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| Nichelle Nichols in her familiar post as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, communications officer for the Starship Enterprise on "Star Trek". Source: https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/star-trek-nichelle-nichols-best-uhura-moments (Photo: Paramount) (May be subject to copyright) |
Nichelle Nichols’ autobiography is called “Beyond Uhura”, but for me in the 1980s, Nichelle Nichols was Nyota Uhura, communications officer for the Starship Enterprise on "Star Trek".
Last year I read “Beyond Uhura” and it came to mind, along with other memories, when I heard Nichelle Nichols died last month.
She was 89.
Seeing Uhura
The 1980s were a strange time to see “Star Trek” in the three-channel universe of peasant vision.
It was not on regularly until probably Grade 8, so about 1983, when CBC Channel 9 started airing re-runs on Saturday mornings. I tried to catch them when I could, but that was rare because we went to the city on Saturdays. CBC did move it around, so it also aired late afternoon and sometimes late night on Saturdays.
I saw more when I visited cousins in Brooks who had cable TV and it was aired weeknights at 7 p.m.
Interestingly, I saw more “Star Trek” in the theatres during the decade with four movies, all debuting in the 1980s. There was “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" in 1982; “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" in 1984; “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" in 1986; and “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" in 1989.
Through it all Nichelle Nichols was Lieutenant Uhura.
Hearing Uhura
Given I am a communicator for a living, I really liked Uhura, although I often found her lone role was to open a channel with whatever alien planet or ship the Enterprise encountered.
Given I am a communicator for a living, I really liked Uhura, although I often found her lone role was to open a channel with whatever alien planet or ship the Enterprise encountered.
Nichols expressed her frustration with that in “Beyond Uhura”. She noted she was initially promised more attention would be given to Uhura as the show went on. Not only was her character supposed to be more fleshed out, but she was supposed to have more plots and episodes featuring the character.
That did not happen. Instead her role was either diminished in screen time, or remained static when on camera.
Still there were memorable moments.
Watching Uhura
The most notable episode, was the one that broke a lot of barriers. It involved the first ever inter-racial kiss on television, even though its two participants were in an altered state. That was intentional, because otherwise creator Gene Rodenberry said, he would not have been able to pull it off.
The episode was entitled and “Plato’s Stepchildren”.
There were other notable moments, many that I was reminded of in an article on “Den of Geek” by Don Kaye.
In “Charlie X”, the second episode of the series, the Enterprise meets a teenager who has incredible powers but cannot handle them amid his developing emotions. What makes Uhura stand out was a scene where she sings for the first time – but not the last – accompanied by Spock on the Vulcan lute.
Watching Uhura
The most notable episode, was the one that broke a lot of barriers. It involved the first ever inter-racial kiss on television, even though its two participants were in an altered state. That was intentional, because otherwise creator Gene Rodenberry said, he would not have been able to pull it off.
The episode was entitled and “Plato’s Stepchildren”.
There were other notable moments, many that I was reminded of in an article on “Den of Geek” by Don Kaye.
In “Charlie X”, the second episode of the series, the Enterprise meets a teenager who has incredible powers but cannot handle them amid his developing emotions. What makes Uhura stand out was a scene where she sings for the first time – but not the last – accompanied by Spock on the Vulcan lute.
Later that season in “The Squire of Gothos”, another superbeing transports the bridge crew of the Enterprise to his castle, where he gives Uhura the ability to play the harpsichord, continuing her relationship with music.
In “The Changeling”, the third episode of the second season, a space probe that has merged with alien technology boards the Enterprise. It hears Uhura singing, does not understand, scans her mind looking for answers, and wipes her memory clean making her mind that of a child. She even reverts to her native language Swahili, but recovers.
The next episode “Mirror, Mirror” is one of my all-time favourites. A transporter malfunction transfers a landing party to swap places with their counterparts in an alternate, evil universe. Uhura has to come on to then reject the alternate Sulu in order to distract him. She gets into a fight too.
Another one of my favourites, “The Trouble With Tribbles”, features these fuzzy creatures who purr, wow the crew, and breed incessantly to the point of pervading every part of the Enterprise. The very first Tribble is brought aboard by Uhura, who gets it from a salesman when she is on shore leave on a space station.
The challenge was that, more often than, Uhura seemed to be in the background or as part of an ensemble. Don Kaye called her a “futuristic switchboard operator”.
Uhura in the movies
Uhura did have her moments in the movies, such as when the Enterprise did battle with Khan in “Star Trek II”, or when they stole the Enterprise to get Spock’s body from the Genesis Planet in “Star Trek III” or they went back to 1986 San Francisco to transport some whales back to the future in “Star Trek IV”.
Uhura did have her moments in the movies, such as when the Enterprise did battle with Khan in “Star Trek II”, or when they stole the Enterprise to get Spock’s body from the Genesis Planet in “Star Trek III” or they went back to 1986 San Francisco to transport some whales back to the future in “Star Trek IV”.
However, one of my most memorable movie memories from that period was in “Star Trek V” when, to create a distraction, Uhura danced on the top of a hill seemingly in the nude.
Beyond Uhura
Reading her autobiography really shone a light on how brave, patient, and resilient Nichelle Nichols was. It detailed broken promises made to her that Uhura would have a bigger part or more story lines. That was as much, or more, sexist than racist.
Reading her autobiography really shone a light on how brave, patient, and resilient Nichelle Nichols was. It detailed broken promises made to her that Uhura would have a bigger part or more story lines. That was as much, or more, sexist than racist.
It delved into the sexual harassment she faced, including an incident that went to court, sadly, in Canada.
More than anything, “Beyond Uhura” really illustrated how Nichelle Nichols toughed out everything, and went on to be a trail blazer, pioneer and role model.
Her stature only grew when she was recruited by NASA to help promote the space program and recruit the next generation of astronauts, a generation that was more diverse with more women and ethnic minorities.
Parting thoughts
Star Trek has exploded as a franchise with more movies and several TV series. Some are sequels, and some prequels, but they have become so prolific we have had Zoe Saldana and Celia Rose Gooding also play Uhura in various productions.
Star Trek has exploded as a franchise with more movies and several TV series. Some are sequels, and some prequels, but they have become so prolific we have had Zoe Saldana and Celia Rose Gooding also play Uhura in various productions.
However, for me, Nichelle Nichols will always be Uhura. The best part was, had she not broken new ground for the next generation of black and female actors, Saldana and Gooding may have never had the opportunity to play Uhura.
She was one of a kind, and this generation of actors owe her a lot for everything she endured and everything she promoted to pave the way for them.
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