and desirable, on top of all the other representation she was lumbered with.
It's too bad they didn't use her voice for the singing. She sang it, but they overdubbed her with someone else. I wonder if there's a version of that scene that did use her take.
That Animated Series episode will always be a favorite of mine. I was fortunate enough to have met her twice at conventions and I miss her more than words can say 😔.
Not Jeff here. Splendid tribute, Steve, one worthy of the magnificent Nichelle Nichols! One thing that I have not seen addressed in other tributes to Nichelle. Lt. Uhura was deliberately set up as representative to Americans, especially African Americans. But Uhura is not American. She's from a united African continent, one implied as equally technically advance, educated and culturally sophisticated as any other on Earth. This has never really been addressed in any Star Trek commentary that I've seen, or have I missed it? In her other big scene in Man Trap, the salt monster takes the form of a handsome black crewman who speaks to her in Swahili. She's obviously delighted, and replies in that language. The implication is that she is a bit homesick. The other scene acknowledging her African origin is in Tholian Web, showing African decor in her quarters, and her off duty dress with a distinctly traditional African look. I spent a little time in school in the 70s with a graduate student from Ghana. I mentioned Star Trek, and he told me that he saw the show and was immeasurably moved to see his home continent represented in her character, little as it was. Remember, at the time, and sometimes unfortunately now, Americans saw Africa as a primitive, savage place full of wonderful but dangerous animals oh, and there are some interesting looking tribal people too. Wakanda was a long way in the future.
So my best memory of Nichelle is a personal one. My spouse and I had worked our way to the front of the line for her autograph table at DragonCon one year. We handed over the autograph fee to her table assistant, and asked her to sign her 8x10 glossy "Keep working for his dream." As the assistant is putting the payment into their cash bag, she overhears the request and pipes up "Roddenberry's dream?" Nichols gives the assistant the most epic side-eye, and replies, "No, Dr. King's dream, isn't that right dears?" We confirmed, thanked her, and stepped out of the way to let the next people in line have their turn.
Nichelle Nichols was my childhood hero and inspired me to be a scientist. I watched TOS on syndicate when I was 7 years old. I always thought Lt. Uhura was smart and brave. As an adult I see that she was my original inspiration to earn a PhD in nutritional biology. Thank you Nichelle Nichols.
Thank you for a nice tribute, Steve. It is nice to celebrate her life and contribution to Star Trek, television as a whole, and America during her life.
I can't believe we lost Nichelle Nichols and Olivia Newton-John within a few days of each other. RIP to two amazing, talented, beautiful women who inspired me growing up and to this day.
What a loving and intelligent tribute. But of course I'd expect nothing less from one of the most eloquent people on TH-cam. Steve, you are one of the few reasons I still visit TH-cam as it fills up with craptacular content, misinformation, conspiracy theories and too many other negative things. Thank you for all the work and time you put into your videos.
The one thing that always got me that no one mentions in TMP (or for the movie's undertones as well): her hair. She was there in all her natural hair. Not processed or a wig. That to me is the true sign of the future.
One of my favourite fanfics includes Uhura being promoted to Captain of an Oberth class starship assigned to a stealth spy long range monitoring mission. One of her officers is the guy that she locked in the closet in ST3. So good!
In the episode "I, Mudd", she had a great scene where she convinces the androids that she is willing to betray the crew, in exchange for a perfect robot body. It's a ruse, of course, but it was a wonderful moment.
I love Star Trek four, and I think an unsung moment comes from Uhura when she successfully takes the transmission of the probe and retools it so that the crew can hear what it would sound like underwater. I mean, consider it: she was trying to do something that clearly nobody in Starfleet had done before and doing it with Klingon technology. It might be a little bit of a stretch for some people, but I look at it as one of her shining moments in the series.
Nichelle Nichols was nothing short of a beautiful inspiration to so many people, this is a beautiful and powerful tribute to her. Her contributions to both television and NASA cannot be understated she blew through that glass ceiling right into the stars. Her memory will live on through her vast career and we are the better for it, her memory will continue to inspire people and guide us to the stars. Thank you Steve for showing us some of her greatest moments as Uhura, rest in power Nichelle and know that you are with us always in our hearts. We love you and will never forget you.
I think it’s especially noteworthy that Nichols wasn’t used as eye candy to lure in viewers the way later Trek shows used Jeri Ryan and Jolene Blalock.
What! What about Mirror Universe where she and every female officer wears halter top for uniform. Not to mention ultra mini skirts that show their thighs. If that wasn't sexual exploration I don't know....
No original series’ actor’s passing has hit me so strongly as Nichelle Nichols’ passing. Partly due to the character but also partly due to her non-Trek contributions to history. In any case, I’m striken by this loss and cherish her contributions forever. And I’m uniquely inspired to see how her character is enhanced by current interpretation for years to come.
Damn, Steve. That was excellent. Eight thousand NASA recruits. Something endearing was the look on her face when meeting a tribble was sometimes the look she gave Spock. I liked the fan dance. Too often, the young assume eroticism is exclusively theirs They're wrong.
