Trailblazer Nichelle Nichols, who played “Star Trek” communications officer Lieutenant Uhura in the 1960s TV show and shared American television’s first interracial kiss with William Shatner, has died at 89.
Her son Kyle Johnson announced her death in a statement posted on her Facebook page. Family friend Sky Conway confirmed to USA TODAY that Nichols died Saturday evening in Silver City, New Mexico, calling her “truly transformational” and “an amazing person.”
“I regret to inform you that a great light in the firmament no longer shines for us as it has for so many years,” Johnson wrote on Facebook. “Last night, my mother, Nichelle Nichols, succumbed to natural causes and passed away. 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.
“Hers was a life well lived and as such a model for us all.”
Johnson said a private service would be held for family members and close friends, and signed his statement, “Live Long and Prosper.”
Nichols suffered a stroke in 2015.
This report is developing.
