Star Trek: The Original Series star William Shatner offers his condolences on the passing of his co-star, Nichelle Nichols.

"I am so sorry to hear about the passing of Nichelle," tweeted Shatner, who portrayed Captain James T. Kirk on the original Star Trek television series, which aired from 1966 to 1969. "She was a beautiful woman & played an admirable character that did so much for redefining social issues both here in the US & throughout the world. I will certainly miss her. Sending my love and condolences to her family."

It was confirmed by her son Kyle Johnson that Nichols died of natural causes in her home on Saturday, July 30. Johnson shared a photo of Nichols' star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which she was awarded in 1992. "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. "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."

Nichols starred opposite Shatner for all three seasons of Star Trek: The Original Series as Lt. Nyota Uhura, a role that made her a cultural icon as one of the first black women to have a starring role in a major television series. On top of that, a kiss between Shatner's Kirk and Nichols' Uhura on the 1968 episode of Star Trek, "Plato's Stepchildren," is cited as US television's first interracial kiss. Nichols would go on to portray Uhuru in six subsequent movies with the rest of the original television cast.

Nichols and Shatner's co-star, George Takei, who portrayed Hikaru Sulu, also offered his condolences at the news of her passing. "I shall have more to say about the trailblazing, incomparable Nichelle Nichols, who shared the bridge with us as Lt. Uhura of the USS Enterprise, and who passed today at age 89," Takei tweeted. "For today, my heart is heavy, my eyes shining like the stars you now rest among, my dearest friend."

Following Star Trek's cancellation, Nichols founded Women In Motion, Inc. in 1977 as part of her campaign to bring diversity to NASA, inevitably helping to recruit thousands of women and minorities to the space agency. Among those recruits was Sally Ride, the first American female astronaut and Guion Bluford, the first African-American astronaut. In 2021, a documentary titled Woman in Motion: Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek and the Remaking of NASA was released, which explored Nichols' efforts to diversify NASA. This was an effort the actor continued until 2015, the same year she suffered a mild stroke.

Source: Twitter