The Martin Luther King story is a perfect example of why it matters how people are represented in fiction. He understood that how black people were represented in fiction very much affected how black people would be viewed in real life. He notably didn’t say, “Who cares? It’s just a TV show.” Which all too often is the dismissive response we hear to any analysis of how people are represented in fiction.
My favourite Uhura moment from Star Trek 6 was near the end when Uhura was the one to suggest modifying a sensor pobe to home in on Chang's ship's exhaust and add a photonic warhead. It could have been any of the crew, but Uhura was the one who'd think outside the box.
Thank you, Steve. Yours is the tribute to Nichelle I wanted to see the most! I'll never forget the back-handed homage to Lt. Uhuru that Sigourney Weaver made in the Star Trek parody "Galaxy Quest!" Playing the bridge's sole female, the communications officer, she blurts out, "there's only one thing I can do and dammit, I'm going to do it! " which i took as a comment about Uhura not having enough to do on STTOS. Finally, I've been wondering if you know of any known influence or contact between Nichols/Uhura and the three African-American women "computers" (human mathematicians) who worked on the Project Mercury program for NASA as depicted in the movie "Hidden Figures" earlier in the same decade?
One of the Uhura scenes that you didn't mention isn't even an Uhura scene, but a Chekov scene, nuclear wesels from Star Trek 4. She might not have much to say, but Nichelle does a wonderful job supporting Walter Koenig in it.
I felt like that moment you highlighted from Undiscovered Country, which I agree she played perfectly, might have been Nichols' sort of meta commentary on the writers sort of sidelining Uhura's expertise as communications officer to play a "scramble for the dictionaries" gag. But I've never heard any confirmation of that.
Uhura's and Spock's very first scene has Uhura at navigation and Spock in the Captain's chair in The Mantrap. And in other episodes she doesn't just take over at Navigation, she takes over during a critical moment, showing us just how competent she is. In point of fact she is the most competent bridge officer, outside of Kirk and Spock, there is. Just watch the show. She may not have had an episode of her own, but over the three seasons she is shown in important roles without fanfare to call attention to her. If I may humbly request, go watch my video, who is the most badass woman in Star Trek. Hint, it's her.
I met Nichelle at a double star convention alongside Armin Shimerman. What you didn't mention was the first African-American woman in space, who was the commencement speaker of my college graduation, Mae Jemison.
great tribute. Nichelle could sing well and act great. In the roles, she is treated like an equal, as you said. Back then, that was rare. She had authority. She was a communications expert. BUT HER FACIAL expressions when she acted her lines, and when she sang on set and did her roles....EVEN WAY BACK THEN, we saw somebody that could do more than we expected. And she became even better when she had her roles in the Star Trek MOVIES, later on with the main crew.
"Last star to the right, and straight on until morning." Godspeed to her. Her effect on our nation and to millions of young women should never be marginalized. Don't get me wrong, the "space phone" joke on Big Bang Theory is funny and all, but in her era, being the communications officer on an exploratory military Starship, and having to work with all that that entailed was one of the single most important duties on the entire crew. Heck, you see how important she is in "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" (as much as ST II is the best, VI is an easy close runner-up for best original cast movie) when she's the only crew member, ON THE ENTIRE SHIP, that is fluent enough in Klingon to be used to try and lie to a native speaker while trying to spring Kirk and McCoy from the penal colony on the asteroid. Godspeed Nichelle Nichols. Thank you for shattering glass ceilings and teaching young women of all races that it is always better to reach for the stars.
This legendary woman was one of the most important people to ever be on television. She normalised equality for women and people of color when people still saw them as lesser people. I love her so much for what she has done on tv and off
I think my favorite "multi task moment" for Uhura was when she took over Navigation during Balance of Terror. Styles goes to help in phaser control and without missing a beat or even turning around Kirk orders: "Lt Uhura take over navigation." Uhura turns off her comm station and walks down and takes over. It was I think a really important moment. And ST handled it perfectly. No one on the bridge so much as mentions it, and not only that, after the Enterprise clobbers the Bird of Prey, Kirk orders "ship to ship Uhura." Once again, no one misses a beat and Uhura is flying the ship and running communications from the conn. One can see why MLK was so adamant, I think that moment was one of those that cemented it for him that she had to stay on the show. I think also not having yet been alive in the 1960s even I can see how important that moment was. And gosh darn Uhura looks good sitting at the controls.
Uhura was pretty poorly-served in that episode where Nomad wiped her memory clean; but I have a fix for that, and it even relies on in-episode details. We know Nomad was imperfect; he was basically like a 20-year-old who'd just completed his freshman college courses and considered himself an expert in everything, but in fact was wildly ignorant. So Nomad claims to have irretrievably wiped Uhura's memory. And yet, later in the episode she's seen speaking Swahili, which is a language that Nurse Chapel was making no effort to teach her. CONCLUSION: Uhura had all her memories intact -- despite what Dunning Kruger avatar Nomad thought -- and all Nomad did was scramble her access to them. With a little bit of medical work and some therapy, she got it all back.
You're right, if Nomad had totally wiped Uhura's memory, she wouldn't not known her native language. Apparently, only erased just knowledge she learned after become adult and joined Star Fleet academy.
