Nichelle Nichols was an American actress, singer, and dancer. She is best known for her portrayal of Nyota Uhura in Star Trek: The Original Series, and its film sequels.

Nichols’ portrayal of Uhura was ground-breaking for African American actresses on American television. From 1977 until 2015, Nichols volunteered her time to promote NASA’s programs and recruit diverse astronauts, including women and ethnic minorities.

Nichelle Nichols’s break came in an appearance in Kicks and Co., Oscar Brown’s highly touted but ill-fated 1961 musical. In a thinly veiled satire of Playboy magazine, she played Hazel Sharpe, a voluptuous campus queen who was being tempted by the devil and Orgy Magazine to become “Orgy Maiden of the Month”.

Nichelle Nichols siblings: Thomas Nichols, Marian Michaels

Nichelle is the third child of six children of Samuel Earl Nichols, a factory worker who was elected both town mayor of Robbins in 1929 and its chief magistrate, and his wife, Lishia (Parks) Nichols, a homemaker. Later, the family moved into an apartment in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago.

Thomas Nichols and Marian Michaels are the famed siblings of Nichelle Nichols. Her brother Thomas died on March 26, 1997, while her sister Marian remains alive. Further details about her siblings are not available.