Her mother was pregnant with Nichelle when her (Nichelle’s) father very politely and successfully stood up to Al Capone’s brother, who had come to their home to MURDER him. I dare not spoil the story. Go read about it yourself.
Singing and dancing were her real loves, and she actually had a pretty successful career. But after she was BRIEFLY KIDNAPPED, (you should read this story, too. It’s harrowing! I was harrowed!) she kind of lost her taste for touring and wanted something more stable. She just sort of fell into acting when Gene Roddenberry put her in an episode of The Lieutenant.
The Lieutenant was her first time on camera and she had no idea what she was doing and she was afraid to ask. The director didn’t find out until the fourth or fifth day when he shouted at her, “It’s like you’ve never acted for TV before!” She said, “Well, I haven’t.” The director stared at her in shock then started laughing like crazy. She had been acting so professionally that everyone just assumed she had done this a million times before. They had to take a twenty minute break so they could teach her about lighting.
She and Gene Roddenberry were fiercely in love and had a nice little romance while the divorce to his first wife was being finalized. At some point, Gene says he’s got to come clean about something. He takes her to this lady’s house and says, “I’ve been seeing her too, and I’m in love with you both. I don’t know what to do, but I think you two would really get along.” And that woman was Majel Barret, who would become his second wife. (And you know what? Gene was right. They did get along. Nichelle and Majel became close friends.) Nichelle, though still madly in love with Gene, bows out. She always wondered if Gene ever really forgave her for it. He always went to bat for her when they were filming the show because obviously the network hated her. But he pulled some REAL dick moves on her after Trek. And toward the end of his life, as his medications started to make him confused, he said on a few occasions, “If Nichelle had played her cards right, she could have been Mrs. Roddenberry.” It made everybody really uncomfortable.
Her brother was among those to die in the Heaven’s Gate cult. That’s not in the book. I just find it fascinating.
Nichelle could imitate George Takei’s laugh perfectly and would do it until he was crying from laughter. She didn’t even have to be in the same room. Even if he could barely hear her, he lost it.
Walter Koenig is quite the little scamp. He used to tell these really tall tales on set and he could convince ANYBODY they were real, even Gene. He briefly tricked George Takei into thinking that the filming of Star Trek: The Motion Picture was probably going to be cancelled.
Nichelle mentions that Shatner was fond of telling long stories that didn’t go anywhere and didn’t really have anything to do with the discussion they were having. As someone who has seen him at multiple Q&A’s, I can very readily attest to that.
When Whoopi Goldberg first saw Nichelle on Star Trek she excitedly ran to tell her family that there was a woman of color on screen who was not playing a maid. When Next Gen came around, Whoopi asked for a part because Nichelle had inspired so much in her life. Can you even imagine your life without Guinan? No. You can’t.
During production of Generations, everyone had been told there would be parts for all the original actors. But rather abruptly, they cut out Uhura and Sulu. Whoopi was pissed, because she thought she was going to be in a scene with two of her heroes: Lt. Uhura and Nichelle Nichols.(She and Nichelle are still dear friends, as I understand it.) I did hear tell that Patrick Stewart personally asked Whoopi to be a part of season 2 of Picard. So, get ready!
Okay, this is the fucking kicker, and it was actually always kind of a well known story among the Trekkie community, so it’s not like I’m spoiling anything, and it’s just too good not to share-
Get this bullshit- No one at the network that didn’t work on that Star Trek thought it would be as popular as it was and as fast as it was. So they were already pissed that they were wrong. And let’s not forget that this was the late sixties so they HATED Nichelle. Well, one day she’s walking to the lot and she sees a couple of the mailroom guys and says hello. One of them guiltily tells her that the network has been making them hold back a LARGE portion of her fan mail. He takes her to the mailroom and shows her all the stacks of boxes and bags of letters. It was almost as much, if not more, than Shatner and Nimoy got. Those network d-bags were real Petty Bettys.
So, of course, Nichelle is pissed and her feelings are hurt. Since her passion was singing anyway, she thinks, “Maybe I’ll just finish this season and go back to that.” She tells Gene she’s leaving, and he is devastated.
This is where it gets REALLY good– An evening soon after, Nichelle stays behind after an NAACP meeting to talk to some folks. Suddenly, the guy she’s talking to notices someone behind her and says, “Oh, there’s a fan who wants to meet you.” She knew her ego could use a boost so she’s ready for it. She turns around and standing there is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (I shit you not!) And Nichelle thinks to herself, “Oh, that fan’s going to have to wait. I’ve got to meet Dr. King.” So, fucking imagine her delight when she finds out that DR. KING IS THE FAN WHO WANTS TO MEET HER. (I know, right?!) He tells her how much he loves Star Trek and it’s the only show he and his wife let their kids stay up to watch.
Nichelle is flattered beyond belief, but she thinks it’s only fair to let him know that she’d be leaving the show soon. (THIS IS THE REALLY GOOD PART!) Dr. King says, “Oh, no ma’am. You can’t do that.” He tells her how much her character means to people of color, how important it was to see someone who looks like them on TV. And a Sci-Fi show set in the future, no less, insinuating a future where humans have moved beyond sexism and racism to a degree that a woman AND a woman of color could serve on the command team of a starship! But he wasn’t so much concerned with that. He tells her she’s important for white people to see her, too. He says it’s crucial that they see a woman of color portrayed as smart, successful and dignified, because that is how white folks should have been seeing them all along. He says she’s not just a role model for kids, she’s a role model for everyone.
Well, how’s she gonna quit after that, right? So, she goes back to Gene Roddenberry and tells him everything Dr. King said to her, and that she’ll be staying on the show. Then, Roddenberry says (I legit get emotional about this), “At least someone understands what I’m trying to do.”
Nichelle Nichols is a capital “Q” Queen. At some point, NASA invited her for a tour, and they showed her the recruitment video. She noticed that there was a horrible coincidence among astronauts- They were all white. And they were all men.
So, Nichelle was like- No, I don’t think so. She then dedicated the rest of her career to making recruitment films that included EVERYONE. And I mean she MADE them, as in wrote, directed, starred in and choreographed. That’s right, you read the word “choreographed” correctly. Like a film made by Nichelle Nichols isn’t going to include a few song and dance numbers.
And it fucking WORKED. She changed the space program FOREVER. Seriously- go look at pictures of astronauts before 1970, and then go and look at pictures of astronauts from today. The difference is staggering. And she did that! THAT WOMAN IS A QUEEN!
I cannot wait to see Woman in Motion when it begins streaming on Paramount+ on June 3. She certainly deserves the recognition.
But what I would REALLY like to see is a biopic about Nichelle. As you can see from the above, she lived a fascinating life. And she was always so goddamn brave, and fucking classy as hell. I feel like hers is a story that needs to be told to a larger audience. She was truly a pioneer for television and the space program. Like, literally. NOTHING was the same after her. There’s got to be a movie in the works, right?
Hollywood?
Hello?
The Timid Trekkie 