@@paulhunter6742 And maybe not even erased it. McCoy was predicting she'd be ready to return to duty in, what, two weeks? I have no problem believing Uhura is a genius (she sure is in "Strange New Worlds" for example) but years of expertise in two weeks is kind of implausible.
I highly recommend Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson's interview with Ms. Nichols. Especially the part where a former skin head approached her at an autograph signing. He disavowed racism thanks to her. Yes, I teared up. RIP; you will be missed, but your legacy shall endure.
Awesome tribute, thanks! Yeah, Nichelle was amazing, and I didn't know how important she was until my teenage years in the 80's. By then, at least in my case, people of other races were never something to look down upon--they were just more interesting to me. Exotic speech/languages, foods, points of view, what's not to love? I'd say Dr. King and Ms. Nichols did much to normalize what my parents (and experience) had taught me growing up, and I only saw her as a beautiful and smart member of the crew. If only we could all be like that, but then, our species is still a bit new to this whole "small world" concept!
Uhura has a gold uniform in the first two episodes they filmed, though they were broadcast out of order, BECAUSE SHE WAS OF COMMAND RANK! "The Corbomite Maneuver" and "Mudd's Women". They changed it for the rest of the series, even though her rank did not change.
Well said. :) I got a walk-by "Hello, keep up the good work!" from her working my comics table at Dragon*Con one year and it was like the benediction of a queen.
Man, transporters can do anything. If I was in Starfleet, I'd have them save my pattern from when I enrolled in the Academy, and then, when I'm an elderly admiral, I'd have them beam me up and beam me down using my 18 year old pattern. Rinse and repeat when you're an old man again.
Did you forget about molecular degeneration. Each time you go back through transporter your basically making copies. Each copy would lose cellular cohesion over time. You might get youthful body with mind of a Cabbage.
It's a shame that she's gone now, but this is a really good tribute to her. She had a pretty full life, she was just a few months shy of being 90, but unfortunately she had been in declining health for the past few years.
As far as the films go, I think The Voyage Home has Uhura in the best light. You actually see her perform tasks besides opening and closing hailing frequencies.
Indeed! There are a few Star Trek actors (Nichols being one of them) who could recall life-changing encounters with fans, in a really touching and humble way. I am thinking of James Doohan's story of the suicidal girl he met at a convention, who later told him that he had saved her life. Neither Doohan nor Nichols seem to have realized just how important the roles were that they had played, until they were told by a fan.
She was amazing, and also underserved. I think the closest thing we got as far as an Uhura show was "Mirror Mirror". It was less than she deserved, but she at least got some real screen time, and she rocked it.
My wife (who is Black; I'm Metis) and I had to pause watching this at a couple of points because we were too choked up. Nichelle Nichols was larger than life and more impactful than most people ever even dream of being. I was fortunate enough to interact with her briefly (at a panel and again in the autograph line) at a convention back in the '80s when I was a kid, and she was so gracious and so talented -- hearing her sing in person is a memory I treasure. You did more than justice to her with this tribute, and packed an amazing amount of content into less than 30 minutes. Thank you!
Wonderful tribute video. I was a little girl when TOS debuted & I got to watch it with my mom every week. My dad didn't really like scifi, horror or fantasy so I would watch TOS, Outer Limits, One Step Beyond & Twilight Zone with her. I got to spend time with my mom all to myself & to stay up late so I was happy. If you were a girl growing up in the 60s there wasn't much female representation in action-adventure, sci-fi type genre, it was pretty male dominated & geared towards boys. Every classic YA scifi novel I read as a kid had a boy or a young man as a main character, not a girl. Same with most of the TV shows, at least the ones that were fantasy-adventure oriented. So Uhura's character was pretty important I think to even a little white girl like me because she was there on that ship, going out into the darkness to have adventures just like one of guys. And she could still be pretty & feminine & vulnerable but not have to worry about her male comrades disrespecting her for it. Nichelle Nichols is definitely a feminist icon in my book & a major contributing factor to what made me love TOS. I was very sad to hear of her passing 😪
In Star Trek VI, Uhura was supposed to be the one who says, "Guess who's coming to dinner," a reference to the movie of the same name starring Sidney Poitier. Nichelle Nichols felt it was in poor taste for this line to come out of Uhura's mouth, so it was given to Chekov instead. She also objected to the dictionary scene, since she believed Uhura would have enough knowledge of the Klingon language to communicate with them. While she couldn't convince anyone at the time, her interpretation of the character laid the foundation for the two modern versions of Uhura to be quite linguistically talented. Talk about breaking the transparent aluminum ceiling!
I have agree with her about Star Trek VI scene with Klingon outpost. Uhura has more than 20 years of interpretation languages like Klingons, Romulans and Vulcans. Why would have resort using a Dictionary? Why not use computer translate and give a display for them read, just like we use Google translate for different Earth languages.
Thank you, sir. 👍
Of all the surviving TOS actors, she was the one I wanted to meet the most. It was a privilege and honor to meet her at Emerald City Comicon in 2014. She was classy, witty, kind and knew how to command the audience at her panel. Meeting her was like meeting history. Also: if you can find the video of her at the 50th anniversary Star Trek of her and Whoopi Goldberg on the same panel, it will melt your heart.
