FOG BLOG ENTERTAINMENT LOG: NICHELLE NICHOLS WHO PLAYED UHURA ON 60'S TV SHOW STAR TREK DIES AT 89!

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 US actor Nichelle Nichols, who achieved worldwide fame and broke ground for Black women while playing Lt Uhura in the original Star Trek TV hit in the 1960s, has died at 89, her family announced on Sunday.

Nichols’s son, Kyle Johnson, announced her death via Facebook.

Nichols had a stroke in 2015 and her son said she died on Saturday, July 30, as she “succumbed to natural causes”.

“I regret to inform you that a great light in the firmament no longer shines for us as it has for so many years,” he wrote on Instagram.

Cast as Nyota Uhura, her character was in a position of authority and had a high profile on screen, on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise space vehicle.

“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,” Johnson wrote.

Nichols was born in Robbins, Illinois, in 1932 and grew up in Chicago.

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 on the “incomparable” trailblazer soon.