Here's the panel with Whoopi Goldberg: th-cam.com/video/sYPpidbFHvE/w-d-xo.html
Oh, I've got another Uhura scene for you.
Picture the end of Undiscovered Country. General Chang is beating the ever-loving crap out of the Enterprise, and all seems lost, when the idea of gaseous emissions comes up. And it's Uhura, the communications officer, speaking outside her area of expertise when she mentions their equipment that catalogues gaseous anomalies. "The thing's gotta have a tailpipe."
Simple enough line, but what happens without it? The Enterprise explodes over Khitomer, the Federation President is assassinated, and war most likely breaks out between the Federation and the Empire (since Colonel West was disguised as a Klingon when he attempted the assassination). So, in a very small but real way...Uhura saved countless lives and maintained peace throughout the Galaxy.
I recently did an edit of that battle minus the sounds in space, so I ended up watching it quite a few times. It did not escape my notice that Uhura was the one to think of the solution that saved their asses!
th-cam.com/video/p8FllMfSaeo/w-d-xo.html
It's a shame that I had never given Lt. Uhura my full attention until she had passed away.
When Nichelle Nichols passed away the local TV station played every episode of Star Trek that had Lt. Uhura with more lines of dialogue than usual.
When I focused my attention directly on her, I couldn't help but notice how beautiful Lt. Uhura is! Her hands (finger nails), her eyes and smile.
I had always been impressed with the backhand slap she used on Sulu. But the scene became enhanced exponentially when focusing solely on her.
You rock Steve🎸
I love that she chose Uhura's name, based on the name Uhuru, from a book she read, meaning Freedom. I also read that she insisted on speaking Swahili on The Changeling when Uhura lost her memories and not English, because while she herself didn't speak Swahili, it's Uhura's first language.
Beautiful tribute
Thank you for the heartfelt and beautifully written tribute. And for the effort and time you put into producing your content.
Thank you so much for such a thorough and definitive retrospective, and also for the recommendation of "Woman in Motion." I think she even lent a touch of dignity to the infamous "Let This Be Your Last Battlefield." The two aliens have beamed back to their world, presumably to die killing each other. Their mutual hatred is discussed, and Uhura, who has been conspicuously quiet throughout this story, asks "Is it all they ever had, sir?" This permits Kirk to give a pained "No ... but it's all they have ... now." It would have been stupid for her to be quiet all the way through, and I think she helped salvage it. Again, thank you.
Back in the 70s growing I had and still own many of my childhood toys my first early figures was Kenner's Six Million Doller Man and one of the figure was my first female toy I got was The Bionic Woman Jaime Sommers but my second female figure I gotten in the mid 70s was Mego's Star Trek figure Uhura and I can not imagine not having Uhura with my Mego's Star Trek USS Enterprise playset. She will be missed.
Thank you for this lovely tribute, Steve. I appreciate not just the discussion about her role as Uhura, but that you used a clip of Nichelle telling the MLK story, and that you discussed her work with NASA. She will be missed.
I like to believe that Nichelle injected some of her own frustration from having to do the translation scene from Undiscovered Country into the scene itself - she'd gone to the screenwriters and said that she felt that Uhura would've known Klingon without needing the translator, but they wanted to keep the script as-written.
That's another reason she was great. She'd stand up for her character when it was needed, but also knew when to diplomatically withdraw. :)
It seems like they could have kept the scene as written but just justified it differently, like their ship indicated they were some sort of provincial, non-standard Klingon dialect.
So yeah, obviously Uhura knows standard Klingon, but it would be like speaking a Middle American dialect when your ship says you’re from the Highlands of Scotland. So they have to scramble to get all the differences in vocabulary and pronunciation but also it explains why other Klingons who weren’t provincial might not catch it and why Uhura wouldn’t just have it in her back pocket.
The point is: it’s Star Trek. You can make anything work, and they should have listened to her.
You don't have to just believe it...that is why she was frustrated. She thought it was extremely out of character for Uhura, and said that Uhura would be able to speak not only fluent Klingon but many other languages, since that was her job. This scene inspired the Uhura scene in Into Darkness where the character is shown to speak fluent Klingon.
Damn, Steve. You really went into another gear in the second half. Thank you for that moving and thoughtful remembrance. It wasn't lost on many of us that her character wasn't always being given the most interesting or earth shattering storylines. Nonetheless we were grateful and proud that she was on the screen, representing the belief that we would all be a part of this imagined future. I'll always appreciate her work in the real world and her willingness to carry the hope of her people on her narrow shoulders.
I met Nichelle here in the UK some years back, she was wonderful and charming. My favourite Uhura moment is when she gives the Boys the idea to use scanning equipment to detect the exhaust plasma from the Bird of Prey in ST6, the line "Well, the things gotta have a tailpipe!"is brilliant. She effectively takes out Chang!
I love the "this isn't reality, this is fantasy!" line, always gets me so giddy and puts a big dumb smile on my face
I am currently taking a ‘practice for diversity in social work’ course right now and I just shared this video with my professor. I think this is such an important piece of history and I hope that he appreciates the value of her career the way weal should.
As a preschooler in the late 70s I watched TOS pretty much everyday with my brother. Seeing a woman on a team and respected set a baseline expectation of workplaces for me. As a programmer I went on to work in a male dominated industry (and had the courage to) and because of that baseline I was able to stand up for myself and others when people behaved misogynistically, or racistly, or ablelistically. It rankles me when people say diversity and representation don’t matter. They do. They really, really do.
After she died I am across "Star Trek: Of God's and Men" and watched her take the lead in that "fanmade Star Trek project". It was refreshing to see.
Spock and Uhura's first scene together in TOS relating to their relationship in the Kelvin time-line is a cool connection and why I like canon
I also remember Nichelle Nichols promoting NASA. Her role in Star Trek led directly to that, both of which subsequently encouraged women and people of color to get into STEM. Thank you Mrs. Nichols!
Takei put it best in his tribute to her when Nichelle Nichols passed away. He said she lived long and prospered. 100%
I always found it amazing that MLK convinced her to stay in the role. People don’t understand how powerful it is to see black faces on TV back then
My father spent a month’s pay on a color tv so he could see what she really looked like.
The moments that get me is when they flesh out Uhura through the other actors.
The racial social man that didn't like interracial kiss or anything but liked that kiss and said he take the place of Kirk was a good story.
Nichelle Nichols inspiring Whoopi Goldberg and then worked with NASA to get Black Women and all Women into NASA was so emotional to me.
Just about everyone knew about the MLK story
Whoopi Goldberg only became an actor because of Nichelle. She talks about it in a "there's a black lady on TV and she ain't no maid" speech.
@@erocrush That's a lovely memory.
Dr King has convinced Nichelle because she felt under utilized in Star Trek. She didn't recognize how powerful a role model Uhura had become in era of social inequality.
I dear say the huge importance of Lt Uhura seen on TV screens not only in America but across the world was incredibly important not only to me as a young black girl during that time but also today as her screen presents had opened the door for young female black actresses. However, let me just say.
Thank you ❤️ Steve what a lovely tribute to Michelle. Not only does your passion for creating TH-cam content is seen here but your passion for all thinks trek is bloody fantastic mate👏🏽 👏🏽 love watching this channel 👍🏽
It's one thing to play a character on a TV show about an idealized, integrated future in space - it's another thing to be the one to _actually_ lead the integration of the US Space Program, making that idealized future a reality in the now. The fact that Nichelle Nichols did that is never not mindblowing.
The First Lady of Science-Fiction. Well done tribute.
Uhura vs Mirror Sulu and that scene where she teases that guy guarding the Enterprise in The Search for Spock are probably my favorite involving her.
She can be quite a badass if you push her enough.
My Uhura moment comes from a book: The Making of Star Trek, by the late Stephen E. Whitfield. He described a time during filming of the series when a lighting technician pointed out that she needed more illumination on her to get her on film properly. "No, man, she's black!" he was explaining to someone. He said it several times, IIRC. Then he realized the other meaning of what he was saying, turned around and started apologizing to Nichelle. She defused the situation by smiling and saying, "...but comely."
This is in the first edition of Whitfield's book. I recently read the 25th-anniversary edition and didn't find it there.
another memorable moment of Uhura from ST6 was during the battle against Chang. when she essentially comes up with the idea to modify a torpedo to find his cloaked ship
"It's gotta have a tailpipe."
@@The_Frozen_1 It's my head canon that since Uhura used the term 'tailpipe' in the 2290s, she's a gearhead. Gives us a peek into her interests with the use of a single word.
Great scene but always confused me why a nuclear powered spaceship needs a tailpipe.
I'm sure it's in the technical manual somewhere.
@@rudylikestowatch Sub-light propulsion requires ejecta - in the case of Star Trek's impulse engines, it is the ejected plasma which gives the ship its pep.
Really, the big mystery is why the hell cloaked ships have ever been particularly dangerous in combat, when this plasma trick should have always worked.
@@LordMarcus You can handwave that away by saying that the Enterprise was equipped with special and new gas analysis equipment, which it was at the time, (specifically mentioned in the movie) and a regular equipment loadout couldn't modify the torpedoes like they did in ST6.
Even when I was young, I always felt Uhura was one of the most critical officers on the show. I imagined she was the best communications officer in the fleet and a woman Kirk couldn't charm. She was too intelligent and saw right through him.
That scene of the crew hanging out in the rec area and Spock starts playing the thing, and Uhura starts singing and dancing was great. I loved Star Trek for that.
I felt that the fan dance in ST5 was important simply BECAUSE she was a "woman of a certain age." She showed that middle-aged women could be beautiful and desirable, on top of all the other representation she was lumbered with.
It's too bad they didn't use her voice for the singing. She sang it, but they overdubbed her with someone else. I wonder if there's a version of that scene that did use her take.
57 ain't middle aged
That Animated Series episode will always be a favorite of mine. I was fortunate enough to have met her twice at conventions and I miss her more than words can say 😔.
Thank you for this video. well done.
Not Jeff here. Splendid tribute, Steve, one worthy of the magnificent Nichelle Nichols!
One thing that I have not seen addressed in other tributes to Nichelle. Lt. Uhura was deliberately set up as representative to Americans, especially African Americans. But Uhura is not American. She's from a united African continent, one implied as equally technically advance, educated and culturally sophisticated as any other on Earth. This has never really been addressed in any Star Trek commentary that I've seen, or have I missed it?
In her other big scene in Man Trap, the salt monster takes the form of a handsome black crewman who speaks to her in Swahili. She's obviously delighted, and replies in that language. The implication is that she is a bit homesick. The other scene acknowledging her African origin is in Tholian Web, showing African decor in her quarters, and her off duty dress with a distinctly traditional African look.
I spent a little time in school in the 70s with a graduate student from Ghana. I mentioned Star Trek, and he told me that he saw the show and was immeasurably moved to see his home continent represented in her character, little as it was. Remember, at the time, and sometimes unfortunately now, Americans saw Africa as a primitive, savage place full of wonderful but dangerous animals oh, and there are some interesting looking tribal people too. Wakanda was a long way in the future.
EXCELLENT
So my best memory of Nichelle is a personal one. My spouse and I had worked our way to the front of the line for her autograph table at DragonCon one year. We handed over the autograph fee to her table assistant, and asked her to sign her 8x10 glossy "Keep working for his dream." As the assistant is putting the payment into their cash bag, she overhears the request and pipes up "Roddenberry's dream?" Nichols gives the assistant the most epic side-eye, and replies, "No, Dr. King's dream, isn't that right dears?" We confirmed, thanked her, and stepped out of the way to let the next people in line have their turn.
Nichelle Nichols was my childhood hero and inspired me to be a scientist. I watched TOS on syndicate when I was 7 years old. I always thought Lt. Uhura was smart and brave. As an adult I see that she was my original inspiration to earn a PhD in nutritional biology. Thank you Nichelle Nichols.
Thank you for a nice tribute, Steve. It is nice to celebrate her life and contribution to Star Trek, television as a whole, and America during her life.
I can't believe we lost Nichelle Nichols and Olivia Newton-John within a few days of each other. RIP to two amazing, talented, beautiful women who inspired me growing up and to this day.
And Judith Durham of The Seekers as well.
What a loving and intelligent tribute.
But of course I'd expect nothing less from one of the most eloquent people on TH-cam. Steve, you are one of the few reasons I still visit TH-cam as it fills up with craptacular content, misinformation, conspiracy theories and too many other negative things.
Thank you for all the work and time you put into your videos.
The one thing that always got me that no one mentions in TMP (or for the movie's undertones as well): her hair. She was there in all her natural hair. Not processed or a wig. That to me is the true sign of the future.
One of my favourite fanfics includes Uhura being promoted to Captain of an Oberth class starship assigned to a stealth spy long range monitoring mission. One of her officers is the guy that she locked in the closet in ST3. So good!
GREAT tribute,Steve to a national treasure. RIP-Nichelle Nichols. LIVE LONG and PROSPER-fellow citizens.
In the episode "I, Mudd", she had a great scene where she convinces the androids that she is willing to betray the crew, in exchange for a perfect robot body. It's a ruse, of course, but it was a wonderful moment.
The stink-eye she gives Mr. Adventure when he calls her "someone whose career is winding down" can be felt clear across the galaxy.
One of my absolute favourite moments is her holding ‘Mr. Adventure’ at gunpoint. It’s amazingly fun.
I love Star Trek four, and I think an unsung moment comes from Uhura when she successfully takes the transmission of the probe and retools it so that the crew can hear what it would sound like underwater. I mean, consider it: she was trying to do something that clearly nobody in Starfleet had done before and doing it with Klingon technology.
It might be a little bit of a stretch for some people, but I look at it as one of her shining moments in the series.
Nichelle Nichols was nothing short of a beautiful inspiration to so many people, this is a beautiful and powerful tribute to her. Her contributions to both television and NASA cannot be understated she blew through that glass ceiling right into the stars. Her memory will live on through her vast career and we are the better for it, her memory will continue to inspire people and guide us to the stars. Thank you Steve for showing us some of her greatest moments as Uhura, rest in power Nichelle and know that you are with us always in our hearts. We love you and will never forget you.
I think it’s especially noteworthy that Nichols wasn’t used as eye candy to lure in viewers the way later Trek shows used Jeri Ryan and Jolene Blalock.
What! What about Mirror Universe where she and every female officer wears halter top for uniform. Not to mention ultra mini skirts that show their thighs. If that wasn't sexual exploration I don't know....
No original series’ actor’s passing has hit me so strongly as Nichelle Nichols’ passing. Partly due to the character but also partly due to her non-Trek contributions to history.
In any case, I’m striken by this loss and cherish her contributions forever.
And I’m uniquely inspired to see how her character is enhanced by current interpretation for years to come.
Well done Steve, as sad as it was to hear of her passing this reminds of that it was a life truly well lived.
Damn, Steve.
That was excellent.
Eight thousand NASA recruits.
Something endearing was the look on her face when meeting a tribble was sometimes the look she gave Spock.
I liked the fan dance.
Too often, the young assume eroticism is exclusively theirs
They're wrong.
The Martin Luther King story is a perfect example of why it matters how people are represented in fiction. He understood that how black people were represented in fiction very much affected how black people would be viewed in real life.
He notably didn’t say, “Who cares? It’s just a TV show.” Which all too often is the dismissive response we hear to any analysis of how people are represented in fiction.
Nichelle Nichols was such a boss. She'll be missed.
I love The Tholian Web, the gown that she wears off-duty, is gorgeous. And her performance was wonderful, as all of her performances were.
I forgot about that performance by Nichols,it was GOOD and so was the episode.
Damn, this was masterfully done. I'm tearing up.
My favourite Uhura moment from Star Trek 6 was near the end when Uhura was the one to suggest modifying a sensor pobe to home in on Chang's ship's exhaust and add a photonic warhead. It could have been any of the crew, but Uhura was the one who'd think outside the box.
man you got me crying right now this was wonderfully done
Thank you, Steve. Yours is the tribute to Nichelle I wanted to see the most!
I'll never forget the back-handed homage to Lt. Uhuru that Sigourney Weaver made in the Star Trek parody "Galaxy Quest!" Playing the bridge's sole female, the communications officer, she blurts out, "there's only one thing I can do and dammit, I'm going to do it! " which i took as a comment about Uhura not having enough to do on STTOS.
Finally, I've been wondering if you know of any known influence or contact between Nichols/Uhura and the three African-American women "computers" (human mathematicians) who worked on the Project Mercury program for NASA as depicted in the movie "Hidden Figures" earlier in the same decade?
I've been waiting for this tribute. Thanks for finally getting it done.
One of the Uhura scenes that you didn't mention isn't even an Uhura scene, but a Chekov scene, nuclear wesels from Star Trek 4. She might not have much to say, but Nichelle does a wonderful job supporting Walter Koenig in it.
I felt like that moment you highlighted from Undiscovered Country, which I agree she played perfectly, might have been Nichols' sort of meta commentary on the writers sort of sidelining Uhura's expertise as communications officer to play a "scramble for the dictionaries" gag. But I've never heard any confirmation of that.
Best Nichelle Nichols video ever-stupendous job good sir!!!
Uhura's and Spock's very first scene has Uhura at navigation and Spock in the Captain's chair in The Mantrap.
And in other episodes she doesn't just take over at Navigation, she takes over during a critical moment, showing us just how competent she is. In point of fact she is the most competent bridge officer, outside of Kirk and Spock, there is. Just watch the show. She may not have had an episode of her own, but over the three seasons she is shown in important roles without fanfare to call attention to her. If I may humbly request, go watch my video, who is the most badass woman in Star Trek. Hint, it's her.
beautifully presented
Nichelle Nichols as part of the tapestry of the 20th, 21st and future centuries!
My dad got me hooked on TOS in re - runs in the 70's. Uhura was awesome!
Poignant and beautiful, with just the right ammount of Shives brand irreverant humour. Thank you so very much.
The Drunk History version of the MLK story is still my favorite. Great video!
Wonderful tribute. Thank you.
Wonderful tribute Steve.
Thank you 🖖
What a wonderful tribute! Thank you!😀
I met Nichelle at a double star convention alongside Armin Shimerman. What you didn't mention was the first African-American woman in space, who was the commencement speaker of my college graduation, Mae Jemison.
great tribute. Nichelle could sing well and act great. In the roles, she is treated like an equal, as you said. Back then, that was rare. She had authority. She was a communications expert. BUT HER FACIAL expressions when she acted her lines, and when she sang on set and did her roles....EVEN WAY BACK THEN, we saw somebody that could do more than we expected. And she became even better when she had her roles in the Star Trek MOVIES, later on with the main crew.
Excellent, excellent tribute. 🫡
"Last star to the right, and straight on until morning." Godspeed to her. Her effect on our nation and to millions of young women should never be marginalized. Don't get me wrong, the "space phone" joke on Big Bang Theory is funny and all, but in her era, being the communications officer on an exploratory military Starship, and having to work with all that that entailed was one of the single most important duties on the entire crew. Heck, you see how important she is in "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" (as much as ST II is the best, VI is an easy close runner-up for best original cast movie) when she's the only crew member, ON THE ENTIRE SHIP, that is fluent enough in Klingon to be used to try and lie to a native speaker while trying to spring Kirk and McCoy from the penal colony on the asteroid.
Godspeed Nichelle Nichols. Thank you for shattering glass ceilings and teaching young women of all races that it is always better to reach for the stars.
Second* star the right is how you get to Neverland if that was what you were going for.
"Sorry, neither," is my favorite line from TOS, perhaps all of television.
This legendary woman was one of the most important people to ever be on television. She normalised equality for women and people of color when people still saw them as lesser people. I love her so much for what she has done on tv and off
Thank you for this wonderful tribute.
I think my favorite "multi task moment" for Uhura was when she took over Navigation during Balance of Terror. Styles goes to help in phaser control and without missing a beat or even turning around Kirk orders: "Lt Uhura take over navigation." Uhura turns off her comm station and walks down and takes over. It was I think a really important moment. And ST handled it perfectly. No one on the bridge so much as mentions it, and not only that, after the Enterprise clobbers the Bird of Prey, Kirk orders "ship to ship Uhura." Once again, no one misses a beat and Uhura is flying the ship and running communications from the conn. One can see why MLK was so adamant, I think that moment was one of those that cemented it for him that she had to stay on the show. I think also not having yet been alive in the 1960s even I can see how important that moment was. And gosh darn Uhura looks good sitting at the controls.
That Nichols was so impactful with so little in terms of screen time or anything consequential to do speaks volumes about her charisma and presence.
Uhura was pretty poorly-served in that episode where Nomad wiped her memory clean; but I have a fix for that, and it even relies on in-episode details. We know Nomad was imperfect; he was basically like a 20-year-old who'd just completed his freshman college courses and considered himself an expert in everything, but in fact was wildly ignorant. So Nomad claims to have irretrievably wiped Uhura's memory. And yet, later in the episode she's seen speaking Swahili, which is a language that Nurse Chapel was making no effort to teach her. CONCLUSION: Uhura had all her memories intact -- despite what Dunning Kruger avatar Nomad thought -- and all Nomad did was scramble her access to them. With a little bit of medical work and some therapy, she got it all back.
You're right, if Nomad had totally wiped Uhura's memory, she wouldn't not known her native language. Apparently, only erased just knowledge she learned after become adult and joined Star Fleet academy.
@@paulhunter6742 And maybe not even erased it. McCoy was predicting she'd be ready to return to duty in, what, two weeks? I have no problem believing Uhura is a genius (she sure is in "Strange New Worlds" for example) but years of expertise in two weeks is kind of implausible.
You are an excellent storyteller Steve. I get emotional re-listening to this and you get across how much she had an impact.
I highly recommend Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson's interview with Ms. Nichols. Especially the part where a former skin head approached her at an autograph signing. He disavowed racism thanks to her. Yes, I teared up. RIP; you will be missed, but your legacy shall endure.
Thank You, Steve 🙏🏾❤🥰😊
Awesome tribute, thanks! Yeah, Nichelle was amazing, and I didn't know how important she was until my teenage years in the 80's. By then, at least in my case, people of other races were never something to look down upon--they were just more interesting to me. Exotic speech/languages, foods, points of view, what's not to love?
I'd say Dr. King and Ms. Nichols did much to normalize what my parents (and experience) had taught me growing up, and I only saw her as a beautiful and smart member of the crew. If only we could all be like that, but then, our species is still a bit new to this whole "small world" concept!
Uhura has a gold uniform in the first two episodes they filmed, though they were broadcast out of order, BECAUSE SHE WAS OF COMMAND RANK! "The Corbomite Maneuver" and "Mudd's Women". They changed it for the rest of the series, even though her rank did not change.
I have enjoyed many of your Star Trek videos over the years, but this is the only one that left me teary eyed. Thank you Steve.
Well said. :) I got a walk-by "Hello, keep up the good work!" from her working my comics table at Dragon*Con one year and it was like the benediction of a queen.
Rest in peace Queen. You will be surely missed.
"And Captain... All my hopes." Rest easy, classy lady. You were awesome is so, so many ways.
Man, transporters can do anything. If I was in Starfleet, I'd have them save my pattern from when I enrolled in the Academy, and then, when I'm an elderly admiral, I'd have them beam me up and beam me down using my 18 year old pattern. Rinse and repeat when you're an old man again.
You’d lose all your memories from after the time your pattern was stored
Did you forget about molecular degeneration. Each time you go back through transporter your basically making copies. Each copy would lose cellular cohesion over time. You might get youthful body with mind of a Cabbage.
It's a shame that she's gone now, but this is a really good tribute to her. She had a pretty full life, she was just a few months shy of being 90, but unfortunately she had been in declining health for the past few years.
As far as the films go, I think The Voyage Home has Uhura in the best light. You actually see her perform tasks besides opening and closing hailing frequencies.
Awesome memorial!
Thank you for this wonderful video. It needed to be said again.
1st..I Love her story about MLK Jr Talking her into NOT leaving STARTREK
Indeed!
There are a few Star Trek actors (Nichols being one of them) who could recall life-changing encounters with fans, in a really touching and humble way. I am thinking of James Doohan's story of the suicidal girl he met at a convention, who later told him that he had saved her life. Neither Doohan nor Nichols seem to have realized just how important the roles were that they had played, until they were told by a fan.
That the "fan" happens to be yet another cultural icon in Nichols' case just makes it even better.
That was wonderful. Thank you.
She was amazing, and also underserved. I think the closest thing we got as far as an Uhura show was "Mirror Mirror". It was less than she deserved, but she at least got some real screen time, and she rocked it.
You're gonna make us cry, aren't you?
I did, just as bad as when I watched the one for Rene Auberjonois Steve did.